Welcome back folks. For those select few who know me in real life, you will know I am very direct, have a somewhat strange humour and do very geeky things once in a while. That being said, I am also an avid sports fan so I figure that balances me out. So with all that in mind, I have recently been discussing with several people on a few different topics. As of late I have allowed my mind to wander some more and I have decided to pass my gibberish on to you. Get ready.

First thing on my mind, why is it that books are considered more legitimate than articles, blogs, comics or anything else. What is it about a “book” that makes you smarter than those who primarily read articles, blogs or comics? I would argue that many comics now a days are written far better than many books being published. So apparently people who read Harry Potter, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, or whatever Tom Clancy is writing now a days is more influential or a better read than what is being published in comics, the internet or in magazines. These book people as I call them, have yet to provide a valid reason as to why books are superior. The best answer I have received so far is that comics are for kids, magazines are for lazy readers and bloggers do not count as writers.

Let’s start with bloggers. Apparently bloggers are using some sort of non English which is not considered valid writing. This debate has become more apparent as of late and I think it is because with the advent of the internet, everyone can blog where as newspapers and such can choose who they will and be elitists if they so choose. Some of the best writing I have seen has been on blogs. Of course I am not saying all bloggers are better than journalism writers, but many writers for papers are not great in my opinion.

So what about comics? Are they really all for kids? Well that obviously depends on what kind of comics. Of course there are comics for kids, comics that are created to be just dumb fun as it were. That being said, in the last several years, comic writers have evolved considerably. There are also several screen writers and actual book writers, Steven King comes to mind immediately, who have now transitioned to the comic world. While I would agree that comics are not for everyone, there are some which are tremendous reads and there is generally something for everyone if you are willing to look.

As for magazines, I have never fully understood the hate. I guess maybe it is because they do not always tell the story, or possibly the subject matter, but I find certain magazines to be an excellent read.

These are my thoughts on this debate. The other topic I have been pondering for quite some time now are movies. I know shocking right? More specifically though, I have been getting more and more frustrated of people complaining about movies. Somewhere in the annals of time, we seem to have forgotten why we have movies. They are to entertain us, or so I thought. Now I have been guilty of this myself, telling people who unrealistic the movie was and how that could never happen. Or saying something about how the dialogue is unrealistic or the graphics is not up to par. Somewhere down the line, we seem to forget that we are supposed to be enjoying ourselves. We seem to forget that when we go to a movie or rent a movie, that for that hour and a half, we are supposed to forget about the world we live in and get whisked away into the movies world. Now admittedly, some movies do this better than others. All the while some movies are plain bad.

So I am not defending poorly made movies, quite the contrary. Primarily a movie should entertain you. When you watch it, you shouldn’t be thinking about whether that was a stunt man or the actor, or whether the camera should have been moving rather than static, no instead you should be thinking of the story being told. I keep hearing how Michael Bay is a horrible director when in actuality he does what he needs to do. He tends to direct action well. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is the film Armageddon. I have heard numerous people complain about how unrealistic it is or how overly dramatic it is. How about you just enjoy it for what it is? Forget about that stuff and just watch the movie, don’t dissect it or find its faults, just watch it and walk away. Another of these types of movies is the movie “A Knights Tale” I love this movie and have watched it several times. It doesn’t try to be real or ever claim to be, but this is a fun movie to watch if you let yourself.

So all that being said, I do realize that certain people’s job’s is to criticize movies, actors and directors. This is a job I would like. I do however know the difference in something being entertaining and something trying to be real. There is nothing wrong with a movie wanting to be real or gritty, if that’s what you want, more power to you. There are options though. Next time you watch an action movie or a disaster movie, and not that god awful spoof one), try just watching it for what it is. Not every movie needs to be a cinematic masterpiece.

So all in all, it was a pretty good week. I have been writing a lot for many different sites on many different topics. Hopefully my next blog will be a happier and less argumentive article. I am hoping to do my next writings on Zombieland if at all possible. Here is hoping, until then though, stop complaining and try enjoying things for a bit.

Rob Cramer