I’ve always been one to fight against any grown-up who says that movies and music rot your brain, but now that I am a grown-up I’m beginning to wonder if maybe they were right. Man, I’m old!

I can understand how one great movie can change the face of cinema or how one great song can become a call to action, but to allow yourself to get so lost in it that you lose touch with reality is something I will never understand. It’s gotten a bit out of control, especially with teenagers. Listen up kids, there’s a fine line between being a fan and being obsessed. I highly recommend learning the difference.

Let me give you some examples:

The Fast and the Furious

I began to notice this obsession back in 2001 when The Fast and the Furious came out in theaters. Immediately after this movie was released every Honda Civic owner attached a body kit, some ground lights, and a tank of NOS to their cars and began racing down the highways.

None of these schmucks had enough money to make their cars look as cool as the cars in the movie, so really it was just a bunch of hoopties making a lot of noise as they drove down the street. Hooptie, remember that word?! We need to bring that back with other words like Rad and Dope.

Moving on…

I thought these “street racers” we’re just a bunch of dumb kids wasting their money, but altogether harmless. That was until I saw on the news that some guy tried to pull the semi-truck stunt from the movie in real life. If you haven’t seen the movie, a gang of precision drivers were robbing truckers of their cargo. In one scene a driver swerves, crossing under the semi-truck trailer at top speed.

This is not easy for even the most skilled stunt driver, but this kid thought that he could do it too! Let’s just say it didn’t end well. I don’t care if Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are dope guys with rad cars that get all the hot chicks, but it doesn’t mean they can drive. And more importantly, it does not mean you can either!


I know, I know, we’re all sick of Twilight, but I had to bring this up. Did you know that women were actually breaking up with their boyfriends/husbands because the men we’re not Edward Cullen?!!! It’s true!

Google “dumped for Edward Cullen” and look at all of these crazy girls leaving their men for a fictional character!! A sparkly, possessive, whiny, un-scary, “vampire”.  C’mon girls, really?! I mean, you know he’s FICTIONAL…right? I am all for being a fan, but to allow this fantasy to become your reality is dangerous.

Some people went so far as to move to Forks, Washington in hopes of finding him there. I wonder if they were surprised to find he wasn’t. Ladies, it’s one thing to see qualities in Edward that you might want your significant other to have, but don’t obsess over it. Crazy is an ugly color on you.

The List Goes On…

After Top Gun came out the US Military saw an increase on 20,000 uniformed personnel compared to the year before. After Fight Club came out people started their own real life underground fight clubs (they’d never admit to this of course because of rule #1). And how badly did you want some Doritos after watching Wayne’s World?

People now-a-days have separation issues. Are their lives so bad that getting lost in fiction has become a way to escape, or are they just bored? So I ask you,

Do movies influence the world, or does the world influence the movies?

Katie Baker

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