(Guest post by James Frazier)
What’s your favorite movie?”
Not a day goes by where I don’t discuss movies, and I’ve been asked the above question more than all others combined. It’s an obvious one, but flawed and virtually impossible to answer.
I’ve made a point of never giving a straight response, instead demanding the questioner either narrow or widen the parameters of the query.
This has doubtlessly ensured that I’ve been passed over for promotion and have missed out on a number of lovers, but a man has to draw a line in the sand somewhere.
Consider the shortcomings of that question.
What does one movie say about anyone? How does one account for idiosyncratic choices, or ones born of fond childhood memories? One’s favorite movie might be “The Notebook,” but what if their second favorite is “Ghost World?” How to judge the splatter film fanatic who adores “Forrest Gump” above all else?
But this problem is trivial compared to the real issue: I don’t have a favorite movie. Once you’ve seen several dozen masterpieces, how is it possible to consider one to be a cut above the rest?
There’s a better version of the question that the merciful and the thoughtful employ instead: name your five favorite movies. This one is significantly better, eliminating the difficulty posed by idiosyncrasy. Pick a person, any person, and their answer to this one tell you something about them, even if just a little bit.
Imagine three people. All of them list “Star Wars” as their favorite. Expand the question to five movies instead of one. The first then says “Star Wars, The Big Lebowski, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Groundhog’s Day.”
The second says “Star Wars, Juno, The Breakfast Club, Empire Records, and Clueless.” The third says “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Return of the Jedi,” “Evil Dead II” and “Fight Club.”
Looking through these selections, three very different people come to mind, even though their initial answer is identical. Isn’t the answer much more telling?
But I’ve got one that’s even more indicative of one’s personality and tastes, at least if you really love movies. When I want to learn about someone through their taste in cinema, I ask “what do you recommend to people?”
Think of all the different sorts of people you know, with a seemingly infinite range of tastes. Think of the films you love, the ones that speak to you when they unfold, the works that by loving say something meaningful about you. Then consider the questioner: what might a particular film say about you to them?
Here are a few of my (but not ironclad) answers for this question, categorized by audience:
- Friends: “Sling Blade”
- Male Strangers: “Hard Boiled”
- Female Strangers: “Near Dark”
- Women I Have a Romantic Interest In: “Sideways”
- Older Kids: “Welcome to the Dollhouse”
- Cinephiles: “Casino”
All answers different, each giving a piece of specific information about who I am and what makes me tick. By the time you explain why you would recommend what to whom, an array of personal details will have crystallized.
Who knows, think about it long enough and you might even learn a bit about yourself.
James Frazier is a graduate student just about to enter his final semester at the University of Northern Iowa. He has written film reviews for the university newspaper for three years and for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier for a year and a half. When his friends and acquaintances have a question about movies or handguns, they often go to him first, for which he is thankful.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a very interesting discussion. However, I am one of those people who does have a hands-down favorite movie, and when I say the name of that movie I often get the response, “I think I remember that one.”
My favorite is “Dead Poets Society.” No matter who I am talking to, it is always the same. So what do you think this says about me Mr. Frazier?
BTW, I laughed outloud at your reference to “Sideways.” Clever.
Thanks Heidi! I actually haven’t seen “Dead Poets Society,” though I’m told it’s big into the carpe diem philosophy. I’ll put it at the top of my Netflix queue, though!
If a woman I like can love “Sideways,” then perhaps there’s a chance she could love me as well. I feel a connection with the main character: drinker, a critic, teaches English for the money, wanna be novelist, etc.
“teaches English for the money”
…Not from my planet then, are ya?
Wankette: Do you teach English? If so, please hit me with some golden advice.
Also, I believe there’s a typo here, as “Tombstone” was suppose to be listed in the top five of subject number one.