What’s wrong with this picture

As a child, when I left a theatre, I often thought about the movie and mentally gave it an alternate ending. The habit hasn’t completely left me, but it’s taken a new direction. I think about the characters and why they did the things they did. Doing so keeps the movie alive for me.

It’s said that fiction depends on suspending disbelief. I’m not sure that’s entirely true. Movies seem to depend on meeting expectations. When you see a movie like, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” you expect special effects. When you see a movie like, “Salt,” you expect stunts.

Both movies deliver what’s expected. But they don’t give you anything to think about afterward. The action works, just as it’s supposed to, but both movies fail to justify the behavior of one of its main characters. People don’t just do things for no reason … except in the movies. Action movies in particular.

Action movies squeeze a basketful of thrills into ninety minutes, often at the expense of character development. The result is that the characters may be heroic, but the audience doesn’t know what motivates them. However, motivation matters, and makes a movie memorable. The movies that really stick are the ones that develop their characters. Characters without motivations are gone as soon as you step out of a dark theatre into the light of day. Hollywood may want it that way, but I don’t.

No foundation

An opinion article titled, “Good intentions, bad location” appeared recently in the Lakewood Sentinel. It begins by implying that associating certain words together triggers people’s hot buttons.

The article then states the intentions of a group involved with one of those words. It concludes that if this group acts on its intentions, other people will be offended. Therefore, the group should maintain goodwill by changing its plans.

The words are “mosque” and “Ground Zero.” The article implies that when some people hear the word, “mosque,” they think “terrorist.” Building the mosque would offend those people. That’s like saying people who don’t like steak sauce, won’t eat meat. It doesn’t make sense.

Most Muslims are neither terrorists nor extremists. Apparently, in some people’s minds, all Muslims are terrorists. Instead of telling Muslims not to build mosques, these people should try changing their minds by substituting facts for emotional reactions.

I have no opinion regarding whether a mosque should be built two blocks from “Ground Zero.” But, I can’t accept an emotional reaction as a substitute for a reasoned argument. You can’t build a mosque, or a strong argument, without a foundation – something this article lacks.

Second best

The world’s second tallest building is called Taipei 101. The second heaviest gold bar in the world is stored in Jinguashi. The tunnel through Hsuehshan is the second longest in Asia. Each of these second bests was a first in its time.

What is noteworthy is not that these once were the tallest, heaviest, and longest of their kind. No, what is noteworthy is that they are all located in Taiwan. This little island, and its even littler outlying islands, occupies an area of only 13,900 square miles. My own state, Colorado, occupies 104,091 square miles, roughly seven times Taiwan’s size. Colorado isn’t threatened by surrounding states, yet Taiwan faces frequent intimidation from mainland China. Perhaps the threat of invasion explains why Taiwan has achieved so much. Perhaps the explanation lies elsewhere. Regardless, Taiwan’s example is something to strive for.