As I spent yet another Sunday watching movie after movie, I came to the realization that my time spent on the couch might not have been wasted time after all. A lot of the things that I have learned over the years came from the movies that I grew up watching. Surely there are movies with absolutely no value that are meant to be watched only when you need to turn off your brain, but it's the movies that make you think that can teach you what you need to know.
So what have I learned from a few of Hollywood's finest? From "Castaway," I learned about survival. Tom Hank's character finds a way to survive under the harshest circumstances, and it taught me two things about living. It taught me that life can be lived for something as small as a memory or as important as another person. It also taught me that life is worth struggling for because as Tom Hanks says, "Who knows what the tide will bring tomorrow." In "Gone Baby Gone" starring Casey Affleck, I learned that morals are not always black and white. Situations are not always right or wrong, but often somewhere in between. From "Dead Poets Society," I learned to embrace the beauty in life and to remember that words, poetry and books aren't meant to sustain life, but to make it something worth living. The main character reminds us to never forget that words can change the world and that the beauty in a poem can change a life. In "Good Will Hunting," Robin Williams offers another incredible performance; his character points out the necessity of experience. Reading a book about love is not love just like hearing a story about another culture does not immerse someone in that culture. After watching this movie, you learn about life, and that avoiding to try and make your life better is not living. Finally, George Bailey in "Its a Wonderful Life" shows us that "no man is poor who has friends." This movie shows us that life may not turn out as you've expected--you may not have a bank account filled with money or have the experiences you always pictured, but if you have been a thoughtful, unselfish and caring person, you will find you are rich in relationships. Learning these lessons aren't a waste of time and watching the movies that teach them is well worth your time.
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There's nothing like a scene that makes you cry and there's nothing like a movie that gives you a feeling in your chest that lasts all day. Good movies teach us because good movies are representations of life; they are depictions of what we feel and see, but don't always know how to say.
