Although my position as a writer makes the quality of a film's story the most important characteristic of a feature, visuals have also gone a long way toward building up the foundations of the stories which I have ended up falling in love with.
The argument against non-realistic modes of cinema are interesting. Lovers of pragmatic cinema believe that much of mainstream film and television can provide us with a false outlook on the world which we live in, and in several ways they are correct. A lot of mainstream cinema does have a tendency to romanticize, warp and invent brand new visual constructions of people, places and nations.
This warping of real cultures and individuals can, at times, be immensely harmful to society. This mainly occurs in the form of stereotyping. Stereotyping is something which I loath with a passion. It takes a race, religion, personality, sexual orientation and/or gender identity and compresses them into an oversimplified caricature. Stereotypes not only try to lump a type of individual into an all too simplistic group, but they can also be extremely offensive.
So the romanticizing of reality can create stereotypes as a byproduct. But then what is to say that a film with a pragmatic aesthetic cannot also create such problems within their narratives? A Mike Leigh film or Ricky Gervais sitcom may come across as a reflection of the reality of the time period in which they were made in, however they are still pure works of fiction; perfectly capable of generating false and offensive portrayals toward others.
Another attack on fictitious aesthetics is that such features make the world appear far more idealistic and less problematic than it really is.
Well of course fantasy based cinema has a habit of constructing more pleasing worlds than the one that we are stuck in. But cinema is, after all, an artistic medium. Why would it be a crime for a film to detach themselves from reality, when books, paintings and all other art forms have been doing this since the dawn of our species?
Next up is the notion that heightened realities can jade our view on factual evidence. One example might be a visually extraordinary historical epic which chooses to loosely follow factual historical events in order to focus instead on fast paced action sequences and superficial special effects.
But then why is this only seen as a problem within the medium of cinema? Surely other art forms are also guilty of scrapping/distorting facts from time to time. I mean not every book with a historical setting is a work of non-fiction which follows all timelines in the most fastidious manner imaginable (and for that matter, who is to know whether the non-fiction works truly depict reality anyway? For all we know, the author may have their own political agenda or belief system which they want to impose upon their readers. Who's to know whether they've carefully handpicked references to provide the reader with their own vision of what real life events were actually like?).
Realism can also be an incredible aesthetic when it comes to the cinematic art form. It can help us to understand current social problems by showing them in their rawest forms; it can trick us into believing that what we are actually witnessing is real (which can amplify one's immersion into the feature) and it can ignite some incredibly shocking emotions through gritty and cold replications of our own world.
Furthermore, fantasy based cinema can also reveal and exploit real world issues in a powerful manner. The marvelous 2009 film District 9 is one example. The Neill Blomkamp directed science fiction piece portrays a parallel world which reflects issues of discrimination and prejudice from an entirely extraterrestrial perspective. Even Marvels 1999 X-men feature film metaphorically exposes the evils and violence that many minorities face in the real world. Even films as fantastical as James Cameron's Avatar applies the power of metaphors to raise issues which focus around imperialism and colonization. These films are fables that use real life issues from both the past and present to explore themes and issues that engulf the lifeforms of this complex and troubled planet.
So this post is not an attack on realism and realistic cinema. It is a fantastic aesthetic approach to story telling. I just happen to prefer films which branch away from our own reality.
I mainly watch films as a form of escapism from this reality. Life is tough and often filled with disappointment. To be able to step through a door into another reality for a couple of hours is a wonderful opportunity. Fantastical stories can grant access to such a door, and that I am truly grateful for. I like to consume stories that contain larger-than-life characters, alien (though not necessarily extraterrestrial) landscapes and moments of previously-unimagined wonder.
Real life can be difficult, cruel and brutal. Cinema is a way to momentarily step from the realms of this world and peer into the window of a universe which is detached from our own
Realism is not a bad cinematic format; however to say that stories which parallel our own reality are superior to stories which differ is an incredibly unfair claim.
But then all cinema is subjective. I'm sure there are many who will think otherwise.
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