A snapshot. A memory. Walking with some guy I didn't know in some place I'd never been. Sitting on a rooftop with some girl I'd never see again in a place I never wanted to leave. Fading away and disappearing from my mind, a picture of a smile and the smell of an old coat.
The common memories are the ones with all the details but the important ones are just a snapshot. A picture of a photograph of a feeling of a moment some time far away enough to be forgotten. But you remember something. Hardly anything.
Her look meant love. Or it meant goodbye. Or it meant nothing. And it doesn't matter any more because all that's left is a faded memory of someone who might not remember you at all. But it's there somewhere between completely faded and unbelievably vivid.
Snapshots of the people you knew and the places you passed and the thing you thought you were. They could be you or they could be anyone or they could be nothing at all.
And I wouldn't bring it up but this is exactly, EXACTLY; what good films are about.
Hmm. Sigh. Oh dear, my mind is spinning. It's not a pretty sound or sight, gears screeching, rust flaking. I'm feeling like the Tin Man. But I have a heart, I know. I can feel it here.
ReplyDeleteWow. Your writing is so good. You can make me feel, see, remember and imagine in the space of five paragraphs. Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteYES. I know exactly what you mean. And you know what's even more intriguing? Re-watching the film, expecting to get the same things out of it, and having it be an entirely separate memory and experience. We can't go back; we can only go forward. And so each time I re-watched my favorites, I didn't enjoy them because I couldn't get back to where I used to be UNTIL I learned that I needed to let each moment, each memory, stand for itself. And then I was able to re-watch my favorite films as they appeared, as they were, and not how I remembered them being. And they were awesome all over again.
ReplyDeleteWhen we watch a film it speaks to us . . . now . . . where we are in life at the moment we are watching and what we are looking for at the time.
ReplyDeleteEach time I see a favorite old movie, I go a little deeper into who I am. Sometimes I am surprised at how I've grown.
I was touched by your post.
JAYNE - I like seeing the inner spinning of your brain come to life!
ReplyDeleteHAPPY FROG - That is a huge compliment, thank you so much, you have made my day.
PHOENIX - It is great when you can separate from the original experience of seeing a film, and have something new the second time. It's not always possible, but when it is, it's golden.
ONE WOMAN'S THOUGHTS - What you've written really resonates with me. "Each time I see a favorite old movie, I go a little deeper into who I am. Sometimes I am surprised at how I've grown." -- this is so true, it can be very profound when you realize how much you've changed, or what new meaning a film brings.
Thanks all! :D
EXACTLY what I want out of my movie watching. There are plenty movies I've declined to see just because people told me I should.
ReplyDeleteI didn't want to see The Sixth Sense. By the time it was on video, my husband coerced me to watch it with him. "You won't get scared because it'll be on our little TV," "It's a really good movie and you'll be glad you finally saw it," "It's not as scary as you think." No. I wasn't glad I watched it and it WAS scarier than I thought.
Thanks for giving me a little virtual wink-and-a-nod that I'm not the only one who wants more from a movie.