Movies That Molded Our Lives

[pajama]

So I was thinking about this the other day, and thought it might make for an interesting thread.

What movies do you hold dear because they express a core spiritual/metaphysical/life belief of yours?

I would like this thread to be about beliefs, not “I love this movie because it was what we saw on our first date.” I’m talking movies that developed or expanded or shaped your core values and beliefs. Please be respectful of others comments and beliefs here. I just wanted to know and discuss if others have had moments like this, that changed the way you believe.

Here are my examples, that come to my mind right away:
It’s a Wonderful Life (or The Butterfly Effect). Even as an adolescent it touched me and I saw the great wisdom in the ripple effect. If George, or you, or I, were never born….how would that have changed someone else’s life, which might have changed someone else’s, and so on. Until a major world event might have been affected. Working with the kids in the PICU, and going through my son’s own health issues, I have to believe that whether I can or can’t see the cause/effect doesn’t mean there isn’t one. And that when something bad happens here, it may be because something else had to happen there.

Somewhere In Time – this is an older movie, one of the first that Christopher Reeves was in. I think it was even before Superman. He was in it with Jane Seymour and he plays a time traveler. The method of his time travel is what affected me and gave me food for thought, and has ultimately developed one of my “beliefs”. Basically that the mind can bend and mold even our spacial reality and that time travel is possible. I’ve actually experienced this, and if I hadn’t had someone else in the car with me that went through the exact same thing, I still think I would believe it.

Defending Your Life – Merryl Streep and some other people. While I don’t necessarily believe that when we die we actually “defend” ourselves to some higher power, I do believe that we each experience the afterlife we believe in. And if you haven’t quite gotten it right this time, you sure as hell are coming back to give it another go. The movie showed all faiths going to defend their lives, before moving on. And "on" could be Valhala, the Pearly Gates, whatever. If you had not shown growth in your human life, you had to come back.

So I hope you get the gist. If a movie about Atlantis made you sure Atlantis exists - or - ET gave you an understanding of the universe - or - that movie with Sandra Bullock and the mailbox with the letters explains what you believe about time travel…..I would love to hear about it. This can also be about your views/feelings about the homeless, abuse, love, romance, whatever. Just if it affected you on a core level that molded what you believe.

And remember, no snickering, name calling, belittleing, or any other negative crap about whatever people believe.

[princessbelle]

OH Pajara what a truely wonderful thread!!!!!!!

I agree with your first pick and mine as well is It's a Wonderful Life. I have watched that movie at least 50 times by now and look so forward to it every Christmas. The meaning it has to me is basically this... Every person has a path in life, everything we say and everything we do has a direct affect on someone or something. If that sinks deep into the subconscious and we remember that, what a difference it makes in our lives. I also believe in angels and think they are around everywhere to help us even at our darkest times. I have reached out to mine many times and have felt the unconditional love and help that George did. Hooray for Clarence and his beautiful wings!!!! I would think by now my angel, after everything i have put her through, has got her wings as well. LOL.

Mask with Cher had a tremendous affect on my life. It's sorta hard to put into words but it leaves me with the thoughts of how precious life is and you can't tell a book by it's cover lessons. It also taught me about loss when i was younger, and didn't realize at that time, how much loss i would have to go through in my family. It is raw love and it is a movie of pain and tremendous devotion. It has a special place in my heart.

Rocky for the obvious reasons i suppose. I always root for the underdog and perseverance does pay off. I remember when i was in a marriage with my then husband and i was miserable. I was desperately trying to get out of what was a very bad situation. I had two kids, knew i was gay, was working for minimum wages, and decided the only way out was to better myself. I then went to nursing school and kept working full time and taking care of my kids. No easy task, to say the least. Some mornings on the way to school i would be in tears from mental and physical exhaustion. I would just think of Rocky climbing those steps and play the cassette of the Rocky theme and it truly did get me through a lot of hard times back then. It helped me realize that i can do anything i want to do and no one can stand in my way. Huge impact on me and my self esteem.


Again, Great thread!!!!!

[Blade]

Facing the Giants....it teaches to not give up, no matter how big the giant you are facing.

[Gráinne]

Not in chronological order:

Brokeback Mountain-which happened to be released not long after I came out. Sometimes you see a movie and have the sense that you are watching greatness. This was like watching my autobiography, my story. I was deeply moved but emotionally OK until the scene where Ennis is holding the damn shirts in the closet, and then I lost it completely. I was very shaken and yet comforted by this film.

The Crying Game-I was deeply shaken by the story of the IRA man and his captive's transsexual girlfriend, although way back then I had no idea why, nor why I was so drawn to the character of Dil. I saw something about myself in her, but couldn't express it. I must have seen it about 15 times or more; the first time through I was OK until Fergus allows himself to be arrested instead of Dil, at the very end. Cue losing it again ;).

Bend It Like Beckham-the theme of being true to yourself and following your own dreams despite culture and family pressure.

[The_Lady_Snow]

"El Padrecito"-- Cantinflas was something I would watch with my Abuelo when I was a kid.

"Viva Zapata"-- Anthony Quin, he was a crush of Dona Fortunata and sometimes she would let me sit with her and watch this particular movie.

ANYTHING with Pedro Infante, my Abuelita loved his music, his looks, any movie or show he was in.

"Mi Familia"--these are all movies that I have enjoyed with my kids that touch on our culture..

"Tortilla Soup"

"Real Women Have Curves"

"Crash"

"Selena"


I could go on an on with Mexican Cinema :)

[LadyRain]

....Steel Magnolias......and Fried Green Tomatoes... Philadelphia

[SugarFemme]

Shirley Valentine. It is an awesome British film. It came at the perfect time in my life when I needed to learn to reclaim myself for MYSELF.

[pajama]

Thanks everybody for the input. I thought of another one this morning, well two actually, that helped form one of my big phobias.

Jaws and Alligator - Jaws in particular came out, or I remember the book, when I was 7 or 8. Up until then I can remember going to the beach every summer without a care in the world. The summer Jaws came out, I was even apprehensive about getting in a pool. To this day I WILL NOT get into water I can't see the bottom of (hence why I never go swimming in a lake or pond). And even when I'm in the ocean snorkling I have to work very hard to not have an anxiety attack. I usually can only tolerate an hour or so in open water snorkling.

When Alligator came out I was in my early teens. Overall the movie is kinda stupid but there is this one scene where these little kids (7-8) are playing pirates at night out at the pool. One kid is making the other "walk the plank" by going out on the diving board. The giant gator is at the bottom of the pool and the blindfolded kid walking the plank sees him under the bottom of the blindfold. That terrified me so much, that I won't swim in a pool at night without the lights on in it to this day. And even with the lights on in it, I tend to have to fight the anxiety attacks also.

A

[Gemme]

A,

I'm with you! Jaws messed me UP when it came to swimming. Even in pools. I just knew that shark was waiting for me beneath the drain. I've never done faster dives in my life.

There was another creepy monster movie, The Thing, I think. Or one like it around that time. A marshy, slimy weird looking guy thing creeping around. We had an institutional bathroom....long and narrow with the pot at the end....and I would dash to potty and dash to the sink and my baths never took more than 5 minutes. I was about 8.

[pajama]

A,

I'm with you! Jaws messed me UP when it came to swimming. Even in pools. I just knew that shark was waiting for me beneath the drain. I've never done faster dives in my life.

There was another creepy monster movie, The Thing, I think. Or one like it around that time. A marshy, slimy weird looking guy thing creeping around. We had an institutional bathroom....long and narrow with the pot at the end....and I would dash to potty and dash to the sink and my baths never took more than 5 minutes. I was about 8.

TOTALLY AGREE

Oh that reminds me of another one Psycho, to this day I try to only use clear shower curtains. I want to see that crazy mo-fo coming for me before he flings back the curtain to stab me. LOL When I was a kid I would look out the shower curtain like 5-6 times during a quick shower 'cause I'd think I'd heard something. Now I don't have to check.

[Thinker]

There's an old, old movie titled Imitation of Life. My mother made us watch it everytime it was on TV.

She wanted us to be proud of who we are and where we come from. I think the biggest lesson in it was that she did not want us to do things or act in ways that we would later regret......later when it was "too late" to make amends.

I definitely carried that with me into my adult life. While not perfect, I almost always put a good amount of thought into things I say and decisions I make so I don't have regrets later.

[pajama]

There's an old, old movie titled Imitation of Life. My mother made us watch it everytime it was on TV.

She wanted us to be proud of who we are and where we come from. I think the biggest lesson in it was that she did not want us to do things or act in ways that we would later regret......later when it was "too late" to make amends.

I definitely carried that with me into my adult life. While not perfect, I almost always put a good amount of thought into things I say and decisions I make so I don't have regrets later.

Oh wow. I hadn't heard of it, so I went out and watched the trailer. Now I will have to find it to watch it. Sounds very interesting and so edgy for the era. Wow! Thanks for sharing.

[nycfem]

John Waters' (who I have mixed feelings about these days) old movies (e.g. Female Misbehavior, Serial Mom, and Pink Flamingos) were very influential to me in a positive way. I loved how women could be fat, vulgar, ugly, poor, criminal, perverse and just plain bad-ass and still be considered joyous, hilarious, fashionable, and worthy of the greatest admiration. I loved the idea of mocking the conservative, heterosexual suburban culture of gender-stereotyped nuclear families that I grew up in and instead making the ideal something completely opposite. Like in Female Misbehavior when a mother is trying to convince her son to be gay: "But you could change. Queers are just better." I adore Divine's showy, sexy, bold Fat Gyrl outfits! The notion that women don't need to be traditionally beautiful inside or out to be worshipped rocks my world!

http://psuvanguard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/FemaleTrouble01.jpg

[~ocean]

love "The Imatation of Life " great classic !

[weatherboi]

Shawshank Redemption
Schindlers List
The Godfather
Citizen Kane
Star Wars
To Sir, With Love

[girl_dee]

Psycho

It has never left me!

[Lady_Di]

Magnificant Obsession

I was so jazzed when I found a first edition of the book, too!

[Lady_Di]

There's an old, old movie titled Imitation of Life. My mother made us watch it everytime it was on TV.

She wanted us to be proud of who we are and where we come from. I think the biggest lesson in it was that she did not want us to do things or act in ways that we would later regret......later when it was "too late" to make amends.

I definitely carried that with me into my adult life. While not perfect, I almost always put a good amount of thought into things I say and decisions I make so I don't have regrets later.

Love that movie, I never miss it when it is on. Just like Magnificant Obsession, in point of fact :-)

[Lady_Di]

speaking of the phobias....

Arachnophobia

[Ginger]

There's an old, old movie titled Imitation of Life. My mother made us watch it everytime it was on TV.

She wanted us to be proud of who we are and where we come from. I think the biggest lesson in it was that she did not want us to do things or act in ways that we would later regret......later when it was "too late" to make amends.

I definitely carried that with me into my adult life. While not perfect, I almost always put a good amount of thought into things I say and decisions I make so I don't have regrets later.


I remember watching that movie when I was a little kid, and being incredibly saddened by the daughter's self-imposed estrangement from her mother. I was already at that place in my childhood of aching for my mother's love and approval, and the tragedy of choosing to let go of a mother's love seemed unbelievably self-destructive and haunting to me.

[Ginger]

Brokeback Mountain-which happened to be released not long after I came out. Sometimes you see a movie and have the sense that you are watching greatness. This was like watching my autobiography, my story. I was deeply moved but emotionally OK until the scene where Ennis is holding the damn shirts in the closet, and then I lost it completely. I was very shaken and yet comforted by this film.



I went to Brokeback Mountain in the East Village when it first came out. My sister had been gone for several years by then, but that scene you mention— where he is gently touching the clothes in the closet, and weren't there also some belongings in a paper bag?—took me back to those two weeks she was in a coma, and I would go into my parent's bedroom when the house was empty, open the brown paper grocery bag that held her clothes, the jeans and top the ER staff had cut off of her. The bag held her sweet perfume-and-hairspray, cigarette smell, and it gave me a way to be close to her during those two weeks.

Anyway, I lost it in Brokeback Mountain, at the end when that scene you mention happened, and when the lights came up I still sat there with my alarmed friend, sobbing in a way that frightened us both.

I am reading this thread and remembering movies by the emotional experience I had watching them. Movies are like smells, they take you back to that place in your life really fast, or at least they do for me.

[Glenn]

Just a few:

The Day The Earth Stood Still
The Time Machine
Robin Hood (Errol Flynn)
Quest For Fire
Woodstock
Ghandi
Catch 22
Ayn Rand-The Fountainhead-(!949)
Philadelphia
Lianna
Desert Hearts
Taxi Driver
Miller's Crossing-(The most perfect film ever made imo).

[Soon]

Splendor in the Grass

I remember staying home from school to watch the second part of this (there were movies during the weekday) when I was about ten or eleven.

Something about the tragic consequences of rigid social roles and repressed desire struck me and always stayed with me...

[always2late]

There are a few movies that have had a profound impact on my life to this day...

It's A Wonderful Life...it taught me that everything we do and say can have an impact on others' lives, that our actions have consequences and results that we may never even see.

The Black Stallion...When I was very young, I went through a bad time. Because of this, I began failing in school and sort of withdrew from everyone. Someone in my family who was very dear to me gave me a figurine of a black horse, and took me to see the movie. They said that it meant that one should keep going even when the odds were against them, and to never give up...to keep running until you crossed the finish line.

Ok..I am going to add my vote to the movies Alligator and Jaws. I still get queasy when I remember the scene with the pool in Alligator, and I have a totally insane fear of sharks because of Jaws (you don't even want to know what happened when I was taken into the shark tunnel at SeaWorld!). I don't go swimming in the ocean. And as far as lakes, ponds, and even freshwater mountain streams go...I won't go in unless someone else goes in first (the theory being that if there IS an alligator or shark in them, that other person will get attacked, and then I know not to go in...clever huh? LOL)

[pajama]

Ok..I am going to add my vote to the movies Alligator and Jaws. I still get queasy when I remember the scene with the pool in Alligator, and I have a totally insane fear of sharks because of Jaws (you don't even want to know what happened when I was taken into the shark tunnel at SeaWorld!). I don't go swimming in the ocean. And as far as lakes, ponds, and even freshwater mountain streams go...I won't go in unless someone else goes in first (the theory being that if there IS an alligator or shark in them, that other person will get attacked, and then I know not to go in...clever huh? LOL)

OH. MY. GOD. I do that too!!!!!!! The rare occasion I will get in a pool or deeper ocean water is if there are others in too. I figure they will get eaten first. I almost put that in my original post. LOL That rule does not apply to lakes and ponds though, for some reason.

[Ginger]

There are a few movies that have had a profound impact on my life to this day...

It's A Wonderful Life...it taught me that everything we do and say can have an impact on others' lives, that our actions have consequences and results that we may never even see.

The Black Stallion...When I was very young, I went through a bad time. Because of this, I began failing in school and sort of withdrew from everyone. Someone in my family who was very dear to me gave me a figurine of a black horse, and took me to see the movie. They said that it meant that one should keep going even when the odds were against them, and to never give up...to keep running until you crossed the finish line.

LOL)

I especially like what you say about Black Stallion and A Wonderful Life, how you connect those movies to an emotional juncture in your life. :)

[Gemme]

There are a few movies that have had a profound impact on my life to this day...

It's A Wonderful Life...it taught me that everything we do and say can have an impact on others' lives, that our actions have consequences and results that we may never even see.

The Black Stallion...When I was very young, I went through a bad time. Because of this, I began failing in school and sort of withdrew from everyone. Someone in my family who was very dear to me gave me a figurine of a black horse, and took me to see the movie. They said that it meant that one should keep going even when the odds were against them, and to never give up...to keep running until you crossed the finish line.

Ok..I am going to add my vote to the movies Alligator and Jaws. I still get queasy when I remember the scene with the pool in Alligator, and I have a totally insane fear of sharks because of Jaws (you don't even want to know what happened when I was taken into the shark tunnel at SeaWorld!). I don't go swimming in the ocean. And as far as lakes, ponds, and even freshwater mountain streams go...I won't go in unless someone else goes in first (the theory being that if there IS an alligator or shark in them, that other person will get attacked, and then I know not to go in...clever huh? LOL)

I especially like what you say about Black Stallion and A Wonderful Life, how you connect those movies to an emotional juncture in your life. :)

I loved the Black Stallion! What a lovely way to look at that movie.

[Soon]

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

--saw this around age 11-12 and was fascinated by how people can have different personas, desires and lives than what one may first perceive...

(oh the secret lives of teachers)

[Orema]

Daughters of the Dust (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughters_of_the_Dust): This movie about Gullah women preparing to migrate north resonates with me on many levels ... Holding onto the past while making way for the future. How ancestors play into our daily lives after they're long gone. Violence. The importance of family. The importance of women. I saw this for the first time shortly after I moved to the west coast and felt very alone. It didn't necessarily help me nor guide me, but it certainly made an impact on me and how I felt about my family at an important time in my life. I try to watch it every 5-10 years.

[meridiantoo]

Splendor in the Grass

I remember staying home from school to watch the second part of this (there were movies during the weekday) when I was about ten or eleven.

Something about the tragic consequences of rigid social roles and repressed desire struck me and always stayed with me...

This movie was an eye-opening experience for me. I watched it when I was in junior high. I was, as we all were, so impressionable at that age. This movie also struck me and helped me to understand my high school and early 20s years concerning the rigid social roles and repressed desire and the possible consequences.

Other films that molded my life:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - This film broke my heart the first time I saw it. And it saddens me every time I watch it, even today.

Dead Poet's Society - I watched this film when I was a Freshman in college. I was having a hard time solidifying what I wanted to do with my life, which direction I should go in - and ,therefore, what to major in. I loved the way the teacher character played by Robin Williams instilled a sense of life and passion into his class, and how the young men, in return, found something to believe in. I found the courage to name my calling in this movie - to leave the world a better place than when I got here. The tragedy in the end (the character played by Robert Sean Leonard) only enhances the movie's sense of a profound message that many families considered dangerous (not likely the case anymore).

Forrest Gump - Just a very sweet movie. I wish we had more Forrest Gump souls in the world.

Ordinary People - I also saw this movie in junior high the first time. I was amazed at how accurately the mother (played by Mary Tyler Moore) mimicked my own mother. This movie resonated within me for years.

The Color Purple - This movie is probably the single most influential movie for me. If you grew up in the deep south prior to say 1980, you are keenly aware of how accurate this movie was, and maybe even still is. Each character stirred things in me that I didn't even know existed. The plight of poverty in the African American culture is present throughout the film, but it takes a back seat to other themes. I identified so much with the main character Celie, and likely always will. Seeing the film made me want to read the book, which I did, and write an essay and mini-play about in high school. Love this movie!

Fried Green Tomatoes - When I first saw this movie, I was in the midst of dealing with homosexual desires. I was so confused, afraid, and torn, and this movie really helped me to muster the courage to accept myself and potential future.

[Shystonefem]

Fried Green Tomatoes

Wall Street

Harry Potter (Still, Always)

What Dreams May Come

The Godfather

Practical Magic

So many more.. too many to list

[Sweet Bliss]

Picnic

The horror I felt after seeing it as an adult was palpable.

[~ocean]

"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes " and its sooooooo true too ! says the Latin girl. lol

[homoe]

Bump Bump Bump :movieguy:


I can't say this movie shaped my life but Maybe I'll Come Home In The Spring was a movie that made an impression on me about running away from home! I can't recall who was in the movie but I remember watching it several times as a teenager