Rated R for Realism

In my last post, I mentioned that I was planning on writing a post about a book I finished at the end of January. Well, that poor neglected post's been delayed yet again, because a reasonably formidable section of my thoughts and feelings has been hijacked by..... something else.


Allow me to begin at the beginning.


There are many BBC television shows which I am very fond of (by which I mean I obsess over them and care about the characters and storylines featured in them far more than is probably healthy), including "Doctor Who", "Merlin", and most of all "Sherlock". However, before I started watching the latter two shows and before I really got into "Doctor Who", I was introduced to another feel-wrecking, life-ruiningly good BBC television show through the dedicated efforts of a very dear friend of mine who absolutely loves it. This show is called "Robin Hood".


It ran for three seasons, from 2006 to 2009 (it would probably have lasted much longer if the creators hadn't done something REALLY irritating in the Season 2 finale that cost them the loyalty of a large chunk of their viewership, but that's not really relevant). It chronicled the sweeping adventures and impressive archery skills of the legend known as Robin Hood (no, duh). The titular rich-robbing bow-wielding character was played by an actor named Jonas Armstrong. He was amazing as Robin, but I'd never seen him in anything else.


Until now.


My Internet homepage is IMDb (The Internet Movie Database), a website containing information on basically everybody who's ever done anything anywhere near a camera (that's a terrible description of it, by the way; you should probably just go check it out for yourself). IMDb's homepage features a section on upcoming movies. This section, which changes its lineup almost daily, has posters or stills from in-production movies which can be hovered over to reveal a summary of the movie or clicked on to unveil new trailers, interviews, or clips. I always hover over the pictures/posters I haven't seen before, just to see whether the films look any good at a glance.


A few days ago, when I opened Internet Explorer, one of the posters featured in this section was for a movie entitled Walking With the Enemy. I read the description and had only vague interest. And then I looked up; there, written along the top of the poster, was the name Jonas Armstrong.


I'll admit that I flipped out slightly.


And then I reread the description.


And then I watched the trailer.


And then I flipped out some more, emailing my best friend the news and the trailer. I've been flipping out periodically ever since.


From the trailers (there are two now) that I've watched, this is the summary I've gathered: a young Hungarian Jew (played by Jonas Armstrong, complete with adorably fake-sounding Hungarian accent) living during World War II and Germany's invasion of Hungary comes to possess the uniform of a high-ranking Nazi officer. Donning the uniform, he proceeds to use his stolen influence to belay kill orders and save thousands of lives.


I have three recurring thoughts about this film:
1. Oh my goodness this movie sounds AMAZING.
2. I might just be viewing this through crazy-obsessive-fangirl glasses, but EEK! This character sounds like Robin Hood!
3. Dang singing dancing flam, this is a Holocaust movie. NOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!


Yeah.


Technically, the movie hasn't been rated yet, but if this movie isn't rated R, I'm going to be shocked. (And then I'm going to start squealing delightedly and then I might have some sort of full-on mental and emotional breakdown, but don't worry. It's going to be rated R.)


Honestly, I don't know why I'm so excited for this movie. I've actually decided that I might see it even if it is rated R. I think I must've finally gone insane. I mean, after I happened to see about 40 minutes of Schindler's List against my will, I felt sick and empty and ready to brain Steven Spielberg with a brick. Then I composed more than one lengthy rant about the pointlessness of Holocaust movies and how much I hate the very fact of their existence. (And that's not even addressing the fact that if it's rated R my best friend won't watch it with me and I'll have no one to cry with.) So what's different here?


Okay, so maybe it's Jonas Armstrong, but I prefer to believe my shallowness hasn't progressed to such a level that I'm willing to risk the stability of my sanity and my emotional competence (not to mention break the whole 17-and-over rule) just to see him in a movie. And like I said, I think that the story looks amazing. He's risking everything and consorting with his enemies because he's willing to do anything to save lives. Just..... yeesh, I want to see this movie.


But on the other hand, I know Jonas Armstrong's going to die (how? The second trailer blatantly spoiled the ending), and I know it's probably going to be in some horribly gruesome way. Most likely it will resemble Schindler's List in that it will contain copious amounts of sickening brutality (random aside: why do filmmakers seem to think that the more ridiculous the amount of violence in a World War II movie is, the more we're going to be moved? If anything, I get rapidly desensitized, and then apathetic, and then bored). I could easily leave the theater as the credits finish playing feeling ill and angry and resentful and regretful. And yet for some reason I don't begin to understand I still feel only excitement and anticipation whenever I think about it.


I might need psychiatric help.


Now let's randomly change the subject.


I've just come from watching the Oscars, at which another movie that I really want to see just won Best Picture. It's called 12 Years a Slave. I've heard it's amazing. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences deemed it better than any other movie that came out last year. But it's rated R and I don't want to see it because it's depicting slavery as realistically as it blang well can, so there's rape and whipping and probably death and I don't want to see any of that. Except that I do. Except that I really really don't.


And so now we come to the point of this rambly, scatterbrained mess of a post: Guys, let up.


I want to see PG-13-rated versions of 12 Years a Slave and Walking With the Enemy. Why is that so much to ask? Why can't you show a freeman escaping slavery and a Hungarian Robin Hood saving thousands of people's lives without throwing in so much darkness that a sheltered, overly sensitive 15-year-old can't watch without feeling mentally scarred and emotionally drained? Look, I get that the age of slavery and World War II were horrible times, as brutal as they are depicted in these films and worse. I'm not asking for sugarcoating. All I want is a movie chronicling these times that fills me with more hope than hate.


Like I said, I might still watch Walking With the Enemy. Heck, I might even still eventually get around to watching 12 Years a Slave. But the fact remains that I don't go to movies to witness the ultimate depths of human suffering. If I wanted to see pure, disheartening realism I would watch a documentary. I watch movies because I want to smile. I want to feel hopeful. I want to feel fulfilled. I want to feel like I have the power to make something out of my life; and when filmmakers stuff the movies that seem most capable of causing these feelings to the brim with so much horror that I end up feeling nothing, no emotion good or bad, it's disappointing, at least in my opinion.


But hey, I guess if it wins you an Oscar.....


~Pearl Clayton


PS. Walking With the Enemy also has Ben Kingsley in it. I like Ben Kingsley. A lot. Just not as much as Jonas Armstrong.