1999 - How Two Films Changed my Life

1999. This was the year the cinema changed my life. It spanned throughout the whole year but I can narrow it down to a few weeks in September. In this span of time, two films came out: Fight Club and American Beauty.

While they could not be more different in terms of execution, they are remarkably similar in regards to theme, both dealing with the emasculation of the
American male in a play it safe culture.


 I was starting my junior year of high school the year of 1999. While I never had any problems with bullying or anything along those lines, I was never a very confident person walking the halls. If there was to be some sort of confrontation, I avoided it. I also did  not have any confidence when it came to talking to girls. What seeing both of these films back to back did for me was to give me the confidence I was missing. I was so invigorated after seeing Fight Club I felt I could take on anything. Similarly after seeing American Beauty the change in my perspective on what is important in life was so immediate, it was amazing.

I believe the combined revelation of the two films was to show me that each day is precious and life is fleeting. It could be gone tomorrow. Before this, I had gone through life afraid of physical pain and social embarrassment. These films made me realize that those things were inconsequential in the grand scheme and I strode forward into my life with a new sense of appreciation for what was around me. I may not have outwardly expressed this as strongly as I felt this feeling inside but that didn't matter to me. What mattered was that I was okay with myself, but more than that, I was truly happy to be who I was and where I was in my life.

Basically, I was done worrying about things I couldn't control. My demeanor was always positive and I pursued avenues that I would never have had the bravura to attempt prior to seeing these films. I got on the local news as part of a junior reporters program, joined a film class, shot a terrible short movie, and started writing more.I also became fully invested in film and the glorious medium that is cinema. The idea that a movie could be so powerful as to affect my worldview and change the course of my life was one that I took immediately to heart and admired. Film can be many things to many people.  To the right person, at the right time, in the right place, the right film can be life altering and I will always believe in the power of cinema because of two films I experienced in September of 1999.

Now, on with the rest of the year!