>Inscription#0002: "Hypocrisy or character development?"
>Initializing response...
I have strong, sometimes extremely biased opinions on a lot of things. Sometimes I blurt out opinions or pseudo-knowledge without even getting familiar with the issue at hand and that usually doesn't end well for me. Nearly more than anything else, it is hard for me to admit that sometimes I'm wrong. I hate to take back my words, it's embarrassing. I don't want to give other people the pleasure of thinking they're somehow higher and mightier than I am - not implying I'm somehow superior compared to them either - and I like to have the last word. Boy, do I. But enough about opening up online, I'm making this post to talk about one of the most terrible movie sagas in existence. Today, I will take back some carefully chosen words I've stood behind for years on end. I still subscribe to the idea (or rather, the fact) that the movies I'm about to address and the books they're based on are an utter waste of space on this Earth but I accidentally discovered something about myself through them.
So, can you guess what I'm talking about?
The Twilight movies. I know them, you know them, everyone knows them.
And I cannot believe I'm actually about to write about this, but...
They're not 120% bad. Or actually nevermind, they are. BUT, there are... a chosen few alright things to them, in my opinion.
So, everything about them is... not good. The acting, the directing, the writing, the editing, it's all mostly atrocious. But, there's something that these movies did to me. Something that caught my eye the first time I ever watched the first movie with actual time and concentration.
If nothing else, they have some damn gorgeous landscape shots.
The movies were filmed in the Pacific Northwest, mostly in Oregon and British Columbia but also in Washington. The geographical area has its own typical climate consisting mainly of a constant cover of clouds and rain, and an atmosphere I can only begin to try and describe in words.
I'm what I like to call a landscape whore. Landscapes are my favourite genre of visual art and I have Pinterest boards full of different landscapes for various topics, as well as plans for buying SO many books about landscape photos. I'm a poor student and unemployed for almost two years, and books tend to be expensive so it'll take some time. I'm also planning on dabbling in landscape painting, but that takes equipment and I got no money for those either. Yet.
In landscapes, I can perceive atmosphere, vibes, smells and feelings of... anything, really. Longing, belonging. If a scenery speaks to me, I want to be in the scene it depicts. I want to live in it. It can be a photo or a painting, doesn't matter. If it's good, it hits me. Sometimes you can't put in words something that hits you on the inside, like a bolt of lightning. That's super cliché but still true. It tugs at your chest and tries to pull you towards it, wherever it is, no matter if it's physical or not. You know you're meant to be there. Not sure if there's an official term in English, but in Finnish, we have the concept of "sielunmaisema", soul scenery.
And this cursed saga of movies has a lot of what I call my soul sceneries.
The funniest thing is that I have never been in the Pacific Northwest. I've never been in the USA or Canada at all. Still, this specific part of them calls to me and I know I want to live there at some point. I decided some time ago, before even seeing these movies, that I want to move to Canada since it's basically the States but better in almost every way. North America is the only viable place in my opinion to get a respected job in the gaming industry, so I need to go there in any case. I discovered PNW through these movies and thanks to them, my relocating plans have finally been pinpointed.
As an addtion to the scenery, the movies have really good soundtracks! My Spotify playlist got updated with a few of the songs featured in them. Music is an important part of my life and regretfully, I have to add that to the two-piece "good things in the Twilight movies" list.
This all comes down to the header of this post. I've always despised the Twilight movies, but I suddenly found something good about them. Am I being hypocritical in saying that they're bad but still like to watch them from time to time just to keep my obsession with PNW alive, as in I generally enjoy a tiny bit of these movies, OR is it character development? I like to think it's the latter. Opinions change with time and people can find good bits in bad things; it is completely possible to enjoy things even if they're bad. It's what people call their guilty pleasures.
I'm not saying I enjoy these movies, but they did help me figure out future steps in my life.
And I'm rather grateful for it.
>Logging out...
I have strong, sometimes extremely biased opinions on a lot of things. Sometimes I blurt out opinions or pseudo-knowledge without even getting familiar with the issue at hand and that usually doesn't end well for me. Nearly more than anything else, it is hard for me to admit that sometimes I'm wrong. I hate to take back my words, it's embarrassing. I don't want to give other people the pleasure of thinking they're somehow higher and mightier than I am - not implying I'm somehow superior compared to them either - and I like to have the last word. Boy, do I. But enough about opening up online, I'm making this post to talk about one of the most terrible movie sagas in existence. Today, I will take back some carefully chosen words I've stood behind for years on end. I still subscribe to the idea (or rather, the fact) that the movies I'm about to address and the books they're based on are an utter waste of space on this Earth but I accidentally discovered something about myself through them.
So, can you guess what I'm talking about?
The Twilight movies. I know them, you know them, everyone knows them.
And I cannot believe I'm actually about to write about this, but...
They're not 120% bad. Or actually nevermind, they are. BUT, there are... a chosen few alright things to them, in my opinion.
So, everything about them is... not good. The acting, the directing, the writing, the editing, it's all mostly atrocious. But, there's something that these movies did to me. Something that caught my eye the first time I ever watched the first movie with actual time and concentration.
If nothing else, they have some damn gorgeous landscape shots.
The movies were filmed in the Pacific Northwest, mostly in Oregon and British Columbia but also in Washington. The geographical area has its own typical climate consisting mainly of a constant cover of clouds and rain, and an atmosphere I can only begin to try and describe in words.
I'm what I like to call a landscape whore. Landscapes are my favourite genre of visual art and I have Pinterest boards full of different landscapes for various topics, as well as plans for buying SO many books about landscape photos. I'm a poor student and unemployed for almost two years, and books tend to be expensive so it'll take some time. I'm also planning on dabbling in landscape painting, but that takes equipment and I got no money for those either. Yet.
In landscapes, I can perceive atmosphere, vibes, smells and feelings of... anything, really. Longing, belonging. If a scenery speaks to me, I want to be in the scene it depicts. I want to live in it. It can be a photo or a painting, doesn't matter. If it's good, it hits me. Sometimes you can't put in words something that hits you on the inside, like a bolt of lightning. That's super cliché but still true. It tugs at your chest and tries to pull you towards it, wherever it is, no matter if it's physical or not. You know you're meant to be there. Not sure if there's an official term in English, but in Finnish, we have the concept of "sielunmaisema", soul scenery.
And this cursed saga of movies has a lot of what I call my soul sceneries.
The funniest thing is that I have never been in the Pacific Northwest. I've never been in the USA or Canada at all. Still, this specific part of them calls to me and I know I want to live there at some point. I decided some time ago, before even seeing these movies, that I want to move to Canada since it's basically the States but better in almost every way. North America is the only viable place in my opinion to get a respected job in the gaming industry, so I need to go there in any case. I discovered PNW through these movies and thanks to them, my relocating plans have finally been pinpointed.
As an addtion to the scenery, the movies have really good soundtracks! My Spotify playlist got updated with a few of the songs featured in them. Music is an important part of my life and regretfully, I have to add that to the two-piece "good things in the Twilight movies" list.
This all comes down to the header of this post. I've always despised the Twilight movies, but I suddenly found something good about them. Am I being hypocritical in saying that they're bad but still like to watch them from time to time just to keep my obsession with PNW alive, as in I generally enjoy a tiny bit of these movies, OR is it character development? I like to think it's the latter. Opinions change with time and people can find good bits in bad things; it is completely possible to enjoy things even if they're bad. It's what people call their guilty pleasures.
I'm not saying I enjoy these movies, but they did help me figure out future steps in my life.
And I'm rather grateful for it.
>Logging out...
Hahaha what, a fellow landscape enthusiast. My favourite thing is to use MapCrunch to send me to a random Google Maps View around the world and speedpaint that. Google maps has such weird dull color schemes too, I love that. You can easily play around with that.
VastaaPoistaIf you don't have one, you can borrow my portable painting stand if you ever decide to go outdoor painting. I really recommend it. Your painting will have dead flies and your equipment is going to be full of sand but it's fun.
And I think it's really important to be able to still appreciate good things in bad films (and other media). In most cases there are still things that are done right. (Often it is nice landscapes.)
Also your blog looks great.
wow, i never thought about that!! i just might have to give it a try now.
Poistaif the day comes when i actually manage to haul my ass outside just to draw/paint, i'll let you know :D thanks for the offer.
and thank you! what an eyesore it is. i love it.