Monday, December 27, 2004

Would you like to eavesdrop onto some of Foolish Knight's thoughts?

Let's listen in...

I tend to hold books and movies to different standards from each other. This is understandable. They are, after all, different mediums. Still... it seems to me that, when boiled down, the elements of story are the same. Aren't they? So why should I throw a fit if a film asks me to invest in it? Why not tolerate a film that leaves me with more questions than answers? G. K. Chesterton, Frederick Buechner, J. R. R. Tolkien, Flannery O'Connor, C. S. Lewis and Alan Paton--some of my favorite authors--all have written books which do just that. They allow for multiple visits and multiple interpretations of their minor themes and while their major themes are simply made clearer with each visit.
What I’m saying is why not view films with this some attitude? This attitude of exploration and viewing art as a journey--not a destination.
And it helps if we view this journey like all journeys--sometimes dangerous. sometimes thrilling sometimes beautiful, bland, entertain or tiring but only constant in one respect: it’s always a journey.

This reminds me of something I found on the Looking Closer web site:

"I think writers with actual intentions generally end up saying things they already thought they knew, and I'm not much interested in reducing my vocation as a poet to something like propagandist. I write poems to find things out, not to communicate some previously ossified conclusion."

-poet Scott Cairns in an interview with Image

God, I love so many people here...

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That’s all you can hear for now, the rest is a little personal. I do hope this excursion has been educational, thanks for listening.

12 comments:

JD said...

YES GET ON WITH IT!

Andrew Price said...

Yikes! Looks like I'd better get to work.

Meiska said...

my dear not-so-Foolish Knight, thank you for the glimpse into you obviously complicated, but sincere and wondering mind! I am glad to have a friend who thinks!!

Anonymous said...

do you like calling Foolish Knight dear just wondring?

Anonymous said...

Yea...I think you have a thing for him...the way you talk...

Anonymous said...

oh foolish knight no offince intened but your foolishness is very much apart of who you are...

Unknown said...

Hello, Foolish knight, I would like to introduce myself on your blog, it seems to be the most popular. I have a blog of my own now. I do not like the fact that you are moving, however, I like the fact that I can still communicate with you and your homies. I hope you don't mind me introducing myself, I am the sibling of the Queen of Arts and England(who calls you dear). Therefore, I am technically a prince(or something), but it would sound odd if I was called Prince Lukolas, so I decided to stay with just Lukolas.
Now, on the matter of your post, which I read, I was wondering what people do you love and where is here? And what list of songs are you speaking of? Could you inform me soon.

Meiska said...

I think you ( whoever 'anonymous' is) are just jealous that I don't call you dear. Would you not call someone dear if their thoughts were so close to your own?
You can't even post your real name and you worry about me calling SirKnight dear!( I'm not really mad, I'm just kidding!tee-hee) Well, technically, you asked for it.( ouch,that was from lukolas)

Eucharisto said...

I agree. I think it is definitely worth my time to invest myself in a movie. I'm probably different than your average movie goer off the street, who watch films just to be entertained. I love to be challenged, intellecually, spiritually, and so on. A movie that just entertains and answers all of the questions it asks really doesn't give me the want to give it future merit. I love a good thought-provoking film.

Mat Brewster said...

I think the difference lies in the mediums. The elements of story are the same, but the means in which you tell them are completely different. Books use words, letters, punctuation to tell the story. They can give the reader information on the deepest thoughts of a character. Movies rely on images (yes books also have images but they are described and the reader then creates an image) to tell most of the story. Words are spoken with nuances from a perfomer.

But also, the investment you have is different. Typically you sit down in one spell and watch a movie which lasts a couple of hours (or 4 if you happen to be watching Branaughs version of Hamlet) and then it is over. A book you read more leisurely. Often I read for only ten minutes or so before I am interupted by some other duty. A book poses a question and you can stop and ponder it awhile or back up and reread a passage. Though you can rewind a dvd and do the same I would say most people don't. Movies pack their themes more compactly where a book can spread it out. And then their is Hollywood which has ingrained certain elements into how a film is supposed to be. So when it ends without giving you certain answers you feel more wronged.

There are movies that ask more questions than they answer and leave you with the same feeling that a book will. You just have to seek them out. From the list of movies you haven given recently I would say you are on the right track.

Andrew Price said...

To the Queen of Arts and England, I reckon' all you friends think; they're just not egotistical enough to put a sample of the mess out on the Internet.

Lukalos, "here" is, I think, Tennessee. And no, I'm not going to make a "top ten" type list of the people I love. Sorry.

Meiska said...

Ha! I just now (3-21-05)saw that last comment, master of 'egotistical posting'!
( I hope you know that I am being sarcastic!)