Choosing a favorite movie is quite hard to do. I find it much easier to choose certain aspects that I enjoyed about specific movies. But, if I have to choose one, and only one right off the bat, I would have to say The Muppets Take Manhattan for the simple reason that it did not contain any offensive material to me. It’s the only movie out of the list that I would personally feeling comfortable watching with my younger sisters and parents. The plot is rather childlike and unrealistic, however it brings back the innocent Sesame Street days, and I don’t mind.
Aspects that appealed to me from Wall Street include the suspenseful plot. I really didn’t care much about class and status while watching the movie. I really didn’t even pay attention to the NY setting as much. Instead I thought it was pretty cool (for a lack of a better word) and exciting film. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of trying to decode the business messages the stock brokers shuffled around and understanding exactly how (the more technical side of things) Bud was able to save Blue Star at the end of the movie. As realistic as it seems (and perhaps it is in many ways), it is funny that the plot centers on an honest man being in a Wall Street setting having to choose between his conscience and money. Hahahaha. What a joke! You want reality? Any guy that comes in pitching stocks better be one heck of a crook. The better they get, the more trustworthy they seem. The words “conscience” and “morality” mean nothing in these firms.
As far as truthful to New York, I don’t know? When was the last time you saw a pizza shop burn to the ground because of loud music playing? Or a criminal that pulls over while being chased by police to put a bleeding dog in his trunk? In all honesty, I am having a hard time recalling all the scenes in all the movies that would happen on the moon before they would happen in NYC, but as I have said time and time again, Movies make money. That’s their job, and thats what makes them successful (and the reason they have gained enough fame for us to even be watching them in our class). Bits and pieces can be put together from the movies to create some type of “NYC,” but I’m not sure how close it will come.
As much as I love NYC because I’m born here (well actually oceanside, but close enough) and study here, I can tell you straight up, its a pretty nasty, mundane, depressing city. Rat infested, rude people, crime, potholes, and a downright selfish city. Nudity, obscenity, drunk people, people high on pot, crack. You name it, we got it. Center of the world. Feeling the Taxi Driver in this? Every man for himself. Every women for herself. Sense of community…in your dreams. You don’t get anything here unless you fight. Fight with your teachers, your boss, your whatever. Your always under someone. You always worrying. Your always planning. You live here working until your last breath…and if your lucky, if..you can possibly claim to be happy (for Friday night so you can actually sleep). Parking tickets, parking meters, bumper-to-bumper traffic, taxes, sky-high prices. Rules and regulations every where you go. Makes you wish you lived in a suburb where you can actually go outside and sell some lemonade without a cop demanding your permit (I got shut down by a cop when I was selling water on a summer day with my brother, I was 13). But guess what, at the end of the day, you have that badge in your pocket that you can whip out to brag about living in the city that never sleeps (just please explain to them after that you don’t actually live in Times Square and that the official city you live in is called Flushing. Yes, same spelling for flushing the toilet, as my 1st grade teacher taught me).
