“Like a movie.”
That’s how a West Chicago woman described the scene when escaped fugitive Robert Maday’s carjacked automobile raced past her in a desperate attempt to escape pursuing police cars last week.
“Like a movie.”
That’s also how many New Yorkers described the nightmare scenes of 9/11 eight years ago.
“Like a movie.”
In fact, a great many witnesses to calamities and violence often fall back on this simile, which has, at least in press circles, become somewhat predictable. Like when reporters ask people to describe the psycho killers revealed to be living next door to them, and they all say the same thing:
“He was quiet and kept to himself.”
It’s actually a compliment to the film industry that people compare real disasters and violence to movie scenes. Filmmakers spend lots of money and time and effort so their movies project the look and feel of real life. (Read more…)