into the magic shadows

I often think of writing movie articles; not necessarily reviews of recent movies, but reflections on movies past. But then it seems weird one week to write "egad, the sky is falling" and the next week to write, "don't you just love the "Secret of Nimh?"

I think too, that in my darker moments, when depression grips me, and my inner world is more terrible than anything going on in the real world, that i often cling to film, the comfort of past favorites, or looking forward to upcoming flics--and it keeps me going.

It gets me thinking that this is really weird, and maybe symptomatic of the same ostrich behaviour i piss and moan about in others. On the one hand, i feel desperately anxious about things in the world, and deeply troubled over what i ought be doing. On the other hand, i take deepest delight in film. My soul is overtaken by whimsy and I launch into retro film fests by myself, and I get giddy with excitement about new magicks coming down the pipeline.

Like, for example, i am so very excited that there is a new Sylvain Chomet film just about ready(The Illusionist, no relation to the other recent film of same title). it titillates me so much that it momentarily relieves me of overarching anxieties about goings on in the world.

The weird guilt feeling that arose moments before writing this, came from thinking about the juxtaposition of feelings, and realizing that even if the world, civilization, or maybe my and the human race's future might all be swirling in a black vortex, at least I get to take joy in the land of magic shadows.

I was reading a 'top 50' animated films of all time list, and just basking in the memories, luxuriating in the strange worlds they created for me, and thinking about what magical creations we come up with. These films made me forget some unpleasant feelings from earlier this evening when I was studying for my exam and thinking about issues relating to population, and how irresolvable emissions issues are simply because of how many of us there are, and even if we stopped burning oil, we would keep burning something to cook food and heat homes.

Many of my favorite animated films have held deeply political, social and ecological messages. Thinking about the popularity of these films, and their messages, I question the value of narrative at all. Its like we have so much narrative that it doesn't shape us at all, only offers us momentary distraction, But I do feel so very moved by film, and especially by the "cartoons" I have watched. I feel they have helped shape this primate in such distinct ways over the years.

So, I will be posting a few relevant words about my favorite animated films in the near future. And I will forgo trying to relavitize them to our present circumstances, even though that would be easy enough. Instead, I look to how they struck in the first place.