I was running across some lines in my homework text that got me to thinking. The lines were from Augustine's Confessions/ I quote "Only, when he himself suffers, it is called misery; when he feels compassion for others, it is called mercy."
The above statement did not really get me to thinking but the rest of the paragraph, which I am going to paraphrase, says someone who goes to like a show will be all upset and critique the play if they didn't not feel pain for the main characters or were not amused. The viewer who feels sympathy or laughs stays enraptured. i find what Augustine said to be very true even if it was written in like 340 AD. When people don't get anything out of the movie they call it crap or say don't waste your money. Movies like Zoolander, Kung Pow, or the Master of Disguise fit the bill for being wastes of my time. Movies like Four Brothers, Happy Feet, Transformers, or 300 kept me in my seat. I felt for those movies. Each one made me feel proud or cry or feel sorry or miserable or begging for mercy.
I just found it interesting that things have to have meaning, Misery or Mercy, Whichever one floats your boat, to grab your attention and to make you think. All the movies that kept me enthralled also got me thinking about myself and what I could do to bring about a change in myself or in the world. Call me coo coo for cocoa puffs. I am out!
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I love movies that really make me feel as well. I guess that's what they're designed to do.