Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Banner: Reader's Choice

This week's banners are brought to you by Film Experience reader The Medwenitsch from Austria. He won the "bad movie mommy / good movie mommy" contest two weeks back. The rotating banner will feature some of his favorite contemporary movie characters. I'll let him explain:
Right now I'm inspired by the passage of time, how every generation is different from "the one" before but still influenced by everything that came before it. In twenty or thirty years it's history and we will look at it like we now look at the 70s or the 60s. Our parents will be dead, and we will be left, retelling history, our youth, namely the 90s and later the Aughts: Britney Spears, 9/11, the financial crisis and other crises the media tells us we should worry about, no gay marriage everywhere in the western world, oversexualized media and so on. Things that are completely "normal" for us now will be like things we hear from our grandparents... This completely freaks me out right now (in a good way) though it's very difficult for me to express in english.

So the banner will be characters from contemporary films which kind of deal with my generation (people born in the 80s or 90s)
I am happy to oblige! It is definitely fascinating to ponder what future generations will make of current times and to wonder which movies, stars, film characters will still be touchstones decades later and which will feel totally alien like 'People used to relate to / love this? Why???' I mostly used Medwenitsch's ideas for characters but feel free to share your own contemporary touchstone characters in the comments.

10 comments:

Andrew K. said...

Oh this is such a cool subject. I'm turning 18 on Sat. and the issue of mortality has just been running through my mind. The question of which films will be big in the next generation is so interesting. I am convinced the next generation of Oscar-lovers will be pondering the hype of Clint Eastwood and you just know that certain movies will become cult classics like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Corpse Bride, possibly Kill Bill and perhaps The Hours. I don't how I'm going to explain Britney Spears to my children...

NATHANIEL R said...

your last sentence. HAHA.

It's frustrating to me how quickly great films like Eternal Sunshine become widely loved classics and yet find it so hard to have big success theatrically. Why do people wait and wait to see things unless they're blockbusters? Even things they might love that the fanbase is super passionate about...

How much convincing does it take for someone to buy a ticket to a movie that doesn't have a 50 million P&A budget?

Runs Like A Gay said...

Brilliant idea for a banner.

Anonymous said...

Nate, will you please tell me what movie the 4th from the left is from? It's Robin Wright Penn, correct? I swear I can see the scene in my head and am just completely stumped!

NATHANIEL R said...

@vultureculture -- it's actually "Severin" from SHORTBUS. She's in a water tank hence the odd lighting.

Derreck said...

I always thought that Titanic would not hold up well in the future. I'll break out the old DVD player to show the kids the movie and hear stuff like:

"Whoa, THIS used to be the highest-grossing film of all time?"
"Wow, this movie is long."
"The special effects are sooo bad."
"haha, that song at the end won an Oscar? you guys were so lame." (or the future equivalent of "lame", whatever that may be)

Plus, I'd guess that Leo and Kate will still be known and respected in the future..

and what about Clueless and Alicia Silverstone? It would probably end up being a giant enigma for them.

But i'm most curious about Moulin Rouge!. Will musicals still be popular then or will they take another break like they had had before Moulin Rouge came out? Plus, a good amount of the songs used might be mistaken for original instead of 80's, 90's pop hits. and there's the issue of the editing and style of the film.
and then Nicole! i'd imagine she would have lots more respect than she does now, but Lord know it is harder for an actress to stay around as they get older...

Derreck said...

a little off topic,

but i would just love to see a next gen film to just see what kind of boundaries it pushes. i always have to wonder what is left to push? since the dawn of film to now, it seems as if everything to push, has been pushed and it's hard to think what is left to explore to shock and excite people..

Wayne B. said...

Severin - Love the tiny moments showing her during "In The End."

Anonymous said...

Severin. I am horribly ashamed of myself, I just watched that! I watched it within a week of "A Home at the End of the World," I think that was how I was getting Robin Wright Penn into the mix.

Thanks!

Ryan said...

Im so with you on the ETERNAL SUNSHINE thing...
everyone i know freakin loves, I MEAN LOVES it now but where oh where were these ardent fans back in spring of '04?