The things we think and do not say
March 25, 2008 by Mary Clyens
The heading is the title of the “mission statement” from Jerry Maguire — one of my favorite movies (and the one of my favorites that I most have to defend… damn you, Tom Cruise!) I’m a pretty big movie fan, but I’m also extremely picky about my choices. I rarely go to the movies, and when I do, I’m usually disappointed. That said, I love watching good movies, and most of my favorites probably say a lot about me.
I generally consider The Graduate my favorite flick, but its really a first among equals. I also love Field of Dreams, Forrest Gump, When Harry Met Sally, and as I already mentioned, Jerry Maguire. With the admitted exception of When Harry Met Sally, there are some similar themes:
1. A back-to-basics theme. The Graduate isn’t a perfect fit for this point, but Field of Dreams, Jerry Maguire, and Forrest Gump are more than appropriate. In Forrest Gump, Jenny wanders the country looking for happiness, but ultimately ends up content in her hometown with her childhood friend; Jerry Maguire ultimately falls in love with the woman who is already his wife, and, like Jenny, finds happiness only when he comes home to her; In Field of Dreams, Ray opens the movie stating that “I love my family, I love baseball, and I’m about to become a farmer.” That’s about as basic as it gets, and those are things that are never in danger of changing throughout the film (okay, he almost loses his farm…)
2. A hostile or at least cavalier attitude toward money and ambition. Okay, nothing as blatant as Wall Street (a good movie, but not near the top of my list), but most of these flicks really eschew ambition and financial success. Ray Kinsella bulldozes his crop and almost loses his farm, but ultimately (smartly) refuses to sell out and lose his baseball field. Forrest Gump becomes incidentally wealthy, but doesn’t change anything about his life. When told he won’t have to worry about money anymore, he responds, “well, that’s good. One less thing.” In The Graduate, Benjamin and Elaine go to great lengths to break out of the upwardly mobile existence of their parents and their community. And in Jerry Maguire, ambitious Bob Sugar is the slick, ruthless antagonist of the story.
3. A happy ending. So, Mama and Jenny don’t survive Forrest Gump, but with that possible (possible) exception, all of my favorites have undeniably, almost absurdly, happy endings. I don’t care how thought-provoking or realistic unhappy endings are supposed to be, I just don’t like ‘em as much. I guess I’d be the person in the test audience who complains that the lead character dies and causes the producer to demand a re-write. Damn… critics hate people like me.
This clearly isn’t a comprehensive list of my favorite movies, or the themes they share, but its still kind of interesting to note. Anyway, that’s my thought of the day…
