Let's Go To The Movies

When I watch movies, my mind expands inch by inch. It is as if I have a bookcase in my head that is slowly filling up with untold adventures, mysteries, romances and stories to be told. I am transported to another time, place and catapulted into a story that is not my own. Opportunities are endless and countries are transported in seconds, allowing me to experience things that I never will first hand. I am inspired to make my moments memorable. I too wish to be the object of someone’s awe and I hope my experiences can entertain and inspire others to make a change. Movies aren’t a waste of time, or rotting my brain. Instead, they are the nourishment that feeds my imagination, the fuel to my fire.

The history of film started in the 1890’s when motion-picture cameras were invented and the first cinemas were built. My history in film started when I was five, watching the 1982 classic, Annie. The song “Lets Go To The Movies” from the Broadway production-turned-film subliminally fed my love for the cinema. Oh how I wished to watch an authentic silent film, as opposed to only seeing the respectable 2011 Academy award winning film, The Artist.

Later as I grew older, movies became my books, and my stories. Once a week my family would go to the movie theatre and learn. Some were better than others, but regardless, like clockwork we went. Fueled by classics from Woody Allen to John Hughes, I became a mild form of an addict. On Christmas our celebration consisted of a double feature, particularly seeing two Academy award winning nominated movies back-to-back.

As I started thinking about a career I contemplated going into film and even took courses at the University of California, Santa Barbara as a high school student. However, I learned quickly that some elements of life should stay sacred. If I were to learn how movies were made, it may ruin the one form of magic I believe in. I was not about to and still refuse to give that up. Instead of becoming consumed by the behind the scenes nature of the business, I choose to stay a naive scholar letting my mind roam and educate myself in the only library I pay to visit, Netflix.