It’s A Wonderful Life - Okay, okay… this film actually changed my film taste. I’ve always loved movies, and I did like classic films, but after seeing this movie when I was old enough to understand, I pretty much just stuck with classic films. That’s not the reason why it completely changed my life, however.
We’ve all been depressed at least once in our lifetime. Life would be boring if people were always happy, right? I was going through a hard time after a break up, and before I started going out with my current boyfriend, I saw this film around Christmastime. I was born on Christmas, and so I have always loved Christmas! But not that year. Anyway… after seeing George Bailey put himself before others constantly throughout his life, and never appearing as if he got anything in return, I realized I didn’t have it so bad. Everything for him always seemed to fail, and after almost killing himself, he realized that things weren’t as bad as they seemed… that you can always make a bad situation better. George Bailey has definitely inspired me to look on the bright side.
To Kill A Mockingbird - It should be no surprise to anyone who knows that my favorite book is To Kill A Mockingbird or who knows that my favorite actor is Gregory Peck, that this film is listed. I read the book in late 2006, early 2007 in my 10th grade English class. I grew in love with the book…the way the words flowed, the storyline, and of course the memorable characters. I don’t think that there is any better protagonist than Atticus Finch. He is the greatest hero that has ever graced the planet, and his morals are that of an open-minded person. Anyway, unlike all the other English classes who read the book, we didn’t get to watch the 1962 film. I had to see it for myself, and so I waited patiently for it to come on the television rather than for me buying it (although, I do admit, renting it or even buying the movie would have been worth every penny). It finally came on television, and as soon as it began, I was in a trance. Every piece of that film was just as how I pictured it while I was reading the book. Scout, Jem, Atticus… everyone was who I thought they were. I have never, in my entire life, watched a film-version of the book and loved it so much. Harper Lee herself said that nobody but Gregory Peck could have played Atticus. I once read that on the set of the first scene of the film, Lee was crying. Mr. Peck asked why this was so, and she said that he looked so much like her father.
This film changed my view on people. I never could believe that people could hate people the way that they do. I’ve always considered myself rather liberal and open-minded, so I never understood why you can hate another person because of race, gender, sexual orientation, or other reasons. It still boggles my mind, but I have grown to accept that not everyone is so genuine or kind.
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