One fan's appreciation (Gaming)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Monday, January 27, 2020, 10:43 (1688 days ago) @ Kermit
edited by Kermit, Monday, January 27, 2020, 11:29

The implication of the "but" in Cody's subject line has stuck with me like a splinter, and I guess I need to write a little to excise it. You can read Wikipedia and come to your own conclusions about Lars Von Trier—that's your prerogative. I know the popular stance now is to call out the witches, burn them, burn everything they touched, burn down their house, and wipe them from our memory. Cody strikes me as particularly Puritan at times—no food with the slightest taint of sin shall cross his lips. I’m more forgiving I guess (maybe because I'm not as pure as Cody?). Perhaps for selfish reasons I hope there is redemption and forgiveness for everyone who seeks it. I do care a lot that good artistic work gets appreciated. If it’s good, it lives longer than the artist and chances are it's better as art than the artist is as a person. I’m a music fanatic, but there are musicians I’m a fan of who I would not let into my home. I have got a friend who won’t listen to Springsteen because he thinks he’s a commie or something, and I’d say my friend is missing out on some great art.

That brings me to Melancholia, which I think is fantastic. Von Trier might or might not be a horrible human being, but I strongly believe the world is a better place because Melancholia exists. I would not recommend it if a) you don’t like slowly paced arthouse films or b) you are suffering from depression. If, however, you like artistic, meditative movies, and you have been depressed or know someone who suffers from depression, it does have something of value to say—I think it’s one of the best depictions of depression on film. What follows is my description of it (a bit spoilery thematically): The first half of the movie depicts a bride at her wedding, and the contrast between her hopeless, nihilistic state, and the (at least hoped for) happiness of everyone around her is shown in clear relief. In the second half, you see everyone else in the movie try to come to terms with the fact that the world will end in weeks, and in this context, the depressed main character is the one at peace. Reality is conforming to her expectations, but the movie illustrates how extreme circumstances have to be for a depressed person’s expectations to be realistic. Melancholia is really quite something, and shouldn’t be dismissed.