Final Project

‘Is life like the movies?’ Really? That was what he had to do his final project on? What a stupid topic. Obviously not, life and movies have no correlation. Movies are obviously better anyway. 

Either way, he had to get this assignment done. He’d decided to take the creative route, and do an interview segment, since he didn’t feel like writing out a paper. 

“Hey, just a quick question, do you think life is like the movies?” :

The first girl he interviewed, her name was Camila, pursed her lips, hesitating. “I’m not sure. I feel, I feel like the Disney movies always give the kids too much hope. It makes it seem like their Prince Charming, or their Fairy Godmother will just, I don’t know, appear, and their lives will be magically fixed, whatever the issue is.” He nodded, and thanked her, stopping the audio recording, before moving along to find his next interviewee. 

The next person he interviewed, was sitting with a large group. Some of the kids were from theater, some were the typical jocks, some were band kids, there was a variety. It was surprising to him, seeing that so many people of different kinds could have so much in common. The guy he chose to interview, Brad, was a football player. “Y’know, I’m sitting here with a group of my closest friends, and this is pretty sappy, yeah, but I can safely tell you that this is what life is about.  Having fun with your friends, and laughing over something idiotic. When I think about that question, I can positively tell you no, life is nothing like the movies. Neither the ones that glorify drugs and sex, nor the ones that make it seem like being a teenager is the most god-awful thing that will ever happen to you, because if I’m speaking honestly, it’s probably one of the best. And if you’re living either of those kinds of lives, I feel sorry for you. Get some better friends, because that’s what it’s all about. Get you those friends that’ll stay with you through it all. Y’know, these guys saved me, I used to be living one of those glorified movie lives. I couldn’t be happier now.” He didn’t expect this answer from him, but it was perfect, it was definitely going on his paper. He again, thanked him, turned off the audio recording, and turned, looking for his next ‘victim.’ As he walked away, he heard cooing and ‘aww’s’ coming from the group behind him as Brad sat back down with them. 

This next girl was in his literature class, and he wondered if she’d gotten the same assignment. Either way, she answered, and her answer was also perfect. “I guess in a way, they’re the same. In the movies, the main character always goes through ups and downs, but mainly downs. And that’s coming from a trusted source here, as a writer. But no, seriously. Although you might be having some really, really dark times, it gets better. And, even in the movies, it gets better for the main character at the end of the story, does it not? Even though they’ve lost some things, and gone through some really tough situations, a lot of the time it all works out for them.” It was becoming routine really, asking the question, listening to the person’s opinion, thanking them, and leaving right after.

He had to admit, some of these responses were really getting to him. 

The next person, Morgan, had to think for a moment before they responded. Well, more than a moment. But their answer was beautiful, and it was probably the one that made him think the most. “It depends on who you ask, really. Some people, well, some people might be living different kinds of movies. The way I see it, every person has their own different movie, and unless they let you in to see their movie, you can’t determine anything. Like, with romance movies, there’s always some past lover, an ex lurking around somewhere. And with horror or suspense films, there’s an underlying secret. I dunno though, that’s just how I see things.” He murmured a quick, ‘That was perfect,’ before thanking them, and leaving. 

Alright, he’d decided, this will be the last interviewee. I think five should be enough for this. Then, he’d reached the perfect ‘victim’ for his cause. He’d been genuinely curious about her answer, Aaliyah, the straight A student. He was pleasantly surprised by what he got. “Not at all, people in the movies, they always win. But, in real life, you probably lose more often than not. I myself, I lost my girlfriend this year, but I’m still going. Just because I don’t have her in my life anymore, doesn’t mean my life stopped. Just because I’m ‘on my own’ doesn’t mean I can’t have fun. You can still have fun without being committed at an incredibly young age. You still have time to go with your friends and see a movie, to dress up for a mundane event, to be ridiculous and bathe in your adolescence. Trust me.” 

This time, he’d decided to bring the conversation further. “What do you mean by, ‘bathe in your adolescence?’ You’ve also still got loads of time, you can have fun.”

“I can’t,” she smiled, that sad smile, the ones that show up in movie scenes. (He knows, it’s ironic). “You see, I was one of the ones who had fought for my life to be like the movies. I grew up too quickly. And now, I’m here, already applying to colleges, looking for jobs, and I can’t do what I want to. I can’t dye my hair extravagant colors, and go out for a night of fun, and I don’t have any friends left. I have many acquaintances, but no real friends. I got too caught up in what I was doing, that I hadn’t realized they had all left.” 

After that, he thanked her, a lot, turned off the audio recording, and hurried back to put his assignment together. Wow, he’d had a lot to think about. 

And as he sat there, editing his video clips together and submitting the assignment, he knew he believed what they were saying. At first, he was skeptical, but now he knew for sure. There are a lot of different genres of movies, all with different stories, different conflicts, different characters, they’re all different. And that’s the same for people, they’re all different. They might come from different backgrounds, and they all have different stories, so that might change their point of view about the situation. 

He’s grateful for these people, who shared their experiences with him, and helped him finish his project, but he’s also started thinking. If it were a matter of the person thinking, he’d definitely say life was better than the movies.