Monday, January 18, 2010

What If...


What if there were no movies? How would the world get the majority of its entertainment? Many movies are based off of books that were written long before the film was released. But would the world have the want to read books, especially now. Plays and books would still be the only way to entertain ourselves similar to movies. One major difference I can see is that there would be no TV since TV shows arrived due to the invention of film. Radio may still be around, but the idea for picture and sound would have to eventually enter someone's mind. Many cultural icons have arisen from films, as well as clothing fads. Our culture revolves around movies. The plots and characters influence us in ways we may not even realize. Emotional movies make you think about choices you have made recently. One great example of a movie that has influenced me is The Book of Eli. I recommend seeing this movie, it is both emotional, full of action, and makes you think. The United States even has a part of a city that revolves around movies. Hollywood is a district of Los Angeles, one of the largest cities in the United States. Around the year 1900, Hollywood started construction of movie theaters and other productions sites. Hollywood would never have grown into the city it is now without the help of all the actors and actresses that make movies. My biggest concern for the absence of movies would be my absence of a job, seeing as I work at a movie theater. The amount of money earned by the movie companies also helps keep the economy from tanking. Think of all the $500,000,000 that James Cameron spent on Avatar to make it into the movie it is today. Years of thinking goes into successful movies, take Avatar for example, James Cameron had been working on Avatar since 1994, it was not completed and shown until almost 15 years later in 2009. One of the largest cinema releases that I can fathom that were originally based off of a series of books would be Lord of the Rings. Many now know the world of The Lord of the Rings, but only because they watched Peter Jackson's cinema version and not because they read the original book by the creator of all thing Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien. Another large series of movies based from books is the Harry Potter series. My point is that many others would not know the adventure and entertainment of these wonderful series if not for the invention of the movie.