Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Becoming Cultured Through Film

I realized just the other day that watching movies is a good way for me to become more cultured while I'm still in school. Books suck way more of my time and emotions than movies do, and while I'm taking classes, that time and those emotions are needed elsewhere.

Only mildly intentionally, my husband and I have been broadening our horizons through movies. I've already seen most of the movies at least once (even if it was many years ago), but it's a great experience for both of us as we discuss our impressions and things we learn.

We've watched some classics like Casablanca, Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, South Pacific, and a little bit of The King and I. Some Miyazaki movies that we've watched together are Howl's Moving Castle and Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and we want to see more. We've had some really good conversations about Jane Austen movies like Emma and Sense and Sensibility; I don't remember if we've seen Pride and Prejudice together. Of course, we've also watched our share of Disney/Pixar movies in the last year, including Brave, Tangled, How to Train Your Dragon, Wall-E, and others.

I really learn a lot when I talk about things with my husband. This applies to everything, but especially to shared experiences like movies that we watch together. My husband is an active consumer of media, and I think that's one of his strengths; he evaluates everything he comes in contact with instead of passively accepting it. He makes everything meaningful, and I love sharing ideas with him. We both come out smarter for it.

I think this is a pattern that we'll follow for years. We have lots more movies that we want to watch together (including other genres like BBC films and Bollywood movies) and learn from. I'm not sure if I want to create a projected list for this because it changes with our priorities and film availability, but it's certainly something that I want to continue.

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