La Grazia was deep. But was it really better than Wayne’s World?
Idea
My movie-loving friends may scoff, but I may be on the verge of a creative breakthrough.
Sophie Fast
When it comes to art, is it fair to compare apples to oranges, or even apples to aardvarks? I don’t know if it is or not. And yet… I can’t stop doing it.
I went to see it about a month ago La Grazia We are at the cinema with some friends. Auteur Paolo Sorrentino’s new film about an Italian president consumed by questions of public and private conscience in the final stages of his term.
La Grazia is an art film (featuring moody rooftop scenes involving cigarettes, suffering horses, etc.) and explores perennial and modern moral dilemmas, from infidelity to euthanasia. There were amazing moments La Grazia but I found parts of it tiring and I’m glad it’s over.
“Not that good Wayne’s WorldI muttered into the darkness as the credits rolled.
My friends sitting next to me nodded. This comment was part of a long running joke between the three of us. These two friends are knowledgeable about cinema and watch hundreds of movies every year, but I am more of a book person. The joke is that, on the contrary, I’ve only seen five movies in my life. Mary Poppins, Wayne’s World And Despicable Me 3 – and these are my cinematic reference points.
Of course, this is a joke, but there is some truth to it. I’m watching Wayne’s World It was an eye-opening cinema experience for me. (For those who don’t know, Wayne’s World A 1992 slacker comedy about Wayne, a metalhead who hosts a cult talk show in his parents’ basement in Aurora, Illinois.) I watched it when I was 12 and thought it was hilarious. Some younger part of me continues to hold onto this memory as a peak movie experience, even if parts of the movie haven’t aged very well.
This youthful side of me was also a subconscious part of me until I started joking around with my movie buff friends. Since then, Wayne’s World Comparison has become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy and a perverted mental reflex.
I will watch, let’s say Dead Poets Society (to choose another widely viewed classic) and Wayne’s World The urge to compare will take over my mind and I will be powerless to stop it. Of course, Robin Williams is great here as the destructive prep school teacherI will think But is Alice Cooper actually better? Wayne’s World cameo as shock rock sage? Ultimately, Alice Cooper cuts a doubly subversive figure, subverting mainstream social conventions with his onstage persona and defying the metal community’s expectations behind the scenes..
This is of course not normal and not reasonable. Dead Poets Society or any other movie included La Grazia. Sorrentino set out to make not a deranged buddy comedy based on Aurora, but a visually striking study of modern morality in Italy’s capital. Their work should be discussed accordingly.
It is important to note that critics who judge La Grazia I liked it better on its own terms than I did. Sorrentino has been hailed by some as the Fellini of the 21st century. La Grazia Star Toni Servillo won best actor at the 2025 Venice Film Festival for his performance as the inscrutable president paralyzed by overwhelming responsibility. (And look, Toni was great. But… was Mike Myers better as the indecisive Wayne, torn between the trap of mainstream success and the tremendous responsibility he owes to his original goofy persona and original fan base?)
If I want my friends to stay friends with me in the long run, I will need to get rid of this unhealthy habit of my mind. Or maybe I just need to keep this strange activity in mind and keep my mouth shut for now. I watched the documentary a long time ago Creative BrainHosted by neuroscientist David Eagleman. It relates to the neural processes involved in creative activity. I learned that artists and innovators achieve great feats of creativity not by generating completely original ideas, but by “twisting, breaking, and blending” existing concepts and remixing them into unexpected combinations. ( Bohemian Rhapsody scene Wayne’s World It makes exactly the same point, with much more charm and economy, and without the annoying infographics.)
Still, making noncomparative film comparisons (comparing apples to aardvarks) is perhaps a classic example of twisting, breaking, and blending, and we should all do it all the time. It is possible that an unexpected analysis of this kind could be the beginning of any extraordinary creative breakthrough. And if not, that’s definitely the end of rational conversation. party on.
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