Aren't movies great? At the best of times, they're capable of transporting us to entirely different, magical worlds, enriching our lives, educating us, and making us laugh so hard our sides hurt. The power of cinema to amaze cannot be understated, but at the same time, nor can its ability to make audiences inevitability compare what's occurring on screen to what's going on in their daily lives, no matter how disparate the connection might be. It's said that cinema is a form of collective dreaming, and given that one major school of thought is that dreams are all about wish fulfillment, it does sort of make sense; after all, who doesn't want to be the badass, wise-cracking action hero with a beautiful young woman clinging to his arm? Movies, whether flamboyant blockbusters with little grip on reality, or kitchen sink dramas steeped in emotional authenticity, tell us things about our lives, bewildering truths that we're then forced to confront and contend with. Here are 10 of those truths that make us feel the most uncomfortable of all...
10. Real Life Is Really Boring
How many times have you ever thought to yourself that you wished you lived in a movie? Hans Zimmer could provide a sweeping, emotional score, Christopher Nolan could direct the action sequences...wait - what action? Indeed, even for the more adventurous risk-takers among us, real life is, in fact, pretty boring, which is exactly why so many people take up insane activities like mountain climbing and bunjee jumping in the first place. Without the witty one-liners and crazy action of cinema, it's no surprise that so many of us decide to escape to the cinema so often to see two hours of wanton, consequence-free destruction. Real life is getting up at 7am, getting an hour-long train to work, working til' 5, eating a ready meal for dinner, paying your bills, taking our the rubbish and going to sleep. Films, with their tendency towards excitement and, even in art-house fare on the Michael Haneke end of the scale, at least some sort of development or trajectory, make our waking lives seem resolutely dull by comparison. Thus, it's no surprise that following the release of James Cameron's Avatar, some viewers reportedly became depressed that Pandora didn't actually exist...