The film, Stranger Than Fiction was needless to say interesting. I enjoyed
the comedy because it tickled my funny bone. Will Ferrell is one of my favorite,
comedic actors and he definitely made me laugh. His character (whose the main
character) Harold Crick is very organized, clean and kind of a bore. His life
is not exciting whatsoever but he seem content of where he is at in life. His daily
routine consist of waking up at a certain time every morning. He brushes his teeth a certain amount of times in different strokes. He gets dressed in a similar looking suit to his others. He counts his steps, catches the bus on time and goes to work on time as well. He does this everyday without fail. He is very dedicated to his routine and the details around him. Quickly, it becomes obvious that his character has traits of obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD for short. OCD is an anxiety disorder that causes uncontrollable, repetitive behavior that a person feel that they have to do. He does not exactly has the disorder first hand but he features some of the symptoms.
In the beginning of the film, he is a static character; not changing or really developing. But as the movie goes, he changes and becomes an dynamic character when his life gets invaded by a narrative voice of an famous writer. He transforms from this boring, man of order to this happy, living man who no longer cares about order or numbers. He goes with the flow, meets a woman, changes his attire, and his whole life around fulfilling his past desires. He learns that it is okay to be carefree and do all the things he has wanted but never did. That is another thing he suffers from in the beginning, denying his desires and needs but all that changed within time and a lady's voice.
In the beginning of the film, he is a static character; not changing or really developing. But as the movie goes, he changes and becomes an dynamic character when his life gets invaded by a narrative voice of an famous writer. He transforms from this boring, man of order to this happy, living man who no longer cares about order or numbers. He goes with the flow, meets a woman, changes his attire, and his whole life around fulfilling his past desires. He learns that it is okay to be carefree and do all the things he has wanted but never did. That is another thing he suffers from in the beginning, denying his desires and needs but all that changed within time and a lady's voice.
This movie has a nice balance of
literature and film mixed together. The plot of the movie promotes common
themes of literature, clichés, typical relationships, different genres and classic characters. Stranger
Than Fiction is the movie that confronts every classic, mutual movie slash
book out there how predictable literature have become. Opposites always
attract, there is a hero and a villain, someone has a change of heart, someone
changes their life for themselves, love is in the air, there are laughs, tears
and then someone dies. The end. This happens almost ninety-five percent of the
time in films these days and this picture happen to do the same but in a
different way that is exposing the secret to literature adaptation. I
personally enjoyed the film and the messages behind it. My religion of being a
Baptist does not affect the way I see or read literature because I am not
religious to the point where I let this movie and or many others affect me in a
literal sense. My faith does not have a say so in my movie life and it is
alright. This motion picture brought the truth to the light and there is
nothing greater than the truth in a strange way.
*If this sounds like a movie you will like, you can watch here. Here's the link: Stranger Than Fiction
I liked Stranger Than Fiction better than Adaptation, perhaps because I could relate to the movie more, but I think it is just because it is a better movie. When you said, "Stranger Than Fiction is the movie that confronts every classic, mutual movie slash book out there how predictable literature have become", you were right on. Movies and literature have become predictable but is that because in this world nothing is new and original anymore. Concepts such as werewolves, vampires, drunken fathers, daddy issues, are not new anymore, even though they were once considered new. In ten years will there be such a thing as a new concept? I do think life is stranger than fiction, prime example of this is Joan Crawford, aka Mommie Dearest. Joan Crawford and Bette Davis had a bitter feud in the golden days of Hollywood. Davis was seen as the mean one and Crawford was seen as the nice one. In truth, the roles were the opposite. Crawford beat her kids with wire hangers. In the case of Joan Crawford, her life is stranger than fiction and more harsh. Sometimes a tired old cliched can be redone to reach a new audience, case in point, Stephen King's Salem's Lot. Salem's Lot is a mixture of Dracula and Peyton Place. The book is better than the tv movie but the tv movie is good and as a kid did scare me in a few places. Sorry for the rambling, to get back to your idea the movie does confront the idea of originality on but does it break any rules. The hero of the story lives and ends up with his damsel in distress at the end anyways.
ReplyDeleteI love that you talk about how "typical" this movie is in many ways. I think, probably because we are in a "Lit. and Film" class, we have been focusing so much on the adaptation side of this movie and forgetting that the majority of the plot is just like so many other movies out there at its core. Boy has sad life, boy meets girl, boy starts to change his life, boy and girl fight, boy and girl fall in love, boy has some sort of serious trial to go through, boy and girl live happily-ever-after. There is nothing wrong with this formula, and "Stranger than Fiction" does have more to it than that, as we have been talking about in class, but I think you make a valid point about the formulaic nature of fiction and film. I'm wondering, was Ana necessary? Was that extra "love" plot necessary to the main point of the film, or was it just extra fluff added because that's what we have come to expect in films of this nature today?
ReplyDeleteI agree that that the film promotes or directs focus toward common themes in literature. It seems to me that the film both satirizes and pays homage to the reoccurring themes, relationships, endings, etc...that we have come to expect. We see Hoffman's character referring to various story types and genres as predictable static models, while the film itself has a familiar cliche like ending. It seems to me that cliches become what they are for a reason, some more popular and endearing than others. Truth is, we keep paying to read and see these stories. I don't know if I can think of one successful novel or film that is completely cliche free. It's interesting to think of the possibility that virtually every story that is appealing to Humankind has, at least in a bare bones way, already been told.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this film is very self-consciously formulaic. It is a work of meta-fiction or a meta-film -- it comments on its own structure and content. Adaptation is also metanarrative because it is self-aware of the construction of story. Both films aim to direct our attention to their content and characters in self-conscious ways. We are in on the joke if we know the patterns (i.e. the literary types that Prof.Hilbert quizzes Harold on, or the expected Hollywood conventions in film).
ReplyDeleteI like Will too, he is a funny guy. His character did change once he found out that he was going to die. But I thought it him not wanting to die and seek advice from the Dustin Hoffman character. With him seeing that no matter what he does, his fate will not change, this makes him live a carefree life.
ReplyDeleteVery true! It does give away the secrets of literature in a way, by poking fun at how movies take us through every life event possible in 2.5hrs. I never realized that until I read your last paragraph about, "Opposites always attract, there is a hero and a villain, someone has a change of heart, someone changes their life for themselves, love is in the air, there are laughs, tears and then someone dies. The end."
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