MovieChat Forums > Sophie's Choice (1983) Discussion > How could *anyone* enjoy a movie like th...

How could *anyone* enjoy a movie like this?


What exactly do people get out of watching devastatingly tragic movies such as this? What could possibly compel someone to actually want to experience such a profoundly awful narrative? It just doesn't seem within the realm of possibility that a person would say something like "I'm going to go spend my hard-earned money and valuable time to watch a movie where a mother is forced to decide which one of her children will live and which one will die, and then commits suicide." I simply cannot understand why any person in their right mind would voluntarily do that to themselves, and I do not believe I ever will.

"Does your society have any other adjectives besides 'great'?" - Pvt. Church

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Judging by your list of "Movies I will not watch", I'm surprised you even watched this movie. You are missing out on some very good films.

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I didn't watch this movie. You couldn't pay me a thousand dollars just to sit down to watch this movie. But I know what happens in it.

And honestly, bulls**t I'm missing out.

"Does your society have any other adjectives besides 'great'?" - Pvt. Church

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I'm not sure, "enjoy" is the right word. I find the Holocaust terrifying, tragic, and fascinating all at once. There are so many movies written telling Holocaust stories, both fiction and non-fiction it should have it's own genre. I've seen many, any that I have the opportunity to see. It's not that I get enjoyment out of the subject matter, it's that the History is real and this happened to real people and I believe these stories need to be told. I cry a lot during them and often particularly good performances stick with me, as they should.

I do understand what you are saying to some degree. I find it really disturbing when people think a fun Friday night is going to see Hostel, The Hills Have eyes, or any Saw movie. Gore for the sake of gore is something I can't wrap my head around. Getting a thrill out of imaginary psychopaths who are realistically torturing people...why?

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A movie like this puts you back in touch with your basic humanity and is an important reminder of what is important in life. Through witnessing something tragic, I think people can be inspired to love with greater conviction and go forward with a clearer purpose in the world. It's not necessarily a movie you watch to be entertained, but to gain or regain perspective.

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Sometimes people don't want fluff, but gritty realism.

“There are no ordinary moments. There is always something going on.” – Peaceful Warrior

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For me, it's more about "experiencing" than "enjoying" a film. It's kind of like "walking in someone else's shoes" from the comfort of my own world. Of course, there's that little thing called subjectivity too. Same with books; some you will enjoy more than others by the time you finish the last page.

You should do exactly what you want...and see whatever film you desire to experience. It doesn't matter what we think, nor should you concern yourself about our choices either. Spend more time on the boards of the films you really like - that type of interaction will bring you the most satisfaction and, ultimately, happiness.

For the record, I wasn't nuts about Sophie's Choice and its screenplay. However, I still took something profound from it and enjoyed Ms. Streep's excellent acting and seeing her perform at such a young age.



"Don't get chumpatized!" - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

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A very thoughtful post! Well said.

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The movie isn't only about her choice, that's quite misleading title and actually it's in the movie directly only for few minutes.

And this movie is far from devastating, for most of the time it was actually uite uplifting except concentration camp flashbacks, but calling this devastatingly tragic movie is overrating this movie, watch House of sand and fog, Requiem for dream, Lilja 4-ever and check their boards to find another DEVASTATING movies, I watched HOSAF actually 2nd time to show it to wife and 2nd time it ain't that impressive when you know what awaits you (+wife is talking every few mins disrupting experience) but 1st time it was devastating. I have still Requiem for dream on harddrive to watch, but need to prepare for that since it's really crazy experience. As for Lilja 4-ever I don't know if I can watch it again, I have bad memories already when I hear Mein herz brennt from Rammstein because of this movie. Now those are devastating movies - this jewish lullaby left me untouched, heck even Animal Kingdom blew my mind much more than this.

Peter Markoff
The best - Fight Club, American Beauty & Falling Down.

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Other than the "troll" explanation, the only reason I can imagine a post such as this is that you expect movies to be only unchallenging entertainment. Anything that prompts evaluation, introspection or consideration of different / painful / eye-opening perspectives on our collective, horrific human history is to be rejected. Stick to Disney films and you will be so much happier!

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