Friday, October 23, 2009

A simple solution to our daily problems

In our reading of the criticism of Disney movies, it was stated that not only children enjoy the movies but adults as well. Why is that? Perhaps the same answer would be why we tolerate romantic comedies and genres similar to such. In Disney movies, the conclusion deduces to the moral of "love conquers all," (I can't tell you how many times this gets reiterated in Sailormoon, which is my Asian version of Disney princess movies) but we know that in actualality love is more complicated and most of the times creates more problems than solutions. But big blockbuster movies like Titanic and Spiderman, ends with the notion that love saves those who seem lost in life. It's interesting that although film does not have as long of a history compared to literature but their themes are quite relevant. I remember reading the medievall stories of sirs and knights, where the writer, sponsored by ladies of the castles, always used love as a potion to cure all things that seem illogical in reality. Similar to how in romantic comedies and princess stories, where random people can just fall in love with anyone and not worry about the situation in which they live in. It's interesting how Disney movies and many films model their storylines to medieval stories, while Greek literature and Shakesparean stories are less likely to be shown in a theatre near you. Perhaps the higher culture have artworks present problems to what we think should have a simple solution. I remember when my teacher asked us what love is in Shakespeare's terms, and it all turned out to be pretty bleak answers. Conversely when you think love defined in Disney terms, it's simply living happily ever after with the prince you love. Enterntainment, like movies, become such because they offer a discourse to reality; while artwork continues to present and shed light on realistic problems. If Disney movies are seen as educational than we would all be living a simple and happy life once we have found our love, but how we found our love also presents another problem.

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