A retrospective by Azzam Abdur-Rahman
As I sit in my home in this time of moral ignorance and global pandemic its hard to enjoy much. In the golden age of the television I feel like the lost of the movie theatre has become the lost of something beautifully cultural about the coming of summer in America. It is our last sanctum from the pain of reality where we can get lost in a tall tale. You may be reading this and think “What on god’s green earth does this have to do with Big Fish?” Big Fish is a campfire story played out in its final evolution, on a silver screen. Big Fish is the best film in Tim Burton’s filmography because it understands something about us. It understands we love a big story with small man at the center trying to do his best.
Big Fish cut to the core of me as a young man. I found this film in the preteen shadow of my body changing and my mind changing as well. In this time, I still had my grandfather. A sweet man who looked like Rodney Dangerfield when he smiled. I only knew him as a sweet man who weaved tall tales. My family much like family in this film loved him for who he was but often sprinkled reality in to his stories. Tim Burton hates reality. He hates those moments where the grand and strange are infected with the ideals of the normal and plain. My grandfather was neither normal or plain when he told a story. Just like that film at its head is the story of a salesmen at the end of his life is normal and plain but when sprinkled with the spice of life it erupts in miasma of joy.
It’s hard to say much about this film that doesn’t come off as joyful and rich in excitement while muted by my cabin fever depression. This month was tough and its tough on all of us. And much like this film we must embrace the joy this film asks us to dance in. We are not locked in our homes, we are in imprisoned by the hubris of the rich. No, we are dancing through our imaginations and finding new ways to impart joy to ourselves. That is what Big Fish is about. It is about finding beauty and bravery in moments of pain. It is about fighting for happiness when the crushing hammer of reality is at our doorstep and its about being the best person you can. I promise I will write more for this site as I work from home. I need this outlet and I am sorry I only like one Tim Burton movie but for now.
As I sit in my home in this time of moral ignorance and global pandemic its hard to enjoy much. In the golden age of the television I feel like the lost of the movie theatre has become the lost of something beautifully cultural about the coming of summer in America. It is our last sanctum from the pain of reality where we can get lost in a tall tale. You may be reading this and think “What on god’s green earth does this have to do with Big Fish?” Big Fish is a campfire story played out in its final evolution, on a silver screen. Big Fish is the best film in Tim Burton’s filmography because it understands something about us. It understands we love a big story with small man at the center trying to do his best.
Big Fish cut to the core of me as a young man. I found this film in the preteen shadow of my body changing and my mind changing as well. In this time, I still had my grandfather. A sweet man who looked like Rodney Dangerfield when he smiled. I only knew him as a sweet man who weaved tall tales. My family much like family in this film loved him for who he was but often sprinkled reality in to his stories. Tim Burton hates reality. He hates those moments where the grand and strange are infected with the ideals of the normal and plain. My grandfather was neither normal or plain when he told a story. Just like that film at its head is the story of a salesmen at the end of his life is normal and plain but when sprinkled with the spice of life it erupts in miasma of joy.
It’s hard to say much about this film that doesn’t come off as joyful and rich in excitement while muted by my cabin fever depression. This month was tough and its tough on all of us. And much like this film we must embrace the joy this film asks us to dance in. We are not locked in our homes, we are in imprisoned by the hubris of the rich. No, we are dancing through our imaginations and finding new ways to impart joy to ourselves. That is what Big Fish is about. It is about finding beauty and bravery in moments of pain. It is about fighting for happiness when the crushing hammer of reality is at our doorstep and its about being the best person you can. I promise I will write more for this site as I work from home. I need this outlet and I am sorry I only like one Tim Burton movie but for now.
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