While I don't personally have a movie I test people out on like this, there have been a few times when watching a movie with friends changed the way I viewed them. The friends, I mean, not the movies. (Although the reverse has also been true.)
For example, I saw The Fugitive in the theater with a girl who was convinced Harrison Ford's character was guilty. (Did she think the one-armed man was an apparition? I don't know.) Another time I watched The Miracle of Morgan's Creek with some girlfriends, one of whom somehow didn't pick up on the pregnancy until the very end. (I know they kept it subtle back then, but come on! It's a major plot point!)
This is not to say that I have ever ended a friendship with someone based on their reaction to a movie. But I have changed my mind about what type of movies (if any) I will share with them.
What about you? Is there a movie that tested your friendship with someone based on how they viewed it? Is there a movie you use to test people out, perhaps an obscure title you reference when someone claims to be a film buff? Or is there a movie you love to watch with people because it's so open to interpretation that you use it like a Rorschach inkblot test of film?
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7 comments:
Very interesting Wendy! I do withhold movies from people if I don't think they can handle it. Or if I do go see something with a friend like Metropolis or Citizen Kane I provide lots of extra information to them so they have more a capacity of accepting and understanding.
I showed Bachelor Mother to friends once and everyone liked it, even the hardcore feminists who were miffed at the ending. This showed that they were my true friends!
That inkblot looks like two little pigs fighting for a bell. :-)
My love for a friend can significantly be affected by their response to Say Anything.
I liked your brother's idea! But I would be SO disappointed with my friends if I showed them a film I love that they didn't like. I prefer to see them alone, in that case.
And that inkblot is of course the big bad wolf! Can't you see his evil smile behind that long nose?
I actually wrote a short film once about this very topic though, where a guy would know he found the girl of his dreams because of her reaction to a very obscure movie. It was fun to write because sometimes I think I'm that way, looking for a girl who has such specific tastes, but at the same time I talk myself out of such nonsense (and that provided inspiration for character dialogue.) It was really just an excuse to have 25 minutes of people talking about movies, with a brief love story thrown in.
You can see why I didn't bother making it.
Raquelle - very smart about giving friends more info, putting things in context a bit so they can "get it".
David - I like Say Anything. :-) And I think your movie idea sounds cool. (And not beyond the realm of possibility. One of my father's first questions to me about the men I was interested in was frequently "Does he like old movies?" My husband does, btw, though he's not as obsessed as I am.)
Lolita - do you always watch movies solo, then?
I enjoyed reading the inkblot answers, too, but I don't know what ya'll are thinking. It's obviously a torn curtain!
No, I don't always watch alone - if I can have a companion I'm happy. I've recently discovered that my best friend likes old movies, but she hasn't seen a lot of them, so with her I mostly re-watch films I've already seen, just to show her.
And sometimes I find films that my boyfriend can appreciate, and then I have company there.
But as I said - I rather watch alone than with someone that doesn't like the film!
Another blog did a Top Five Barometer Movies which is kinda like this. http://dirtyharrysplace.com/?p=2879
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