Which Movies Books or Songs have changed you as a person and how/why>
The ones that spring instantly to mind are ‘what i got’ by Sublime, which just made me so much more aware of things, when i learned Brad Nowell died so soon after writing it, i realised i just took things for granted. and many beatles songs and lyrics.
Movies - hmm, possibly LoTR, same with the books,but i dont know why so much, i just think its the fact you can emphatise with so many of the characters.
Books, well Fathers and Sons was a great read, that kept me thinking, during and after i was reading it, and also 1984, but again i cant really explain why, its just one of those things i always remember.
but im more interested in what other people recommend so post away.
The book The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck.
This book changed me in that it helped me clarify/solidify my own feelings about what it means to be a responsible human being. Both in terms of when to “own” any given situation and when to walk away. The book came into my hands during a crisis period in my life and did much to help me find the way forward.
There were, however, some questionable parts of this book IMO. He talks about treating people whom he considers to be possessed by the devil. I personally do not believe in this kind of thing, and was under the impression that modern psychiatry rather looked down upon it as a possible diagnosis as well.
I was able, nonetheless, to take what I needed from the book and put the rest aside, so to speak. This “taking what I needed” turned out to be a valuable lesson in itself for me, at the time.
Catch-22 (book) and Dr. Strangelove (movie) really made me think of beaurocracy as a farce and something that is sadly humorous. Milo bombing his own airfield and The War Room are priceless.
The Great Gatsby put into perspective the thought that money doesn’t buy happiness. Here we have James, who is head-over-heels in love with a shallow bitch. He’s fabulously wealthy and can buy anything he wants. However, he cannot buy a woman who will love him the way he loves her.
For me, it was without a doubt, “Fight Club.” It made me see everything as transparent, hollow tools of the media. So in some ways I’m even more cynical than before. And it’s made me question my own reality…and it’s made me think about things, like how unemotionally satisfying life is nowadays. And how great movies in general are, that sort of thing.
Movies (in descending order of impact) - Atomic Cafe, Dr. Strangelove, Fight Club
Books - Schroedinger’s Cat Trilogy, Fads & Fallacies in the Name of Science (and Gardner’s other books on the same subject) The Collapse of Chaos, The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Catch-22.
