Life vs. Art

I am not a writer or an artist. I only read books occasionally and watch movies sometimes. I used to listen to music and go to concert performances, but I no longer have the time nor the opportunity. In a life of somewhat monotonous routines, I often want to escape into movies which portray a different life.

Most people including myself like movies that feel real because we identify with the characters. But it does not mean that we want to watch real life. Just earlier today I had a discussion with a friend on the movie "One Day", which I did not particularly like but left an impression because I was surprised that a movie like that could be produced. My friend wrote, "But I do wish the filmmakers set up Anne Hathaway's death and sold it a little better. Her death was completely out of the blue. I had not been expecting it, and didn't see any signs of it coming. It felt arbitrary, like the filmmakers were breaking the bargain with the viewer, since the viewer expected from the beginning of the movie that the relationship would be developped in an interesting way. Yes, in real life, death is often unexpected and out of the blue. But in a movie, the filmmaker has a contract with the viewer to make it more organic to the rest of the story line, perhaps by dropping hints earlier or making her character ruminate on death earlier in the story; otherwise, it feels like a cop out."

Indeed when art completely imitates life, we are not interested. When we go to the movies, we are thrilled at those totally unlikely but yet predictable turn of events that either reunite long lost lovers, or save people from near death. We do not want to see "real life" in movies, when the turn of events are totally likely and yet utterly unpredictable. Therefore, it is a wonder that a movie like "One Day" was even made.