rayboh

[rayboh]

Why Movies Lie to Us.

If you have ever watched a movie and not picked apart all of the small nuances that the production team got wrong, did you really watch the movie and take it in? In practically every movie, there is a sense of falsity. Whether you believe that the romantic couple should not have ended up together or the war movie was told in a different sequence to real life, they all lie in some way, shape or form. Some call it a cliche or recognizable trope that the viewer knows to be untrue, but believes anyway for the sake of the plot. In any matter, movies lie to us, and I am going to tell you why…

Whenever watching a romance movie, no matter how bad the plot, actors, or set, I always become invested in seeing the whole thing through; I am enamored. Take the Hallmark channel, for example, every movie has basically the same plot--boy meets girl, they eventually fall in love, there is a conflict, and they get back together to live happily ever after. While the actors and scenery vary from movie to movie, they all follow the same structure, so why do people, such as myself, keep watching each one? It is the illusion that it brings into my life and the subsequent disillusionment of reality, which brings me back to watch more movies. None of these movies have a true basis in reality, which is why the disillusionment can hit almost every time. Not every person gets their happily ever after, and surely not every person makes up as frequently and as quickly as those in movies do, but there is always a yearning for real life to happen the way it does in movies. The enchanted feeling I get from these movies is a reason why movies lie to us. The production team knows that these movies invoke this feeling and the suspension of reality that I get, and so they also know that I will keep coming back for more movies of this sort. I will never be satisfied with just one fake romance because my significant other will never be as perfect as any love interest the movie industry can conjure up.

Once I get used to the different plots and sequences that movies can be shaped into, I get used to the lies, and most of the time, expect them to happen. Have you ever questioned why the nerd always gets the girl, or the best friend always knows what to say, or even that every character gets paper bags from the grocery store, which are filled with at least one baguette? Probably not, but that is because you are used to seeing it over and over again throughout many different movies and it is now considered the norm. These norms are established through popular culture and constantly change throughout the years, but they can still be considered lies. The movie industry does this because it is easier for them to establish a connection with me if I already understand the concept and recognize it from past narratives. 

Sometimes the lie can be necessary for advancement of the plot. I know that this character in a mystery movie, most likely a curious young man or woman in their late teens, doesn’t have any background in law enforcement, but the break-through of the plot relies on them solving the case. This is a loop-hole. No one in real life would be able to do half of the things people in movies do, but we believe it anyway because we are hooked on the plot and the closure that the lies may bring about. The emotional appeal is always strong; the plot advocates for me to side with the main character, so when they are put in dire situations, I am emotionally attached to them coming out the hero or for the better, so that the plot may be concluded. 

In the mystery and crime genre, many a time, the main character breaks several laws in their act to solve a case and bring a killer, or whoever the antagonist is, to justice, yet there is never any repercussions brought about because of it. In real life, if I break a law looking for someone, my actions will have notable consequences and cannot be brushed off because I solved a different crime or mystery; I will be held accountable. The character in the movie is rarely held accountable because what would it achieve in terms of the plot or message, and in terms of audience approval? Nothing good. With my rooting for that character to solve the case--a perspective fashioned by the production team--I am also attached to their actions, and if they were held accountable in the movie, I would become indignant and outraged that someone who just possibly saved the world, or the small town, from a villain would be punished in any way. 

In conclusion, movies lie to us because they can. The movie industry has established a set of norms within the community that people like you and me already buy into, whether truthful or misleading. They know that if I become emotionally invested in a genre or a character or a plot-line, the industry will keep producing more like it because they know that I will buy into it. I become stuck in the illusion that movies can bring to my reality, or I have seen something so many times over in different productions that in seeing it again, I won't bat an eyelash. When we become invested, we invest in more movies that lie. Sometimes we see the lie as truth, and sometimes we see past it and ignore it for the sake of the plot, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is, in fact, a lie.