Again, I am breaking the "text barrier" on post title lengths, but gosh! How else would you possible be able to say this?

But isn’t it true?

I mean that we all like to watch the heroes in the movies. You know, the action adventure where every bullet kills a bad-guy instantly, or the actor (Tom Cruse) that hangs on the side of an airplane at 4000 feet trying to get in, or the man that somehow bests a army of hit men and hit women (John Wick series). But…

But…

Let’s be real. That does not happen in “real life”. Blood is gooey and sticky and getting wet and damp and being shot at in the middle of the night IS NOT FUN. And I can tell you that once you’ve experienced the “real thing” you really don’t want to watch it in any kind of movie form.

Whether it is…

• A prison setting.
• Getting revenge on someone who did you wrong.
• A household with an alcoholic.
• Fighting an impossibly corrupt government.
• A movie about a divorce that went bad.

If you have experienced these things first hand, you won’t ever want to relive them. No matter how well made or interesting the story line is. It will trigger bad memories and it will not be fun, escapist movie fare for you.

Now, I have ranted on (in the past) about the overwhelming majority of super-hero movies and themes that have dominated Hollywood and American media for the last decade, if not longer. I have complained about them, I have expressed my frustration over them.

My argument goes pretty much like this…

These people are really not something that you can relate to. Young nerd gets bitten by a spider and turns into spider man, Captain America is changed by a military experiment, Batman is a rich eccentric, and the hulk is the result of a science experiment. Iron man is a rich industrial mogul. Then they all get together and fight some evil that is going to destroy the world. Tons of CGI special effects are used and the adolescents are amused!

A ton load of CGI effects flood the screen.

Bullet stop in mid-air. People run in the sky and at the top of tree-tops. Top secret military installations with lots, and lots of shiny black glass and stainless steel finished metal control panels. Monitors everywhere, all showing a whole bunch of impressive graphics and numbers in an incomprehensible matrix array. People move their hands and the air parts, a flick of the wrist and a person is flung into a wall, and teenage experts can hack into government databases in nary a few seconds.

There is a theory in Hollywood these days that audiences have shorter attention spans and must be distracted by nonstop comic book action.

-RodgerEbert

Hey!

So I have to point things out to everyone. Where are the movies that you can relate to?

At least during the 1940’s people could relate to Humphrey Bogart. During the 1960’s people wanted to relate to James Bond. In the 1970’s people could relate to John Wayne. In the 1980’s people could relate to John Cusack. But now…

Who can you relate to?

What can I relate to?

The new remake of Ghostbusters with an all-female cast? How about the remake of Oceans eleven with an all female cast? Or what about “Dave” in “Dave made a maze”?

Can you relate to this beta chuck, directionless, ambition-less, unskilled, quasi masculine?

So…

So, I have to ask.

What about Mr. Joe Average? You know, the guy who is just trying to make payments on his bills, and reads every day about assholes that are tearing up his society. Mr. Joe Average that gets shit from his boss, works a crummy job, and is trying to make his way in a pretty pathetic excuse for a business. Mr. Joe Average who has to put the kids through school, and make a life in a career that at bet might mean work in a “gig economy”. What about people like us?

Sorry, bub.

Not. That. Interesting.

2000 Unbreakable

It’s been slim pickings for many a year. Action figures and heroes dominated the movie industry. If you were a fan of comic books then this time was for you, but if you weren’t… well, I hope that all the CGI offered you enough razzmatazz to keep your interests up.

Then something magical happened.

In the year 2000, a move came out titled “Unbreakable”.

It was also a hero movie. It was about a hero, or a super-hero. You really couldn’t tell. What he actually was.

Was he a normal guy that had ability, or was he a super-hero that was convinced that he was normal?

It didn’t get very many good reviews. Most people complained that it was too dark, too slow, not enough CGI, not action packed and the hero didn’t wear spandex or a cape. The complaints were legion. It was too dark, and way too slow. People complained that there wasn’t enough “action”, and that the dialog was “retarded” and it was far “too moody” of a film.

But…

You know, it was a story about a average man, doing an average job, having an average life, and feeling that something was missing.

Something…

But what?

He was just a normal guy.

He lived a normal life. He did what everyone told him to do. he did it to the best of his ability, but that was it. It’s just that he had this nagging feeling that he was worth more, and had a real value that he could offer…

But what?

The movie was special.

It was about a normal man who had an extraordinary ability.

One, perhaps, that all men have inside of us. We just never push ourselves and let it out…

And because of that, everyone hated it. They absolutely despised the movie. They thought that the movie was lame. The acting was lame. The story line was lame, and that there wasn’t any decent CGI effects.

This movie was dull - The personalities were dull; the lighting was dull; the color was dull; the acting was dull and the story line was BORING. Please explain something to me….the main-woe-is-me character works in security. People in that line of work are finger printed but our hero leaves his finger prints all over the crime scene and yet they have no idea who he is??

-UNBEARABLE

I'll say it right now, Unbreakable is my pick for worst movie ever made. Not necessarily in terms of quality, I'm sure some Sci-Fi channel movie would snatch that prize, but in terms of writing, acting, and most importantly, directing. I counted how many words Bruce Willis said throughout the entire movie, my final total was 6 (that is not technically true as I didn't really count, but I'm confident my estimate is within about 10 of the actual number).

-Terrible Attempt at Emotion and Drama in this Disappointing Movie

And the movie was pretty much forgotten.

Some still enjoyed it, but they hid in the shadows. They kept their thoughts to themselves, and quietly lived their lives.

Strangely, they formed little enclaves on the internet. Restricted access to their blogs to keep the trolls away, and built up a small group of followers to also, not only loved the movie, but believed in the power of individual “specialness”.

Unbreakable is a superhero movie disguised as a psychological drama. The movie was marketed as a thriller over Shyamalan’s objections. But once the film unfolded onscreen, it revealed a unique, original, and unexpected superhero origin story. There are no costumes or gimmicks, and it’s a film that values story and character above expensive set pieces and big effects. By ridding the story of almost all of the superhero visual cues, Shyamalan was able to explore the genre in a meaningful and important way.

This movie also features very few special effects or action scenes. Instead, it focuses on finding something fantastic in our mundane and normal world. David Dunn is just a regular man who has to deal with the fact that he might have superpowers. But it’s David’s struggle to accept this reality that really drives the film. There’s not much in the way of plot, but the character moments were extremely rewarding.

-Superherohype

It doesn't involve special effects and stunts, much of it is puzzling and introspective, and most of the action takes place during conversations. If the earlier film seemed mysteriously low-key until an ending that came like an electric jolt, this one is more fascinating along the way, although the ending is not quite satisfactory. 

In both films, Shyamalan trusts the audience to pay attention, and makes use of Bruce Willis' everyman quality, so we get drawn into the character instead of being distracted by the surface.

-RodgerEbert

But…

But…

I loved this movie.

I loved it because of it’s premise.

You see, this movie is the “real deal”.

It’s about a normal guy.

It’s about a normal guy who had some extraordinary abilities.

Like I have, and YOU have.

And if you don’t realize it, then you have been convinced by others that you are just plain and average. For everyone on this planet has something, some combination of skills and abilities that make them rather special and unique.

Do you “get it”?

Inside of all of us, we have something unique and something special. It might be the way that you fix and repair old ford tractors. It might be the way that you can make a nearly magical bowl of Chili. It might be the way that you can inspire and teach others like in Boy Scouts, or it might be the way that you you apply the art of fly fishing.

You, me, everyone has some very special skills that are way above those of the “average” norm.

And we live life.

We live life…

We live it accepting the idea that we are just alone, and normal, and stuck in a situation that there just isn’t a way out of. That we are trapped. That what ever good we might have has been submerged into the group and we must conform as the group says and hide our abilities, if they are (in any way) obvious to others. We must “lie low”.

If this movie were about nothing else, it would be a full portrait of a man in crisis at work and at home.

-RodgerEbert

And because of that, this movie was considered to be a flop, and a waste of time.

But…

All of us have a “real hero” inside of us. Oh, we don’t look like it on the outside, but trust me, we are there, and when the opportunity arises, we leap up and out and take on the world. Just like a real, honest to goodness, Rufus would.

The world needs real, honest, heroes.

It does.

That is what “Unbreakable” was all about.

And that is the premise of the two sequels to the 2000 movie “Unbreakable”.

2017 Split

Unbreakable is the first in a trilogy of movies.

• Unbreakable – Discovery of your purpose.
• Split – Even the confused can have a purpose and a role.
• Glass – The world needs heroes, and they should not be forced into “normalcy”.

To fully understand what is going on you must accept the premise that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things. And thus, the entire trilogy is based upon this concept that ordinary; “normal” people can have some hidden talents that can greatly improve, or hurt, the world that we live in.

Some, like in the first movie with Bruce Willis, can use these powers for good. And some, like in Split, can use these powers for other goals and achievements. And some, like in the movie “Glass” can use these powers to free the entire world.

Of course I knew the rumors from yore that Unbreakable was intended as a trilogy; but as the years went on and nothing happened, I figured the projected had been abandoned. And a good thing too because Unbreakable was still the best superhero movie ever made after The Incredibles, and it didn't need to be ruined by Shyamalan's decline. But Split seemed interesting and meanwhile the trailers for Glass were coming out, and they were so exciting I had to watch them for closure.

So I watched Split and it was as if Shyamalan had made a smooth transition from Unbreakable to it; it's as if he hadn't made anything else in between. Here was the inventive, sensitive, spiritual filmmaker I remember admiring all the way back in 2000. Here was another one of his beautiful, slow dramas about ordinary people discovering extraordinary gifts and learning to cope with them. And it was packaged as a tense thriller about a kidnapped girl trying to escape from a serial killer with multiple personalities who discovers he's more than human, like David Dunn. It was also an emotional story about finding the courage to face up to our inner demons. Thinking about it now, if I didn't cry at Split's beautiful ending, it's probably because I was subconsciously saving them for Glass.

Ah, Glass. A movie so reviled by critics you'll think it was directed by Tommy Wiseau. I don't understand what happened, I don't know what they expected, and what they saw. For my part, I saw the fitful ending to what is now one of the rare perfect movie trilogies.

Glass builds on the previous movies and maintains its tone and pace. By tone I mean it's a low-key superhero movie grounded on realism. Like in hard sci-fi novels, frequently the characters will discuss plausible theories for feats and powers that seem extraordinary. By pace I mean it's mostly a character drama spiced with tense situations and spliced with trappings from horror, sci-fi, mystery, and thriller.

-IMDB

By the time 2019 came around, we have three super-heroes in this triad of movies.

• An average guy who is unbreakable.
• A man who is split into fractured personalities that combine into one.
• A mental genius who is as fragile as glass.

2019 Glass

The Trilogy ended with the 2019 movie titled Glass.

What's sadder, though, is that the critics will frighten viewers away from a movie that's better than 90% of what comes out every Summer. 

In a world where any crappy, soulless, mindless blockbuster makes 1 billion dollars easy, this movie probably won't even make it to 300 million. 

Split didn't and had better reviews. 

And so we'll continue to get bad thrillers, action and superhero movies full of CGI, pointless explosions, and boring, by-the-numbers, sequel-hinting storytelling everyone wants - and cynical shareholders will continue to get richer while creative filmmakers see their opportunities dwindle. 

Funny, even in that Glass was grounded on reality: in the end the faceless villains we never suspected existed, chilling out in elitist restaurants we can't get in, always win. 

Curiously, that's one of the messages in the movie: the gifted are always being held back, overshadowed by the uncreative, those who enforce normalcy. 

But as the ending shows, the creative ones always find a way to outsmart the bureaucrats of normalcy. I hope that with time more people will come to know the truth that the critics have been hiding.

-IMDB

The trio of movies are well worth a watch.

The world needs heroes

The world needs heroes. The world needs people that do things just because it’s right and just. Not because they can make a buck on it. The world needs heroes now, more than ever.

And…

I think…

I believe…

That YOU are one of those heroes.

Now, I have other posts in my Rufus Index that talks about everyday, average person heroics. I find them interesting and fascinating to watch. But also very inspirational. What would you do, if a child was dangling from the 23rd floor? What would you do, if a car with a family drives into a river? What would you do if a five year old runs out into the middle of a highway?

What would you do?

That’s the stuff that heroes are made of.

To sacrifice our lives, not for personal profit or financial gain, but to help others within our society. Because that is what we do as part of a society; as part of a community. As part of being part of something bigger than just our lonely, independent selves.

You are more than what you have been taught to be.

Conclusion

I will conclude this post with the final dialog from the movie "Glass". It is poignant, and worth repeating.

There are unknown forces that don’t want us to realize what we are truly capable of.

They don’t want us to know that the things we suspect are extraordinary about ourselves are real.

I believe that if everyone sees what just a few people become when they wholly embrace their gifts, others will awaken.

Belief in one’s self, is contagious.

We give each other permission to be swayerolds, we will never awaken otherwise.

Whoever these people are, who don’t want us to know the truth, today they lose.

Funny, even in that Glass was grounded on reality: in the end the faceless villains we never suspected existed, chilling out in elitist restaurants we can't get in, always win.

Curiously, that's one of the messages in the movie: the gifted are always being held back, overshadowed by the uncreative...

... those who enforce normalcy.

But as the ending shows, the creative ones always find a way to outsmart the bureaucrats of normalcy. I hope that with time more people will come to know the truth that the critics have been hiding.

-IMDB

Movies are many things.

They can entertain. They can teach. They can illustrate and they can instruct. By embracing the story line and the dialog embedded within a movie, you can be taught interesting ideas and concepts; novel ideas and concepts that are just not possible with books and other media.

It’s fun and entertaining to watch simplistic two-dimensional characters fighting it out with impressive CGI graphics and a great explosive sound track. But, it is something else, entirely something else to be taught some ideas and concepts that may seem foreign, alien or unusual for you to grasp.

You are not a nine year old child.

This trilogy is about you, the individual. You are an adult that has experienced both the highs and the lows of life. Maybe there were good times, and maybe there were bad times. But sometimes, there is a period in your life where the “wind just doesn’t fill your sails”, where you find yourself drifting aimlessly, doing the same things day in and day out, drifting on a calm motionless sea.

To be part of a society, you not not NEED to conform to the behaviors and the ideals of that society. You can be yourself. You can contribute your special gifts and special abilities so that all may profit from them.

But the first step begins with knowledge.

Know that it is not only possible, but indeed, it is plausible that you have abilities that are suppressed and hidden from you that you are unaware of. And others, maybe they would scoff and laugh at you…

But who cares. The “typical” is not what you deserve to be any longer.

Let them laugh…

• At the woman who can chat with faeries.
• At the man who can climb up the outside of a 32 story building.
• At the mechanical prodigy that can diagnose and fix any car, and engine at any time, just be listening to it.
• At the chef that cooks by scent alone.

Being special means that you won’t get a prize. You won’t get fame. You won’t make money.

But you will do what your purpose is intended to be on this earth.

Do you want more?

I have more articles like this in my MOVIE INDEX here…

MOVIES

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