On edited scripts and human performance.
In response to an earlier prompt on movies, I was pretty honest that my memory on movies after I have watched them is pretty scant. And that I do not even remember the last time I sat still and watched one. Starting to think that maybe I should watch one this week.
The first time I saw this prompt though, my first thought was: Why watch a movie I expect to hate?
I’d like to think that by the time we settle on one- choosing from a pool of far too many- the intention is to enjoy it. To learn, maybe? To resonate? Unless it’s a recommendation from a friend whose taste is a complete departure from our own, and then we spend the whole runtime wishing we were doing literally anything else.
If not, there are always trailers. And in most cases they oversell it. Trick you into thinking the movie is profound, hilarious, or life-changing. They mine the best ten seconds, stitch them together, and you only realise after watching the whole movie that the trailer was the only good part of the entire production.
Books do that, too. You read the preview and convince yourself this is the one- the one that will keep you up all night. But then you struggle through the first few chapters, put it down, pick it up again, and eventually leave it to collect dust on the bedside table. It beckons you, waiting for that second chance you’re probably never going to give it.
Can’t blame them, though- the movie creators or the book reviewers. Their entire aim is to draw you in. And once they get you, you’re either glad you bought the ticket, or spend the rest of the evening regretting the choice.
It’s the same with people, isn’t it?
When we meet someone new- someone we actually want to impress- we put our best foot forward. Curate our characteristics. We act like a well- edited trailer. Brushing over ugly truths that might threaten the relationship and skim past the details that might actually scare them off.
We play the role because we think that’s how you keep people around.
But give it enough time, and the “trailer” fades. You’re left with the full-length feature and you’re either grateful you stuck around for the character development , or forever wishing they had stayed a stranger.
And the truly terrifying part? Is that I think we’re all doomed to perform. That we’re all just standing on our respective stages, reciting lines from a script we didn’t write, waiting for the applause. Sometimes, even when we think we’ve dropped the curtain and shown the messy , unedited version of ourselves… it’s a performance, too.
Just a different genre of movie. One that hopes to be seen as more authentic than the rest.
NdukuOutLoud 
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