Well I liked Forest Gump

Yeah. Let's move on. I really liked "Castaway" too, Edgar. Considering the fact that he spent more than half of the movie acting with only a soccer ball, it really was a remarkable feat. But here's a question...do you think there was any way for Tom Hanks character to successfully return to civilization with "Wilson", his soccer ball-only friend? Or was it a must that he lose the ball somehow?

I believe he would have held onto Wilson for dear life, but if he could have had his wife, the ball would have become more a treasured keepsake. The way the film left him at that crossroads, I found very unsettling.

The ending, for me, was hopeful. That's all. But it seemed to me that the relationship he had with Wilson would not have gone over so well once he was back home, so he had to lose Wilson in order to make the adjustment.

It must be based on a novel. I wonder if anybody on here read it?

Apparently, it was not a novel. Here is something from wickipedia, about Wilson:

Wilson has been a subject of humor in literature, film and television. The character has been parodied in Mad magazine and in such films and television shows as Scary Movie 2, Family Guy, Saturday Night Live and Madagascar.

[edit] Character development
The character was created by screenwriter William Broyles Jr. While researching for the film Cast Away, he consulted with professional survival experts, and then chose to deliberately strand himself for one week on an isolated beach in the Sea of Cortes, to force himself to search for water and food, and obtain his own shelter. During this time, a volleyball washed up on shore. This was the inspiration for the film's inanimate companion. From a theatrical view, Wilson also serves to realistically imply dialogue in a one-person-only situation.[8]

[edit] Fate of the prop
One of the original volleyball props was sold at auction after release of the film for $18,400 and now rests in a display cabinet in FedEx Kinko's CEO Ken May's office in Dallas, Texas.[9] In addition, many near identical replicas of Wilson are available for sale,[10][11][12] and the Wilson company manufactures a volleyball with the handprint face on one side.[13]

Wow! Mr. Broyles really gets into his work, doesn't he? But that's where he found the inspiration for Wilson. What a great story. Thanks edgar.

art, be it low brow, high brow, cinema, literature, music, whatever the medium, is made to resonate with people.

Larry the cable guy resonsates with some people (God help them) , death metal with others, classic art and literature with others....etc. etc.

If it resonsates with someone, it's successful art.

Agreed, bear.

btw...resonsates=resonates

I think it was necessary. It was a metaphor for what his girlfriend did in finding someone else to marry. Do you hold onto a fantasy and destroy yourself, or do you let it go and have a life?

I know it is only logical for the character to adjust and build himself a new life in our society. But, he looks so unprepared for it, which is why I felt unsettled at the final scene.

I once had a conversation with a guy about the Star Wars movies....I was working on his house, and we were about the same age....and we got on the "so what do you like to do" exchange. Among the things I mentioned, Star Wars came up...and he went into a rant about how he didn't get why people would watch the same movie over and over...nerdy virgins, live in the parents basements....etc...etc...he did say he like the films.

So, I asked him what was his fav movie...I don't remember what he said now, but he said that he had seen it at least 30 times....then got quiet....and said...but it's a really good movie though.

Gump is one of my favorite movies...at face value....if I were to analyze it, or over-analyze it, and I have....it gets even better. Gump with his childlike mind, sees things as they are without all the bs that the rest of us do....when he picks up the book for the black girl, he sees no reason not to pick up the book....as there is no reason for any person to be denied access to the school. When Bubba dies, he says this with futility in his voice....Bubba died right there by that river in Viet Nam....and he shouldn't have, as there was no {valid} reason for it, he was going to be a shrimp boat captain. Politically, I think the film hits both sides....but I normally don't think about such things while watching it...just good fun...the soundtrack is pretty good too.

When U2 first came out, I did not like their music, it wasn't bad...just not my style....but then they became a huge success, and I was quickly driven to hate them because they were on the radio/Mtv all the time...after switching stations and hearing them on every one...I would just turn the radio off. 20 odd years later, my tastes have changed some, I can enjoy their work in peace, not having it jammed down my throat...or into my ears I suppose.

Popularity breeds contempt.

I love Funk, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Stevie Nicks, Waylon Jennings, and Superman.

I hate Jazz, the band Rush, Gary Shandling {or anybody that looks/sounds like him}, most modern art, reality tv, and sometimes Tom Cruise.

This is a great point -- when I sense cramming, I rebel. Kind of regardless of the quality of the product per se.

Yeah, I try not to do that anymore...when I was younger I was very bad at doing just that...but I am a rebel thru and thru, so sometimes it's unavoidable.

There are many more examples....the Karate Kid movies for one...I did not watch them until many years had passed. I was playing a game last night that was using a very U2 sounding song for the background...so that was fresh on my mind.

yeah but when he lost Wison he didn't know that yet....

That's right. It's a literary metaphor.

Excellent point. You can start to hate, absolutely despise, stuff that you know is really good just because it's everywhere you turn. Even great paintings have become corny and trite because their reproductions have become so ubiquitous. Think 'Mona Lisa.' Think vanGogh's sunflowers, Monet's haystacks. You wanna scream every time you see one.

I experience the feeling you all are talking about (rebelling at being "crammed") everytime the media picks another "it" girl. It's why I took so long to appreciate Sandra Bullock, Jenifer Aniston, and a few others - they seemed to be everywhere I turned.

Yup. Know exactly what you mean. And, after a while, they all start to look the same and you have trouble distinguishing one from another.

I haven't read all the other 4 pages of thread, but I find it the other way around.
I prefer classical music to popular. I can't harp on about my tastes in the same way everyone else harps on about 'this new band' because I look like a snob.