Movies and Misguidances
In the world of cinema, we are often swept away by mesmerizing narratives, visuals and larger-than-life characters. Movies have this unique ability to move its audience, capture emotions and create inspiration. Fanatics immerse themselves completely into these visuals and start experiencing these narratives for themselves. This process starts to diminish the fine lines between this magical cinematic world and the reality. These cinematic illusions, while entertaining, can often distort our perceptions of reality and influence our behaviors in ways that may not always be beneficial. Fans may get vastly influenced by certain characters and their stories and try to comply with them in real life. This is an addictive process.
Typically, this is a case of "monkey see, monkey do" kind of process. A monkey whilst copying an action doesn't really justify the worth of that action for themselves. A watcher needs to have this active sense of evaluation, to sense whether they should draw inspiration from certain characters or movies. Certain movies like Kabir Singh and Animal, to name a few, may portray certain "toxic" characters as leads, and people with a weak sense of such judgement may get influenced and start wanting to act in a similar fashion. This corrupts the viewer's personality and leads them down a wrong path, not suited for them. However, an active viewer will judge the actions of the characters before getting impacted by it, and if the action seems away not fit for them, they would just view it as a piece of entertainment, without developing a need to be captured by it. Some movies should just be viewed for the sake of entertainment, and not for the process of inspiration or influence. This discernment is crucial to have to live peacefully and well.
Other ways in which movies misguide us are captured in the narratives. Certain storylines and scenes may contain unrealistic or exaggerated portrayals of aspects of life. They often present idealized versions of romantic relationships, with loads of conflicts but where love conquers all and resolves everything. In reality, relationships require effort and compromise. Movies promote the notion of love at first sight and grand gestures, which can create unrealistic expectations. Action movies often depict excessive violence as a viable solution to problems. These characters don't face real consequences of their aggression, untrue in real life, where violence rarely solves problems and is followed by serious consequences. Films often depict unrealistic beauty standards, with actors and actresses possessing mesmerizing and flawless looks. This can lead to body image issues and low self-esteem among viewers, who may start comparisons with these idealized forms of beauty. In reality, beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and forms. Many movies have plotlines, where success is achieved through extraordinary circumstances or overnight fame. This can discourage individuals from putting in the much-required hard work, which is necessary to achieve their goals.
Cinema has often lied to us, but, it comes with an understanding in the form of a warning at the start that says "This film is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental". So, one needs to take this disclaimer seriously while forming opinions of these movies, and not let these control them but be a means of standards and just pure entertainment.