The Evolution of Movies

This week in class, I learned about film. We watched the movie A Trip to the Moon. It was interesting in many ways, but I found the science and astronomy in it to be funny and entertaining. Made years before rockets, the scientists are launched to the moon in a cannon. When they get to the moon, they wear no apace suits or oxygen masks, they just breathe. Obviously scientists of the day did not know that the moon had no atmosphere, and therefore no breathable air. The surface of the moon was jagged and had a bunch of spikes, much different from the cratered surface of the moon as we know it. The scientists go to battle with aliens on the moon, and when they punch the aliens they just freaking explode into dust. I guess this movie was exciting and thrilling in its day, but it was unintentionally hilarious today. I wonder if our popular movies of today will become hilarious and outdated. Maybe only the bad movies will. I thought Transformers 2 was unintentionally funny now, so I can’t even imagine what my grandchildren will say about it. I also found it funny that the scene at the end of The Great Train Robbery where the robber aims the gun at the crowd really freaked people of the day out. People’s tolerance for violence and horror in movies has certainly increased greatly in the last century. I have heard stories of people vomiting and passing out in theaters when The Exorcist came out. However nowadays, the movie is barely considered scary, and is certainly not enough for most people to vomit. This makes me worried for how violent and disturbing movies in 100 years will be. With movies like Hostel out, I don’t know what film makers of the future could to do be more disturbing. Then again, I’m sure people in 1903 wouldn’t be able to even comprehend that a movie like Hostel could be made. It is amazing to see the way film has progressed, and the way society has moved along with it.