After coming home from seeing Little Children, we were discussing movies with our babysitter, and she mentioned that she wanted to see Freedom Writers. Without much thought my reply was, "I don't really like inspirational movies". I also thought that I must come across as a terrible person for saying that. I was referring to the dozen or more pictures that come out each year about either a teacher who connects with seemingly hopeless students, a ragtag sports team that transforms itself, or a hero who overcomes addiction or illness. To paraphrase Tolstoy, all inspirational movies seem the same, whereas one can always find new and interesting ways to be cynical or depressing.
It's easy to mistake nobility of purpose for quality. The Academy does it all the time choosing Rocky over Network, Taxi Driver and All the President's Men or Forrest Gump over Pulp Fiction, or Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas. The bottom line for me is that all great movies no matter the tone or topic are inspirational (as is any great human achievement). I walk out of movies as diverse as It's a Wonderful Life (yes, I do have a weakness for it), Kill Bill or Requiem for a Dream feeling pretty much the same way, exhilarated.
You can see the AFI's list of 100 most inspirational movies here. Quite a few of these are excellent films, but the voters took a very broad view of what inspirational means (a cynical movie like Bridge over the River Kwai is inspirational??). I'm looking for a fight, so I'll add that in the top 10 are two good (and certainly noble) films that are consistently overrated as among the best of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath.
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