Nitpicking

Post 139

Before we move on from the previous post, we need to ask, Why?
Why does it matter if our Christmas story is slightly doctored?

I am told;
“The wise men are included in the manger scene of the children’s play at Church because they are a very attractive element, but we can’t make the production go for hours.
It is artistic license, not a corruption.”

Ok, lets see how that works with us:

Remember the movie with Clint Eastwood?
You know, the one where he has got a great big handgun,
And he corners the evil punk who dropped his gun?
You remember,
And as the punk is lying on the ground with his hand only inches from his gun,
you can see the thoughts going through his head; Can I reach it, and use it, before he draws?

And Clint Eastwood speaks that famous line;

“Go ahead…
Make my afternoon!”

Oh that was good. I will never forget that line.

And just now every movie fan out there just stiffened;

“NO you fool, the line is; “Go ahead… Make my day.”

Whatever.

Remember that great Arnald Schwarzenegar movie where he is a robot and comes back from the future?

He shows up at the police station in those cool shades, but the cops don’t provide him with what he wants?
Remember?

So in that great accent that only he has, he says that immortal short line;

“I’ll return.”

I love that line, "I'll return."

And now I have these movie fans pulling on their hair;

“What an idiot! The line is; I’ll be back”!

So.

The serious fans will also complain because I spelled Arnold Schwarzenegger wrong.
Who cares? I got the general thought across.
You guys are just nit picking.
Don’t be so uptight.

So the question needs to be asked here as well, Why does it matter?

How much “alteration” can we make before we destroy the integrity of the story?
Curiously, the small slight alterations are the most offensive because they show ignorance or lack of respect for the movie.

Remember in Star Wars, how we got to know the characters first, only to later discover they were siblings?
How we thought maybe the one guy, who was actually the girl’s brother but didn’t know it, might be falling in love with her? But her other brother was the one she was interested in, because she didn't know he was her brother?
Remember that?

And now you scratch your head trying to figure out just what I am talking about, because the other guy was not even her brother!

How far can we take “creative license”?
In this case, I am no longer just making a simple mistake that can be easily corrected, I am actually confusing the story to the point it will take some work to straighten me out!
There is a whole lot of explaining that needs to be done to properly identify the history of the characters. Does it really matter to the story that Hans Solo is not the brother of the Princess? Of course it does!

But while small alterations are harmful to the story, huge and many alterations are less offensive because they are so obvious, they actually confirm the original story...but only as long as we are serious fans of the original story.

The most important part of a good spoof is the knowledge of the details of the actual story. If you don’t know the original story well, the spoof will be completely lost on you, and to you, it will be really stupid.
But if you know the original story well, the spoof is Soooo funny!

But what happens when the spoof becomes the story?

Are you with me?

People memorize entire scripts of their favorite movies, not because they are trying to win an award, they just do.
It is because they are connecting with the movie and internalizing the emotion of it.
And when they are talking with other fans, there is so much unspoken meaning that is shared because they both know the story well. One will speak a simple line, and the other lights up thrilled because that one line triggered an entire mental event of memory for them that they connected with.
And to these people, every line, every pause, every inflection and unspoken meaning are all very important to the integrity of the movie.

In a very short conversation with someone, these fans can tell just how big a fan the other is by the accuracy of details they express in their conversation.

And these are just movies.
Even most fans know the movies they cherish have no connection with reality. But accuracy is still very important to them.

But when it comes to faith?
“It’s no big deal.”

So how serious of a fan are you?

* * * * * * *

Please understand I am not endorsing any of these movies.
I am attempting to connect with the reader.
If my examples don’t reach you, don’t go get the movies to “hear me”.
You have your own personal examples you can use to understand my meaning.
If I had a choice, I would not now watch these movies for the first time and don't plan on seeing them again.