BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / The Imitation Game (spoiler thread for those who have seen it)

**Posted by Vhanja** November 15, 2017 8:58 pm

To me, it depends on what movie I watch. I separate movies/tv-shows etc into two main categories - entertainment and Really Good.

If I want to watch something Really Good, I watch Tokyo Story or Maborosi. If I want to be entertained, I put on anything from Hollywood or anything that is popular on TV.

That doesn't mean that entertainment is necessarily stupid, only that I take it for what it is and accept TV/movie reality as something different than our reality. That also means that I know that "based on a real story" means that there will be a lot of changes from what really happened. A biopic is not a documentary. I might have wished for it not to be so, but it is what it is. Entertainment comes first.

So. I can either be annoyed by every little thing that didn't happen or every little thing that seems far-fetched, or I can accept it for what it is and just be entertained. I choose the latter. It makes for a much ore enjoyable experience, I find.

**Posted by Kittyhawk** November 16, 2017 2:32 pm

Probably I expected too much of TIG - I was hoping it would fall into your "Really Good" category - what I call "great movies". Some of the reviews made it seem like it would...

My problem is, I can't switch off my brain, not even for entertainment. I constantly notice things that don't make sense in the story and, if there's enough of them, I have a constant inner monologue of "that doesn't make sense - why are they doing that? - now, wait a minute - WTF?..." I can easily forgive what Hitchcock called the "fridge moment": One sits in the cinema, enjoys the movie, goes home, takes the milk out of the fridge for a nightcap and suddenly realizes "Wait a minute, why..." (did Bill Gambini's mom never go to his trial, in My Cousin Vinny, to give an example. Which I never even wondered, but the director was worried...) But when I have these "fridge moments" in the film, and several of them, then something is wrong with the film. The only save is when there's something in the DVD extras or commentary to explain, like "I know this jump wouldn't be survivable, but I asked the stuntmen which height would be, and it just doesn't correspond to audience expectations. So I decided to go with the impressive visuals." The guy did his research and made a commercial decision, I can accept that.

I also make a difference between films that are "Based on a true story" and those that are "Inspired by a true story". For me, "based on" should be close to the truth - and TIG has the disadvantage of dealing with fairly easily verified history. In movies "inspired by" (with changed names) pretty much anything goes and I couldn't care less whether the events in Dreamer or Kinky Boots happened as shown or not - I watch them as fiction and it's enough if the story as shown makes enough sense.

Unfortunately, I had too many "fridge moments" in The Imitation Game, the bonus material didn't help me, and for my understanding the "Based on a true story" promises a degree of truthfulness that the film doesn't live up to. Which is why I won't watch the movie again...

Last edited by Kittyhawk (November 17, 2017 9:56 am)

**Posted by Liberty** November 16, 2017 5:29 pm

I feel a bit of both - I can appreciate the entertainment value and still be bothered by inaccuracies! You reminded me of another film I can think of which involved real living people but with some changes (some of them major). I loved the film, but it's almost as if there's another story behind it that was untold. They've made a fiction out of fact.

And I do think it's true that these things worm your way into your subconscious! Since TIG, I keep picturing Benedict as Turing, even though he doesn't really look much like him, and I "see" scenes from the film that never happened in real life. The fictional version has replaced my imagined version from the book (not that my original version was probably very accurate either!). Is that a bad thing? My instinct says yes, but I'm not sure it really matters that much. Maybe it's more important when people have a personal connection to the subject?

**Posted by Vhanja** November 16, 2017 8:43 pm

Yeah, there are of course movies that I don't like or where there are too much that draws me out of the story. But those I either shy away from and go do something else, or I watch them as comedies (like I do with "2012", "They Day After Tomorrow" and "Twilight"). However, I don't go to fan forums of those movies to post my negative views of them. I either watch them for my personal entertainment or I just leave them alone and go watch something I enjoy.

And I never expect a commercial/Hollywood movie or popular TV series to be Really Good, that very rarely happens. They are made for enjoyment and that's how I view them.

I don't turn off my brain (that's impossible), I just put it in a different mode depending on what I'm watching. Geek mode, fangirl mode, nostalgic mode, popcorn mode etc....

Last edited by Vhanja (November 16, 2017 8:49 pm)

**Posted by SusiGo** November 17, 2017 8:02 am

Vhanja wrote:
However, I don't go to fan forums of those movies to post my negative views of them. I either watch them for my personal entertainment or I just leave them alone and go watch something I enjoy.

Yes, I agree. And while there are indeed elements in TIG that I do not like and that I would have preferred not to see because they are blatantly untrue Benedict's performance is so beautiful and the overall message of the film important. But for me, life is too short to go on and on about works of art I do not like. I make a cut and turn to something I like better.

**Posted by Kittyhawk** November 17, 2017 11:04 am

Vhanja wrote:
...

And I never expect a commercial/Hollywood movie or popular TV series to be Really Good, that very rarely happens. They are made for enjoyment and that's how I view them.

I don't turn off my brain (that's impossible), I just put it in a different mode depending on what I'm watching. Geek mode, fangirl mode, nostalgic mode, popcorn mode etc....

Why do you see a contradiction between enjoyable and "Really Good"? If I don't enjoy a movie, it will never make it on my "Great Movies" list. But I've already said everything I have to say on the subject in your other thread...

The idea of putting the brain in different modes is an interesting one, but I think my brain's not flexible enough for that I most certainly can't adapt my "mode" (or mood?) to the movie, it's the other way round: What movie do I feel like tonight? (I hope I'll be in the right mood for Tokyo Story within the next week, I finally got it!)

**Posted by Vhanja** November 17, 2017 12:23 pm

I used the wrong word, I meant "entertainment", not "enjoyment".

Oh, cool that you got Tokyo Story - best movie I've ever seen in my life. That was the first time I realised what a Really Good movie was, watching that. But, yeah, you have to be in the mood for it, it's very, very different from the flashy, quick-paced movies of today.

Last edited by Vhanja (November 17, 2017 12:24 pm)

**Posted by Kittyhawk** November 18, 2017 10:30 am

While riding my e-bike the 25 km into the nearest town yesterday I did think of something new to say on the "good vs. entertainment" subject (I'll do it there). Which also reminded me of something I absolutely love about The Imitation Game: Namely that they show Turing running - even though they could have easily left it out as irrelevant or confusing (as Sherli Bakerst's found it on page 3). But I am convinced that physical effort (sport or work) does help the brain function better (there's even studies to that effect now), and I think it also helped him cope with the stress and stay sane (Angus Wilson had a nervous breakdown). And of course it's TRUE ;)