The Seven Deadly Sins Committed at the Movie Theater II

After reading my seven deadly sins paper over a few times I realized that it wasn’t awful. When I was writing it I was not “feeling the paper”. I got stuck on many parts and was just expecting it to turn out as a disaster. I had no confidence in it and had a very pessimistic view on the whole paper. I can now see that the topic and story line is cleaver and interesting. People can relate to “people watching.” Everyday people judge, criticize, and compliment each other. With this paper I really wanted to portray this everyday aspect of a person’s life. I wanted to show that the personalities and lives of everyday people portray the seven deadly sins through their daily activities.

Some of the strengths of my paper were that I had good examples to back up my thesis, but I needed to elaborate on them. This was true for especially the paragraphs about lust and sloth. To do this I re-read the paper many times and tried to think of a way to add to them. I didn’t think that I needed to delete the whole paragraph and re-write it. I just had to add a few details and examples. Doing this will ensure and persuade the reader to agree with me and believing that those movies and the people who see the movie represents that sin.

For the sin of lust I needed a new mind set. When I wrote it first I had a hard time thinking of how to convey my thoughts. I added a new beginning to the paragraph by saying, “When I think of Lust the movie that pops into my head is Sex and the City.” With this new transition sentence it allows the reader to know my opinions and will show the reader what the rest of the paragraph will promise. This is much more in depth and developed than the beginning of the first draft which said, “Lust, “Sex and the City”. There are two types of people who come to watch this movie.” Staring out a paragraph in this way is just bland and doesn’t help to introduce or transition into this next phase of the paper. I think my revised piece is more developed and really backs up my thesis.

For the sin of sloth I added more to the middle of the paragraph to ensure that the reader can understand the type of people who go to see the movie that has committed the sin of sloth. Doing this will help to explain why I chose this movie to represent sloth. I think that the best sentence that I added to elaborate on this example is when I said, “These viewers live lives that are kind of dull and boring. They are very passionate about what they do. They are the type of people that are very caught up in their work and don’t pay much attention to their social life.” I think that these phrases use description and definition writing very well to portray the sin of sloth through the moviegoers.

I think that the most dramatic change that I made to my paper was to the introduction. I added much more detail on what my paper will promise in the body paragraphs. It does a much better job introducing the topic and dragging the reader into the paper. Not only did I introduce that the movies will reflect each of the seven deadly sins, but in my new introduction I made sure to elaborate on how the personalities of the moviegoers reflect that sin as well. My favorite line that I added in this paragraph is when I said, “Everyone enjoys spending their time watching movies with a big bowl of popcorn on their lap. Next time you are at the movies, look at the many different personalities that go see specific films.” Starting out my paper with these few sentences ensures that the reader can interact with the paper. This introduction allows the reader to think about their everyday lives and their own opinions on this topic.

 

                                    All Seven Deadly Sins Committed at the Movie Theater.

            Everyone enjoys spending their time watching movies with a big bowl of popcorn on their lap. Next time you are at the movies, look at the many different personalities that go see specific films. People enjoy watching movies because they feel like they can relate to the characters in different films. Not only do people watch movies that they can relate to in their everyday lives, but they also may be intrigued by movies that allow them to envision their lives in a different way. People wish that they can have the lives of the characters in specific films. Characters in movies have unrealistic life styles. They are always perfect. They may have their own life problems, but the movie always ends with a good life.  Not only do the movies reflect the people that walk into that theater, but it reflects the secret lives that these people may live. All movies can be portrayed through the themes of the seven deadly sins- greed, gluttony, pride, lust, envy, sloth, and wrath. Not only do the plots, settings, and characters reflect these themes, but the moviegoers’ personalities are parallels to these themes as well.

            I sit there at the movie theater watching the different personalities walk into the different playing of movies. Some horror films, chick-flicks, inspirational films, sports movies, documentaries, comedies, etc. I see the sin of Gluttony walk by. A 250 pound guys stumbles through the hall into the theater. He sits down with his 2 extra large sodas, 4 large popcorn boxes, and 6 jumbo size candy bars. He sits there to watch “Super Size Me.” An over indulged man who tests out the nutrition of McDonald's. He eats McDonald’s everyday for every meal. The crude graphics, over the top idea, and exaggerations illustrate the sin of gluttony. This reflects the man sitting in the theater. This man will be the character in “Super Size Me” in no time.

            Greed walks into theater 7 down the hall. I walk into the theater and see a room full of high schooler's and teens sitting chatting away. Every person either has their cell phones out, ugg boots on, or their ipod touch in their hand. This generation is all about materialistic items. The movie theater is showing “21”. It is about these college students that can’t stop gambling. These students excel in school and have come up with a method to cheat the system of card playing.  They count the cards while playing poker. Because they keep winning, they can’t stop even thought it is dangerous. At one point in the movie they put their life in jeopardy just to win money and buy lots of expensive items. Both the movie and the teens watching this movie have committed the sin of greed. Both teens and the characters in this movie buy things they want and not necessarily need. They are very greedy and buy things to have a good reputation and impress others. 

            In theater 3, “The Little Giants” is playing. The room is filled with about 30, tough, macho, high school boys. In this movie, Kevin O’shea who is very cocky, stuck up, and arrogant cuts all of these small, weak kids from his successful football team because they aren’t good enough. He even cuts his niece. When his brother starts a team with all of the kids who got cut from Kevin’s team, they challenge each other. Kevin has no doubt in his mind that they will win. His real fate will be shown when the two teams play. These boys watching this movie feel that they can relate. They want to be on the best team and show their friends that they are the best. These stocky football players only want to prove themselves to each other and show their over-arrogant pride. The sin of Pride has been committed in this theater through movie and in those watching it.

            When I think of Lust the movie that pops into my head is “Sex and the City”. There are two types of people who come to watch this movie. There are the groups of best friends who have a girl’s night out and then the girls who force their boyfriends to go with them. This movie is all about lust and relationships. Four friends move to New York City to find love. They show the ups and downs in relationships. Girls love these kinds of chick flicks. They can relate to love and relationships. The lust of this movie and relationships has been committed among these people.

            I look into theater 8. “March of the Penguins” comes on. The documentary is about penguins and their journey through Antarctica. They must go across the thick layer of ice and snow and march across the land in a single file line. This movie has no talking. It is simply just quiet, slow in some spots and very factual. This movie portrays the sin of sloth to a group of very low key, calm people. Many older people who enjoy facts and first hand footage of the wild. These viewers live lives that are kind of dull and boring. They are very passionate about what they do. They are the type of people that are very caught up in their work and don’t pay much attention to their social life. These sluggish penguins that take a whole winter to get to their destination intrigue the watchers in the theater. The sin of Sloth has been committed within these viewers as well as through the film.

            “Silence of the Lambs” is about an FBI psychiatrist who interviews a killer to learn about Buffalo Bill who kidnaps and kills young women. She learns that he is holding a young lady and she has to take matters into her own hand and stop him. This killer has committed the sin of wrath. He is a very angry and livid man. This character is trying to get revenge. It has some graphic and intense scenes. This movie attracts many different kinds of people in the movie theater. The theater is filled with mostly guys who like intense situations. They don’t get scared by blood and guts. These intense men who thrive on violence and intriguing situations envision their lives in an action or horror film. Typically when guys have a problem and haven’t learned to deal with controlling their anger, they may lash out. Some guys become violent when they get angry and frustrated. This movie reflects this very fact, when you are angry, you want revenge. This movie represents the sin of wrath.

            Movies tell a lot about the people that go and see them. People are intrigued by movies because they can relate to them. They are either how the viewers act or how the viewers wish they lived their lives. Wrath, Sloth, Envy, Lush, Gluttony, Greed, and Pride are all committed in the movies and within the people that go to watch those movies.