andave's place

Why do they work? My sister and I just finished watching a Star Wars movie. Last week I rewatched Pirates of the Caribbean 2. And the Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of my favorites. After seeing them I always feel like I can go conquer evil or be a heroine in some way. Then I start to wonder how I actually would act if an opportunity for heroism arose. Would I shrink and cower and run? Or would I actually stand and fight? I like to think I'd choose the latter, but I really have no idea.

Is that the scheme of thinking behind epics? To make one feel gallant and heroic and noble? I mean, I know they usually show something, like LOTR showing the importance of friendship, but do movie-goers ever leave the movie theater thinking about what message, if any, the movie shared. Or do we all just go away thinking, "If I was in _____'s place, I would....."

For me it's the second option. The last epic I saw at the movies was Pirates 2, but that was an evil cliffie. After I got over the shock of the cliffie I still daydreamed about what I would do was I in that story. I like to daydream, I admit.