As a 20-year-old who has amateur to nonexistent knowledge of film criticism, I’ve been dipping my toes into a type of movie that has captivated my times of leisure. I must confess that I have done a little research of my own, one that now fills my daydreams, a sudden obsession with this iconic Hollywood director. She is named just like yours truly, and is a prodigious genius that produces out of this stratosphere stories with its quirks, deep messages of fantastic love, experimental ideas, and these agonizingly beautiful soliloquies.
When reality hits, I remember that these fantasies remain fantasies, so I dive into the loving art form of admiring movies–and being extremely critical of them. I have trained my mind to be open to any genre and what it has to offer. I have my favorites, of course, yet, I just recently discovered my new favorite story to watch on the big screen (or in my bedroom while streaming): slice-of-life stories.
I recently watched Frances Ha, written and starred by the famous Barbie director, Greta Gerwig, when she was younger, and I was awed by it. Pretty simple plot and excellently written script about a very normal, yet relatable, person just trying to be a young human. The movie tells the story of a simple woman that dances, can’t pay the rent in New York City, and has no idea what she is doing. I guess that the simplicity of being a character that makes mistakes, just like us, and has their small triumphs struck me. It isn’t a small story, but an immense one.
Taken by me from film Frances Ha
Most of us gravitate toward contents that include high fantasy, life or death intervals, over the top production, and very heavy emotional turmoils, which is part of the magic of movies and art. And there are a great deal of movies that have installed an image in our minds that reminds us that we must strive for greatness like these fictional characters. I grew up admiring fictional people such as the save the world character, or the smart overachiever character that does it all. It created an expectation of me wanting to achieve at least 1% of what those imaginative beings reached. Well, I believe that America Ferrera said it best in Barbie. Sometimes, we would love to see a comfortable doll that just wants to get through the day. Most times people just want to see others concentrating on being humans, because just doing their thing in this complicated world is also exciting. We are extraordinary at learning how to navigate our problems and developing new ambitions. And these characters might not help me get written into history books with extraordinary achievements, but, isn’t my ordinary story worth watching? Now, this 20-year-old is a deep hardcore fan of versatile movies that contain amazing scripts, out-of-the-screen acting, and plots that just make me question why I’m so hard on myself for not having my life together. New movies that are not romantic comedies, such as The Worst Person in the World, are an ode to being normal. It is a portrayal of a character not knowing what they want from life, or from their partner, and how that change can be for better or worse, but ultimately it doesn’t matter because it is their weird life.
I feel at ease watching this young person decide so wrongly, or so correctly, fight her urges, and maybe even succumb to them and perhaps I’ll even assist in creating those stories or I will just keep on enjoying them. These movies without a doubt should be given more credit, or at least continue to be written, because the nuances reality brings to the table are equally as interesting as the fantasy in film.
Taken by me from film The Worst Person in the World