A review of classic feel good movies

I don’t know about you, but I love movies. There are many reasons for this including but not limited to providing entertainment, an excuse to avoid different things, and my favorite, the chance to experience the things I either don’t or can’t in real life. 

If I’ve learned anything from college, it’s that there are a multitude of ways that I can escape life, and it just so happens that my favorites to date are reading and watching movies. But today, we’re going to be touching on the movies specifically. 

I went through a phase in high school where I wanted to become as cultured as possible and to do that, I watched just about any movie I was recommended. Romance, adventure, fantasy, comedy, tragedy, a mix of everything. You name it, and I’ve probably watched it. 

Anyway, I say this because movies haven’t always served the purpose of an escape and a way for me to live through events that weren’t happening in my life. Through watching all these movies, I found a recurring theme with the ones I enjoyed: they had to be something I wasn’t experiencing in my life. 

This is where I had to face a hard truth that I really hope some other people can relate to: I live through movies. 

There is no nice way to say it, but instead of experiencing things out in the world, I prefer doing so from the comfort of my room. I could blame this on the fact that I am introverted and love my own company, but in all honesty, I know it’s because I’m too scared to actually do things, so watching movies just gives me the ability to avoid everything. 

Now that I’ve poured out everything that goes through my brain, I would like to present to you a few of the movies that will always be a part of me because I have adopted the experiences of the characters as my own and in some way implemented myself into the storyline.

Dazed and Confused

Since fourth grade, I have been committed to having straight As, being the teacher’s pet, and filling my schedule with so many extracurriculars that I couldn’t have a life, which makes my love for these next few movies understandable. 

Dazed and Confused is a coming-of-age film that takes place on the last day of high school in 1976 following the story of the senior star quarterback and his classmates. If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend it as it sits in the number one spot on my rating of movies which is quite the compliment when you think about how many movies I’ve watched in my lifetime of eighteen years. 

I just absolutely love the way this time in life is depicted and can say with confidence that I have seen this movie at least a dozen times.

The Breakfast Club

This is another one of those movies that make a lot of sense considering my past of being the “perfect child.” Another movie that focuses on the experience of coming-of-age, The Breakfast Club gives the story of five high school students in Saturday detention. They each come from completely different backgrounds, but throughout the day, you watch them realize that they might be more similar than they realized as they share stories and experiences. 

This movie really played into my need to understand others and feel like I did fit in with those around me. It also helped in highlighting my pattern of watching movies that didn’t take place within my lifetime. I highly recommend it not only because I love the movie and have watched it multiple times but because it has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

10 Things I Hate About You

Now, I might love the coming-of-age category of movies, but I really love rom coms. I feel that based on what I’ve told you about why I love movies, you can probably infer exactly why I love this movie, but I will put it into very simple words: I have never experienced any kind of relationship. Yes, I know it’s surprising, but when you go all of high school having to ask someone to prom and always being the one who got asked for your friends’ Snapchat, it can take a toll. 

So, instead of going out of my way to be rejected, I solved the problem by just watching movies about love. I am what you would call a hopeless romantic, and hopeless has never described someone better. Enough about me, though. 

The movie 10 Things I Hate About You tells of a girl, Kat Stratford, that falls for a boy that is being paid to date her. In the beginning, Patrick Verona, played by Heath Ledger might I add, is only doing it for the money but finds himself falling in love with the girl who never opened her heart to anyone. 

This movie is the epitome of young love and makes me cry every time I watch it, which is anytime I’m in a really hopeless mood, so much.

Dirty Dancing

Don’t even get me started on this movie. The unlikely plot and star-crossed love story are something that will never get old because we all know that we won’t experience this. 

This film takes place at a resort location and follows the main character, Baby, through the experience of being the new dance partner of Johnny, the resort’s dance instructor. There’s a forbidden love trope here with Baby’s father forbidding her from being with Johnny, but by the end, I’m always crying because of course it works out! 

Not only does this movie star Patrick Swayze, but it also has a soundtrack to die for. If you love love as much as I do, I highly recommend this one!

Conclusion

Now that I’ve vented and exposed myself under the illusion that I was telling you about movies I love, I’m going to keep what dignity I have left and close this article out by saying that it’s okay to feel like you aren’t experiencing what others are because, as I’ve been told many times, everything will happen in its own time. 

I am in no way advertising the fact that movies can help you escape as something positive, but do what you got to do. With that, I sign away all rights to the ownership of my feelings.