Poppy claims that film doesn’t lie “like memories do.” Is this true? Are there more accuracies in film, or can film be as misleading as memories?
Back in the day, I think family home movies were probably better at showing the truth, especially if all of the action wasnt staged. Today everyone is constantly taking pictures, doing selfies and posing. I think some of the authenticity has been taken away.
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I do not say memories lie but we do forget! Especially as we get older I remember things differently than my sisters. But films can also be misleading depends on how the person being filmed feels that day. I was very shy so if I looked at our very old home movies I would see a very boring little girl who looks like she is afraid of the world. That was not me! I truly did enjoy life and laughter.
Unlike today, I think the old family home movies were very revealing. And if I were looking for clues I’d look to that more so than someone’s memory. However, as Paula says, the films can be misleading.
Film only shows what is happening at the moment which may not provide all the context of what happens before or after and can be misleading or misinterpreted. When Poppy saw Vincent burying a cat, she could not know how the cat died.
To some extent that is true. You are capturing a moment in time. However, there are different ways to interpret what is being seen. People in the film can also be putting on a front, far different from what the truth actually is.
I don’t think film is always more truthful than memory. Film can be just as easily manipulated. We usually record the good stuff, the happy moments, the highlights. So what you end up with is a curated version of reality, not the full picture. Just like memory, it can leave things out, shape a narrative, or reflect how someone wants things to be remembered rather than how they actually were.
I agree with you, Donna. Film might be considered a primary source of information; however, it is biased because the film maker, in the story it’s Poppy, scripts the view/narrative. Her/his viewpoint captures the images but not necessarily the story or context.
I think that Hollywood can make films that lie, but home movies rarely do, so Poppy is probably right as far as her films. I also think that our minds modify some of our memories to ease the pain of them, or to cover up our feelings about them
I think Poppy was right. There were a lot of things that came to light just because Olivia was able to watch the film of the actual happenings. It can’t lie, it’s just like if you were there.
Film can manipulate emotions, which is why it is such an effective storytelling medium. It all depends on how you shoot it–the framing, camera angle, lens choice, lighting, composition, etc. They all play a part in making the film reveal certain emotions. Rarely are film clips (even news clips) the whole truth. It’s a single viewpoint from a camera person’s perspective without context or resolution. It’s a moment. Not the whole story. That’s why it can be misleading.
Memories are sometimes what we want to believe if they come from a place that might have been not what we see as ideal. Someone said that back in the day home movies portrayed the real world more and I agree with that comment. Today all you see is what people have edited or carefully depicted. We all see people carefully arranging their hair the scene behind them to appear perfect. I once saw a post that a Mom did of the perfectly clean house from the waist up and then showed the disaster from the kids playing and I applauded this Mom for being real.
I think the film can also be misleading sometimes too, if the beginning of the interaction wasn’t captured, or in case of Poppy’s movies, there is no sound so you don’t know what is actually being said. A lot of the times when I look at my own family photos and videos, I’ll remember the whole story behind the events, not just what was captured at that particular moment. How everyone laughed just as the camera was turned off, or someone got upset, or whatever else happened.
Films elicit emotions. Even back then, we were seeing things from Poppy’s point of view so the film is still slanted. Today’s films can be much worse with all the editing capabilities that absolutely allow the producer to manipulate the viewer.
Oh I think fllm lies even more so. Watch a video on FB or any social media. People show what they want to show. It may have been more difficult back in the day when editing wasn’t so easy, but today? Nothing can be believed.
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I think that old home movies might bring back a memory but the movie could still paint an untrue event. Now days, movies can be totally misleading and are often done just to prove a specific point whether it is true or not.
Film can be edited and manipulated, so not always truthful. But in the case of Poppy’s films in 1975 they were much more accurate than memory - at least much more foretelling.
Film doesn’t show context. Film can be edited. So I’m not sure there are any more accuracies in film as there are in memories.
Films show moments of time, do they lie? I don’t believe they lie, but we do not see the moments before or after the moment captured. When viewed several years later, the viewer is bringing new knowledge to their interpretation of what must be happening. There were a few places where Poppy caught certain things on film, but not the previous action that made her grap her camera. Film is open to interpretation.