By Brian Freitag
TASPL Director
I have always loved movies and always try to connect the films I see with my everyday life. Movies inspire me, challenge my assumptions, change my views, break my heart, lift my soul, and, yes, even teach me life lessons. I will share several lessons with you, for better or worse.
Number one: Don’t go into the basement. Obviously. If your gut tells you there’s creepy stuff down there, there’s creepy stuff down there. Horror films show us the danger of not trusting your own instincts. They remind you to respect your own intuition.
Number two: If you don’t like the view, change your lens. Films tell stories by framing actions and images in a meaningful way. When you are frustrated, anxious, or depressed, it helps to ask: What if I moved the camera? What if I tried another angle? What if I tried to view this differently?
Number three: With the right team, you can do anything. Another obvious one, I know, but it took me a while to wake up to the perks of having a posse.
Number four: Know when to be the plucky best friend, not the lead. As they say, everyone is the star of their own life…which means we’re also side characters in a whole lot of other people’s stories. It’s important to practice stepping out of the spotlight and playing those supporting roles with gusto.
Number five: If something is exploding behind you, walk slowly away and don’t look back. We have all got burning piles of mistakes or rubble in our past (and if you haven’t, you will). It’s best to leave those smoldering disasters slowly and deliberately so we’ve got time to learn from them; and then never look back. Keep moving forward, forgive yourself, and forgive your past.
Number six: Real life wins. As much as I love watching and discussing movies, real life will always trump what’s up on screen. Films are shades of the real thing. Helpful shades, inspiring shades. The best movies refuse to let us stay hiding in the dark. Instead, they push us back out of the theater into the harsh light of reality with new hope to practice what we’ve learned from them.
Leading up to a major winter storm, a stop at the Tahquamenon Area School Public Library to bag a good movie or two should definitely be on your to-do list. We have over 25,000 books available for check out and over 800 DVDs.
Our collection includes many popular Oscar-winning movies and the television series Sons of Anarchy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Call the Mid-Wife, Game of Thrones, Sons of Anarchy, Stranger Things, Big Bang Theory and more.
Normally entertainment DVDs check out for one week and cost $1. Educational DVDs are free to check out. However, from December 8 – January 5, the library is waiving the $1 check-out fee for entertainment DVDs.
During this period of magic movie madness, you can decadently binge view your favorite movie or television series with family, friends, and pets through the holidays with no rental fees.
With temperatures and snow dropping and the holiday season in full swing, December would be a great month for a movie marathon or two.
This is our way of saying thanks for using the Tahquamenon Area Library and happy holidays! Enjoy a free movie or two or three on the library. Take care and happy holidays!
