Friday, November 17, 2006

Playing favourites...

You know how it goes... you ask someone a question, and then they ask
you the same thing, and so on. Social flip-flopping, I like to think.

Someone said they liked movies, and I asked the fairly obvious question...
"Your favourite movies?"

"Blah blah blah..... yours?"

Here was the sticky bit. I couldn't name any. I think I've seen more
movies than most people within a 40 km radius, yet I couldn't come up
with five movies I liked the most. Why was it so difficult?

Movies have always been in my life. They hinted at a bigger world
beyond my grasp. Different people, different places... acting skills
or cinematographic prowess didn't seem to matter. As long as there was
a tale to tell, I was hooked. Every film, good or bad, was a glimpse
into the mind of another person, and I was hungry for that.

Every once in a while there would be a film that resonated with me, in
a way that had nothing to do with how good it was. They meant
something to me at that point of time in my life, which if I saw now I
would probably classify as drivel. So do I consider them my favourite
films? Or do I consider films I thought to be especially good? Most
films I found to be especially good, and works of art, meant nothing
to me personally, and were forgotten a week later. So that can't be a
favourite, right? What justifies the designation of "favourite film"?

Is it possible to play favourites?