On Being Superficial...

I've always been a sucker for older movies.

You might be thinking, "What kind of an idiot watches movies before 2010?!  WHAT A LOSER."

This one does.  Nice to meet you.

Anyway, you know the ones with the signature "rough-around-the-edges", vintage video quality.  Some good examples would be Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, The Breakfast Club, The Basketball Diaries, etc (The list goes on and on, but I'll stop right here so I don't lose your attention).  I've always found these movies much more brusque (in a good way) than the impeccable high definition we have nowadays.  I'm not really complaining though.  Technology has come a long way since the 70's and 80's, and new discoveries and methods of doing things are being made daily.

Most of my friends despise older movies.  When prompted for a reason, they usually talk about how bad the video quality is.  I think this is a very shallow mindset to adopt.  Because one thing that these modern flicks are lacking that most of the ones from the 80's and 90's had were down-to-earth, relatable plot lines, and above all, the gritty attitude.  Okay, actually I only mean to attach "relatable plot-lines" to "The Breakfast Club", since the odds of landing yourself in a state-wide crime syndicate and almost getting sodomized by a corrupt cop and his gimp, then saving the man that tried to empty his pistol into your temple by hacking said cop to death with a katana, or getting kicked out of your house because of a heroin addiction is hardly relatable.  However, the stories are presented in such a manner that you feel as if you are a character in the movie. The scripts are all very simple and raw.  If you look at movies nowadays, you can see how much more polished they are.  The quality of movies post 2000 are truly amazing, but I am not able to immerse myself inside the movie to feel as if I am part of it because it is just too perfect.  Grit is given up in exchange for quality.  That's just the way things go I guess...

But ever since I've learned to appreciate and watch older movies (which was about the age of 15, so only a few years actually), I've been able to apply the concept of looking past the surface of things to not only movies, but my relationships with people, music, and every day situations.  I have met people that have told me things like, "I don't like so-and-so, his hair makes him look like a douchebag."

My response to that is, "Are you serious?  You don't like him because of his hair?  Have you even talked to him?"  It's ridiculous, because this person could be the nicest person in the world, and you're going to judge someone based on what kind of hair they have?  What kind of a shallow waste of skin does that?  It is unfair to judge somebody before talking to them and getting to know them personally, which is why I will never say anything negative about somebody until I know for sure (from firsthand experience) that they are class A dickheads.

I will never understand people who have some sort of a set opinion on others before actually making any contact with them...