This morning in class after watching the films Pfffirate, The Hell's Kitchen, and After You, Professor Leeper would usually comment with something like "Yes, that film certainly cheated the system. It was simple, but hey, it sure did keep your attention, didn't it?" Hold on now, is that the reason we absorb media?
"[Media] doesn't need to affect people's behavior. There's a great and very, very effective tool that changes people's attitudes and makes them see the world in a new way. It's called a gun."
-David Mamet
Remember him?
This isn't the first time Professor Leeper has played the "It's simple but it kept your attention, right?" card. I didn't think that was what this class was about. Heck, I didn't think that's what this trade was about. Making films is about starting conversations and making people think in ways they have never thought.
No matter how affordable and quick the film was to make, there's always room for getting a point across. That's why I liked The Dog Who was a Cat Inside: it entertained me with this concept of a stubborn dog with a reluctant cat inside of him, and also at the same time it delivered a message. This message in particular was fantastic because it could be interpreted in many ways, which leads to even more potential moral and philosophical conversations, which makes us better as a human race.
After You made me laugh the most I have in a few weeks, and that was fantastic. But, as we've learned previously in this class, communicating with an audience on a deeper level has a longer lasting impact than a cheap laugh.
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