Valuable Lessons from Films: a Movie Review

Today, I managed to watch two films. The first was “Jurassic Park” on Netflix, and the second was “Beauty and the Beast” in the theaters. In fact, I also watched “Good Burger” on Netflix last night. I definitely recommend watching all three movies.

1. Good Burger is definitely one of my favorite childhood films. There is definitely a goofy factor to it. Having only been to California twice in my life, my image of Cali stems from movies such as this. This and Mighty Ducks. I think the film does a good job of portraying the dangers of chemical additives to food, driving without a license, and conning a person into signing an unfair contract. I feel like we need to be constantly reminded of these seemingly cliché concepts that are portrayed in these kid’s movies. People nowadays seem to ignore these fundamental lessons because we somehow believe that we deserve more sophisticated lessons in life wrapped in more complex facts and vocabularies. Yet, the root of disconnect and widening gap in our society could be exactly attributed to overlooking these basic ideas.

   

2. I loved dinosaurs as a child. I used to memorize the names of all the dinosaurs. The first Jurassic Park is definitely a classic and a must-watch. I heard the book is actually better than the film, but there is something magical about the film. I liked Spielberg’s interpretation and the visual image he was able to produce as a director. My favorite line is by Dr. Malcom who says, “John, the kind of control [control of breeding through genetically modifying sex of dinosaurs] you’re attempting simply is… it’s not possible. If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it’s that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh… well, there it is.” My second favorite line is also by Dr. Malcom who says, ” 
   

   Dr. Ian Malcolm: If I may… Um, I’ll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you’re using here, it didn’t require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now [bangs on the table] you’re selling it, you wanna sell it. Well…
   John Hammond: I don’t think you’re giving us our due credit. Our scientists have done things which nobody’s ever done before…
   Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.

    

   You’re welcome to interpret those two moments however you like. But the biggest lesson from this lesson is to freeze when there is a T-Rex nearby.

   

3. Beauty and the Beast, the animated version, is my childhood. So I was actually quite excited to see this new film with Emma Watson. I am a fan of her from the Harry Potter series, so I definitely had high expectations. I was also worried because I know how critical people can be, especially when it comes to experimenting with an already established classic. Overall, I really enjoyed the film. I was fine with missing an elite eight game for it. I think the lesson with this movie is pretty obvious. Make sure you know how to dance because there may come a day when you have to on a big stage. And make sure you read books, so you recite a few lines with a loved one. I really cannot emphasize enough the importance of reading. I feel like more and more people are able to speak out nowadays due to the advent of social media and internet, which is great. But we also need to be able to support our arguments and opinions with evidence. And that evidence really comes from reading. Listen and watch as they are good also, but don’t forget to read for yourself. Lastly, don’t judge a person by his/her appearance. It is as simple as that. There is no need to over-interpret that. I fall into the same temptation all the time because stereotyping is part of our social DNA. But the actions we decide to carry out towards others should always be double and triple-checked. Think before you act. We need to constantly remind ourselves of these cliché statements.

I know I was supposed to talk about my exam results and analysis tonight. Tonight, however, I just felt like talking about films and cliché life lessons that we should not overlook. I will post the exam results by the end of next weekend. In any case, cardiopulmonary and renal systems begin tomorrow for me. As for the rest of you, have a great week. Cheers!