Before I went into high school, I watched the 1986 film Stand By Me, and saw the true power of cinema for the first time.
On a rainy day, to pass the time, my family and I decided to rent some movies. I chose Stand By Me, a coming of age film, that when boiled down to it is simply about childhood and letting it go. By the next day when everyone was back outside, I was inside, glued to the T.V re-watching the movie. I was captured by the story, River Phoenix’s performance, and how it manifested the feelings I couldn’t express.
So many people have this experience in the theatre or sitting on the couch at home. Movies can help us feel less alone in who we are and what we feel. Quickly, the distance between the screen and the viewer shrinks until we can see ourselves reflected in the characters we’re watching. Stand By Me made it easier for me to let go of things, and to appreciate myself for who I was. I truly don’t think I’d be an English major with a deep love for stories if this film hadn’t come into my life. However, I believe the true power of cinema is how it connects us to each other. No other medium allows you to witness the experiences of another person on such an intimate level. The music used, the camera angles, the dialogue, the performance of the actors, the lighting, everything. It all comes together to create a moment that we would have never been able to imagine on our own. Simply put by legendary Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa “cinema is a system that can inspire people of the world to get along”.
My experience in the theatre or cuddled up on the couch has changed who I am as a person. It’s made me more understanding of experiences that I’ve never had and it has taught me about people I’ve never met. After watching The Basketball Diaries, a film about a young boy whose drug addiction leads him into crime and prostitution, it became easier for me to understand how a person can feel powerless to their addiction. Soon after I finished the 2019 mini-series When They See Us, about the real life case of the central park five, my idea of the criminal justice system shattered. These are just two examples of the various films that have shaped my understanding of the world, and I feel have made that understanding more sympathetic.
Cinema has the power to make us witness to experiences we could have never otherwise seen. No matter how much you may have read about the topic a movie is discussing, seeing it played out allows for emotions to resonate in a way that no other medium can accomplish. It’s like watching Tom Hanks storm the beach in Saving Private Ryan, no documentary or diary brings you on the ground of what that experience was like quite like that film. Even World War II veterans said that it was the most realistic depiction of the battle on Omaha Beach they had ever seen. Now, this film is used in history classes and brings students close to an experience that happened 76 years ago. In 2017, the film Hidden Figures told the story of four African American women named Christine Darden, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan who worked for NASA during the space race. After the film was released the four women received Congressional Gold Medals, finally being recognized for their contribution to science and American innovation. This film, much like Saving Private Ryan, brought audiences closer to the people of the past and visualized the experiences they endured to create our present.
Whether it’s a film about a real life, a historical event, or a human experience that you feel distant from, movies bring us together. They make it easier to understand one another, and easier to understand ourselves.