everybody loves a good story

Ever wonder why people, even after hearing spoilers on how a movie ends, still insist on seeing the whole film? I did, and I think I know why...

Over the weekend two movies: Benjamin Button and Big Love. One critically acclaimed (I think) and the other, a local blockbuster.

I've known how each will end, having read and heard spoilers. Well, my bias against local movies aside, it's almost always certain that Pinoy love stories end with a happily ever after anyway. 

So. Why do we insist on seeing the whole story when we already knew the ending? I think it's human nature to ask why and how, aside from the other Ws. No matter how absurd the plot is (ever heard of aging backwards?) or how common the love story is (fat guys gets the girl of his dreams after transforming into one hot guy looking like Sam Milby *i don't find him hot, but most other people do, and that's the absurdity of it* only to realize the love of his life is that girl next door who stuck with him thru thick and thin *no pun intended*....we always wanted to know what happened.

And we ask what happened to almost anything...you say he died, people ask how? you say you had a fight and they ask for every juicy detail. Curiosity? Maybe, but I have a feeling we ask why and how not only because the juicy detail is very entertaining especially if it's scandalously so, but more so because we love picking at the details and finding inconsistencies. Yes, we wanted a story that's consistent, with transitions that make us forget the absurdity of the plot and accept the story as real. 

That's why I got "Oh yeah" moments with Mr. Button and "Huh? How did that happen?" with Sam and Toni. The first left me with sadness and melancholy, the second made me say "Duh" and change the channel.

Yes, consistency. No matter if it's impossible to age in reverse, so long as the events transition nicely, consistent with everything else that's real (the main plot notwithstanding) we forget and forgive and applaud. 

What am I saying here? Movies, or stories, are best told with the premise clear (no matter how near impossible it is, as long as the audience accepts that premise, you'll have them clapping)...and consistency in tact. Of course, I am no storyteller, not film critic, I am just an audience who sometimes accepts an impossible plot as truth, so long as the elements stick to the truth of what I believe in.