For our first date, my husband took me to see the movie Hot Fuzz, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. We had both loved Shaun of the Dead, made by the same folks and we were excited to see it. Since the film wasn’t a summer blockbuster, I kept describing it to friends as, “you know, that British film,” which caused several people to ask why he was taking me to see British porn. Hot Fuzz is actually a loving satire of buddy cop movies and part two of the Cornetto Trilogy, part one is the zombie flick Shaun of the Dead and part three being sci-fi pub crawl flick, The World’s End, which was released last Friday. Of course, we eagerly bought tickets to revisit or first date and hopefully laugh a great deal.
If you’re thinking, “How do a zombie movie, cop flick, and a
sci-fi… something relate to each other? They don’t sound like a trilogy.” Well,
the movies are pretty much only linked through Cornetto’s, the cast, and a
theme of male friendships. But when the movies are that funny, do you really
need more than ice cream, friends, and the same two dudes, to make a trilogy? I
say, no.
Should it be surprising that the end of a story is
significantly different from the beginning? I don’t think so. Whether it’s
because writer’s want to keep things “realistic” or they want to leave room for
sequels, it seems like there are a lot of stories lately in which a character
and the world doesn’t evolve. I think too many stories tip-toe up to the edge
of change and then get scared to go any further. I love stories and characters
that aren’t afraid to blow up their status quo, tear down normal, and bring on
change! Now if only I were that bold in real life…
Bethany Maines is the author of
the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube
video or catch up with her on Twitter.
Bethany, I'm with you. I don't want these stories where the characters aren't affected by anything they do or that happens to them. I want characters at the end to be changed by the experiences they've undergone in the story. If that doesn't happen, was there really a story, at all?
ReplyDelete