Normal(ish) versus Weird

This match-up brings the director who created some of the most loved movies from my childhood (Ferris Bueler's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, etc.) up against the director of one of the most intriquing, strange television shows ever to appear on network tv, Twin Peaks (as far as I know...plus it depends on your definition of strange--most reality shows are weird as f**k). It's my old favorite, weirdness, versus the powerful force of nostalgia. Bring it.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

I had seen a lot of John Hughes movies, but never Planes, Trains, and Automobiles starring John Candy and Steve Martin. My main impression of this film is that it is the progenitor of the now classic disaster comedy with heart that has brought us many of Ben Stiller's films, including the terrible Focker series. While some of this movie was funny, and I'm glad that the message about kindness and friendship came through at the end, Hughes had a surprisingly difficult time convincing me that these were real people with a real connection that I should care about. Candy was delightful and complicated, and he was the closest to creating a full person in his annoying, lovable schmuck character. I'm not sure why Hughes made this movie. It's like he thought to himself, Hey, why keep making hit comedies with teenagers that touch people and connect with them? Instead I'll make a shallow, glad-that-isn't-me everday adventure movie with adults that are stagnant and disconnected. Maybe he got dared to do a movie with adult characters or just got bored. But why not stick with what works, especially when it works so well?

I guess a lot of other people enjoyed this movie more than me because otherwise we wouldn't watch it for this showdown, but for me, it just falls flat. I'm not sure if it's the antics from Martin that feel stale or how much it reminds me of Meet the Fockers, but for some reason I'm not buying this movie from a director who usually delivers real emotional connections with characters that feel genuine.

Blue Velvet

Lynch goes beyond weird. He requires a new label, a new definition for this film. The reason this film is worth watching, though, is that the weirdness all pays off. It is there for a reason and Lynch thought it through, he didn't just throw random shit together, he thought about a consistent, interesting message and the most shocking, effective way to convey it.

There is a theme that begins with the first scene: an examination of the underground and the role it sometimes plays as a distraction from troubles and dangers that are closer to home. When the main character (played artfully by Kyle Maclachlan of Twin Peaks) comes home from college because of his father's potentially fatal and  mysterious accident, he embroils himself in the underground drama of a near-insane woman (Isabella Rossellini), seeking out danger and crisis that can distract from the possibility of his own life becoming too difficult to handle. The distance allows him to deal with the insanity of the world he has snuck into, but once it overwhelms him, the narrative moves back to his own family and life. Not only is the story Lynch creates iconic and visually shocking, but meaningful and deep. I really enjoyed this crazy movie and I'm interested to see more of what Lynch does with a full film.

The Breakfast Club

I have loved this movie from the first viewing, which was so long ago that I can't pinpoint the timing. I have identified during different periods of my life with most of the characters in the film (and interestingly enough, in this most recent time watching it, I thought about how pissed off I would be if students trashed my library that way). Is this movie realistic? Not really, but part of making and watching movies is suspending disbelief. There is enough truth in this film to make it important and worthwhile, and when the students begin to search deeper, beyond how they look, talk, or behave, they begin to connect on a purely human level, sharing secret, valuable parts of themselves, becoming vulnerable and real to each other. This is the type of movie that can help people recognize humanity in others. We love the characters which means we start to love the people they are meant to represent: the prom queens, jocks, criminals, brains, and freaks that we see every day, especially in high school.

This reminds me of a comic from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal that I absolutely love and that highlights a lot of what I think is wrong with our society:

We are so afraid as we get older about what other people think that we stifle our individuality and stifle ourselves. And then one day, it's too late and we've lost connection with that passionate child that will draw the way they want to draw because they have to be themselves, have to find themselves. I hope I never lose connection with that part of myself. I hope I'm always weird simply because it's who I am. Hughes reminds me of that wish through this movie and I recognize that there's a very good reason it holds a special place in my nostalgia-driven heart: it's really freaking' good.

The Elephant Man

This movie absolutely blew me away. I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I got was an emotionally wrenching, intelligent, suspenseful and impressive drama about how we treat those who are different and highly abnormal. What happens to the titular "elephant man" says a lot about society and about him as an individual. What he craves is to be normal, and normalcy is defined by the way others treat us. He never attains that dream, even when he spends time in "normal" activities like having tea with guests, those guests are not there for the pleasantness in his demeanor, his polite, gentle nature, or to engage him in discussion. They are there to become more notable, because it's fashionable, or because they want to see the infamous "elephant man." This brings up a very important question: when what is in vogue is something positive and good, does the efficacy and value of doing that good thing for the sake of popularity and others' regard still as impactful? It reminds me of the "Green" movement. Most of the time I say to myself, "The commodification of green living is a positive force because money is what moves in our society and if people are doing it because it's hip, they're still doing it." But the issue is more complicated than that, because if anyone can slap "Green" on a t-shirt just to sell it without actually taking into consideration how to produce it equitably, we run into the crux of the problem.

If a movie set in late 19th century England about a deformed man can take me on this kind of inquisitive journey, it has successfully communicated across time. It has also stirred things deeply connected to my passions, that are important for me to stew over and connect and everyone should take the time to wonder: "How would I treat John Merrick if I were to meet him?"

If it isn't apparent that David Lynch just won this contest, I haven't done my job. Planes, trains, and automobiles has sunk John Hughes battleship. And I am so pumped for Eraserhead.