So, the Bird Box.
I see lots of posts of how wonderful it is, and lots of
posts wondering what the hype is.
I’m a horror movie and book aficionado, and I fall into the “what’s
the hype” camp, so thought I’d give my thoughts on it.
To begin with, most horror movies are awful. They fall into
the “slasher film” subcategory, and they have unbelievable plots and often are
just excuses to show people having sex, because that is always who gets killed. When a decent one comes along, that is about
the fear and suspense and not the sex and blood and gore, I think everyone thinks
it’s the greatest movie in comparison to the slasher films. I believe that is where the “hype” comes
from.
Not that I don’t think it was a good movie, I just don’t
think it was THAT good. It does actually
have the foundation that comes from good literature, which is the story being
multi-layered: The main level being the
story that is being told, and the underlying level, which has some kind of sociological
or psychological meaning. This is not
surprising, as the movie was based on a book, but like most adaptations, I
think it probably lost some of it’s underlying level in the translation to film
(and the ending itself is supposedly different than the book). The movie DID make me interested in reading
the book.
Sociological or psychological meaning, you ask? Yes, read Stephen King and really think about
the stories, and you’ll see it. Notice I
said READ. This is because, unless King
himself produced it, his stories lose not only parts of the underlying level,
but sometimes the whole thing when being adapted to film. My favorite horror movie of all time is The
Shining, but not the Stanley Kubrick version that was in theaters. It had thrill, suspense, and the wonderful
talents of a maniacal Jack Nicholson. It
did have it’s own underlying theme, however, it was not King’s theme. I have read that he absolutely hated the film
because of that. He later adapted it
himself, as a TV miniseries. His underlying
level really shines through on that one, there is no mistaking that the whole story
is about the horrors of alcoholism. This
version is my favorite, with the Kubrick version being my second favorite horror movie of all time, and it’s because of the
much more subliminal fear factor to it.
I actually didn’t have a glass of wine for weeks after that!
Back to the Bird Box.
I’ve been reading some other amateur interpretations online, and while
not all quite the same, they all seem to agree with the same thing I got from
it….it’s about facing our biggest fears, our demons, and for the character
played by Sandra Bullock, that was the fear of being a mother. The details get a little harder to decipher
though, and I think that it some of the stuff that got lost in
translation. The only person in the
movie we really saw overcome her fear was Sandra’s character, but she did it in
a roundabout way, “blindly” having faith that she could be saved from the
demons, she never stared it right in the face (get what I’m saying here? 😉) Those that did face their fears directly,
they killed themselves, so….I’m not sure what that is trying to say, but maybe
it is about having faith, leaving your fate in the hands of an unseen being
(the voice on the radio), and not trying to do it all on your own? The mentally ill people that did not have to
be blindfolded, like many others think, I agree that is because they’ve already
come to terms with their demons, they’ve been living with them all along. And the birds…well of course they can sense
demons, all animals have a greater sense at “seeing” the unknown than humans do
because we overthink everything. The movie does leave a lot to think about, and
that is why I’m interested in the book!
As far as “scary,” I didn’t really find it to be scary. It’s not appropriate for a young child, but
it really didn’t invoke the fear feeling in me.
It is more of a psychological thriller than a horror movie, but then
again, so are many of Stephen King’s stories.
The movie “A Quiet Place” released this year had the same sort of apocalyptic
theme, where you had to sacrifice one sense to survive, but I found that one to
be more in the scary realm. I wouldn’t
say it was a better movie, but if you are looking for the fear factor, you’ll
find it more in that one.
And, so, bottom line, I think it was a good movie. I don’t think it was a movie that is on par
with the greats like The Shining, or the Star Wars movies, or Gone With the
Wind, or even the original Die Hard. I
think it worth watching, maybe even worth watching again to try to understand
more of the underlying theme, but I don’t think it was so good that there are
endless social media posts and blogs about it, including this one that no one
will read! And, so, it will probably win
some Oscar because that is just what happens when I don’t think something is
Oscar-worthy.
That's why they have wine. Have a glass and relax while watching the movie.
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