Wednesday, February 01, 2006

The age of the Loser...

Of all the movies i can remember from before (Not sure what exact time period "before" is - but what i mean is until very recently for as long back as i can remember) the more popular movies / heroes were always the macho ones - where the hero beats the villain up. The Amol Palekar movie where the man could not get himself to talk to the girl was always the sidey movie - funny and all that, but still sidey.

I just realised that this has changed and changed pretty recently..
Exhibit A - Saif Khan - Screw-up type, not so macho person
Exhibit B - Bridget Jones Diary - Major loser but every girl i know really connected - Big Success
Exhibit C - Hugh Grant - Typical English loser type - Big Star
Exhibit D - American Pie (Did so well - they went and made a Part 2)
And so many more..

Its almost like an identity shift from "I don't want to be who i am - so show me a far-removed hero person i would like to be" to "I am okay with who I am. Its entertaining enough".
Here i am obviously stating my personal preferences and my concept of myself.
But that apart - you have to agree the market value of a "Loser" movie has certainly risen from before to now.

I find that interesting! I guess if i had the patience to research and a flair for writing - this would be a big cultural study finding!
Since i have neither i will end by saying - for the first time "I belong" - I am in fact in the Right Age!

2 comments:

Ganju said...

mithsss - you are much too philosophical for me, and i am working much too hard to understand philosophy. but yes, i would make a great hero, and i would be happy to star in your first movie.

Fond Regards

Mathangi said...

Few observations about Exhibits B,C and D - especially Bridget Jones..in some ways, the message was more of a win-win than anything...you can be a screwed up loser generally and be sloppy and have weight problems, but you still get to bang Hugh Grant and find the noble boyfriend who will love you for all the clumsiness you symbolize. ..Hugh Grant - loser who finds Rachel Weisz and Sandra Bullock and generally gets the best lines in films. Methinx, that's a re-invention of the loser as the winner, much like the rest of us who want to have our chocolate eclairs and eat them too.