Friday, 31 October 2008
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Currently Watching
The Happening
By Mark Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, Betty Buckley
see relatedM. Night's Social Theories
Spoiler Alert: Details from The Happening are mentioned in this post.
The self-proclaimed prophet (see Lady in the Water), M. Night Shyamalan, makes some interesting, and somewhat inconsistent commentary about society in his latest project, The Happening. The previous film, Lady in the Water, is erupting with the power of community and the call to join together. However, we get a little different perspective in The Happening. Apparently, consolidated populations bring on their own demise. The largest cities of the world are "attacked" (New York, Paris). Community is evil and plants hate it. So we need to disperse. But isolationism is just as deadly, as seen in the example of crazy old lady who lives off the grid. As an added bonus, it seems to help your survival if you are inept at expressing your emotion, or if you are so empirically ordered that you talk like an android (Mark Walberg). Oh yeah, and plants can now create wind.
Of course, this wacky social commentary is all based on the assumption that Shyamalan built in a moral to the story, which he usually does in his movies. But I'm being too hard on the fella, because I really enjoy his films, even the ones that bomb. He's creative, knows how to tell a story, and does some sick crap with the cameras to create a mood. But The Happening has probably been my least favorite so far (Yeah, even worse than The Village). But if you're a Shyamalan fan-alan, then it's still worth watching.
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Comments (7)
I think I'll wait until it is a dollar movie or is released on DVD so I can rent it. But then again maybe I won't because I really don't like the horror genre. I have bad dreams.
@murisopsis - Actually, it's on DVD now, which is how we watched it. It's got some disturbing images, so it may not be good for you to watch.
Hahah...the Village is my FAVORITE movie in the world!!
That being said. I did not like the happening, and I am a huge M knight fan. But, I totally disagree with your perspective on the movie and I'll tell you why. It took me a while to see it, but after I watched the movie and sat dumbfounded, tried to figure out why I had wasted my life watching it and what the point of it even was - I think I figured it out: The reason the main characters did not die was because they were thinking about each other, not themselves. If you'll notice, in the very beginning of the movie, the girl talking to her friend was not affected at first. Likewise, at the very end, the guy seems to really care about the opinion of his friend and gets very concerned for other people when he realizes they are dying. The people believed they needed to disperse and they got so caught up in themselves and surviving that they made themselves prime targets for whatever was in the air. I think the point M. Knight was trying to make is that we need to see outside of ourselves - it is the only way those three in the end survived.
@murisopsis - do not watch it!! it is much more graphic than you think it will be!
Hey man! I just read your comment on Legendairy's anti-abortion blog, and I thought you made a good point!
Cheers!
@khawsoicowboy - Thanks. I had to just quit reading the comments though because it gives me so much dread to see how many people will carelessly end a baby for the sake of having sex without consequences.
@Cybergeidl - For sure! That's depressing enough as it is. What further depressed me was reading the underlying reaon, logic, philosophy, and beliefs that my generation holds concerning the pro-choice issue. I was horrified to read all the things that my generation believes in!