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Good Morning East Tennessee!

While spending time with my family, the subject of "movies" came up. As everyone talked about their favorite movies, I just sat back and listened. After about 20 minutes they began to notice that I hadn't joined the conversation. They know me well enough to see that my brain was working overtime. Indeed, I was all there, but it certainly wasn't time to share what I was really thinking. I decided to save it for Rising with The Daily Sun

I have a secret philosophy that you can tell a lot (almost too much) about someone by their favorite movies. It's always a great conversation starter. If you're with more than one person all you have to do is mention the topic and everyone will soon be jumping in and talking for hours. At that point you can sit back an analyze people to your heart's content.

Do you know someone whose favorite movies are always very violent? Ummm… "red flag" folks.

Animation - It's kind of strange for a grown adult to like animation and I would guess that this person is either easily entertained or is an often misunderstood artist.

Comedy - It doesn't have to be in a movie but if you really analyze it you will see that people will laugh at things they relate-to and the harder they laugh the more they relate. This issue exposes all kinds of skeletons. Listen carefully.

Drama - The problem here is there's many different kinds of drama ranging from "the soap-opera type" to "real life adventure." One might immediately assume that the person is either a drama queen/king or they lead a boring life and they need the suspense of other people's lives. It's not necessarily the case. Often the person is subconsciously preparing take on a leadership role and/or to make some huge business and personal changes.

Family & Kids - Usually the adult who enjoys these types of movies is somewhat conservative and quite content with their life. Naturally they are all about family, security, growing old, retiring, relaxing and enjoying their containment.

Horror - Does this person have secrets or is it the same thrill as riding a roller coaster? I enjoy an occasional horror movie. The problem again is that most of them are poorly made and seem to be targeting the teenage market. Some people like to get into the mind of the writer. How sick is the human mind? What would make a writer think what he/she thought? It exposes unspoken secrets and a dive into the shadows of the human mind.

Mystery? - If the movie is well written and well-acted I'll usually enjoy it and take it as an escape. Otherwise I don't understand the idea of fiction when reality holds enough mystery to keep us intrigued 24/7.
Romance - Dreamer alert! A bit unrealistic and searching (consciously or subconsciously) for perfection via drama. You've all heard of the rescue instinct. This is the "rescue me instinct."

Documentary? - Well, this is my favorite type of movie but it's hard to find one that's really well made. The problem is: the documentary writer/producer will start off with a topic they think the entire world cares about only to find that the subject isn't very exciting at all. Often this is because they hit a wall where they thought it would be easy to find the facts, but that isn't always the case. The result is usually embellishment or the over-dramatization of boring facts. Sometimes the result is blatant lies in an attempt to reclaim their investment money.

SciFi - Everyone knows that people who watch these movies are a bit nerdy, but there's a place in the world for these thinkers. The issue tends to be that they're not big on socializing and have no problem with leaving you out of their fiction-filled existence.

Action & Adventure? - Does this person use movies to fill the void of a boring life? The problem with this category is that they're usually filled with extreme violence. At the same time most are catering to the teenage market. Violence throughout the world is getting out of hand, but movies take it to a whole new level which allows the viewer to live out not-so-pleasant fantasies within the most dangerous part of their body - their mind.

War - Again it comes down to fiction or non-fiction. If it's a war movie documenting the reality of a past war I can understand sitting through embellishments; otherwise, why would anyone sit and watch a made up story about war when you can turn on the TV or the Internet and watch a real one?

Western - Are they living in the past or do they just like believing that any guy with a cowboy hat and a horse can be a hero? Everyone wants to be a hero so I tend to think they live boring quiet lives. It's not their fault, though. They were born too late and missed all the excitement of rounding up the cattle, riding the range, and singing dorky songs by a campfire.

I should put a disclaimer on this: These are original passing theories and not scientific facts.

Have a great day!

Published January 18, 2011