For whatever reason, people just care more about animals in movies than humans, which is why they almost never die even when human corpses are stacking up like kindling. Who didn't cheer when Will Smith's dog outran an explosion in slow motion in Independence Day?iphone 6 replacement screen You know, while an entire city full of men, women and children were incinerated behind him?
Hope they have food in there until the dust settles, or someone's going to have to eat that dog.
So when a film wants to inject some quick sympathy for a human character, it will give him a pet, or have him show kindness to an animal.
Even When it Doesn't Make Sense .
Gladiator opens with a rag tag bunch of Germanic peasants preparing to fight the Romans, who are trying to invade their ancestral land. It's like a scene out of Braveheart: The plucky locals are powered only by their axes and patriotism, while their imperialistic enemy uses armor, phalanxes, disciplined formations and a whole bunch of shit that's on fire. !
The Cubs playing the Yankees, except the Yankees have heavy shields and the Cubs have been set on fire.
Problem is, the viewers in this scene are supposed to be rooting for the Romans, led by Russell Crowe. The Roman emperor watching the battle is also meant to be a good guy. What's a movie to do?
It doesn't matter in Gladiator that Romans didn't use dogs on the battlefield, or that the dog disappears from the movie immediately afterward. It's a very simple equation: The good guys are whichever team the dog shows allegiance to, because the dog would never make that kind of mistake, especially if it's an adorable dog.
You can see it in Hellboy, where we're introduced to the giant, demonic, bad tempered hero as he picks up and hugs a kitten. In fact, at one point, Hellboy actually causes an almost certainly fatal multi car pile up in order to save some kittens, and that only makes us root for him harder. In Equilibrium, the exact point at which Christian Bale turns from cold, merciless murderbot into sympathetic hero is the moment he rescues a small puppy, and the audience happily forgets that he'd earlier allowed his wife to burn to death.iphone 6 replacement screen Clint Eastwood's classification as the "good" in The Good the Bad and the Ugly seems to come almost entirely from a 10 second scene in which he pets a tiny kitten that's sitting adorably in his hat.
"Tell me where Tuco is and then get off my ranch."
Note, however, that this rule only applies to some animals. Dogs and kittens almost always work, but fully grown cats can be ambivalent. A tiny monkey dressed in a Nazi uniform probably won't do the trick either.
5. Make Them Technologically Inferior
Avatar, Lord of the Rings, Rambo, Rocky, The Karate Kid, Star Wars, Independence Day, Battle: Los Angeles
If there's one thing moviegoers love, it's underdogs. It's even been scientifically proven: In one experiment, students switched their allegiance away from an imaginary sports team the moment they were told that it was "highly favored" to win. We naturally get uneasy going for the obviously superior force, even if they're the ones fighting to defend the besieged giant panda enclosure. No matter the motivation, the stronger and better equipped team is automatically evil.
Look at this superior looking bastard.
Even When it Doesn't Make Sense .
Back in 1988, Rambo 3 told the story of traumatized veteran John Rambo fighting Russians alongside the locals in Afghanistan. Back in those innocent days, the average American could not find Afghanistan on a map even if it was marked with pop up boobs, like in one of those pornographic children's books. How was the audience meant to know that Rambo was doing the right thing? How were they to know the Taliban were the good guys? Sure, we hated the Soviets, but that didn't necessarily make the Taliban heroes.
"They all have funny accents, I can't possibly choose between them!"
The answer: show us a battle scene in which Rambo and the Afghan fighters go up against Russian tanks and helicopters on horseback. Rambo uses Molotov cocktails and a bow and arrow to fight his technologically superior but outwitted enemies. Even a plucky young boy helps fire a rocket launcher. Go Afghanistan! They stand for everything America stands for!
Stab your way to freedom, small child!
Stallone also did it in Rocky IV, when our hero (an incredibly wealthy boxer) leaves his mansion and terrifying maid robot for Russia where he uses primitive training methods such as hauling wood and running through the snow. Meanwhile, his nemesis trains indoors surrounded by computers and white coated scientists. Never mind that Rocky and his Soviet nemesis Ivan Drago actually have the same unlimited training budget available to them. When its on the big screen, the guy who chooses to rough it scans as our hero, even if what he's doing is the athletic equivalent of the thought process that would give us hipsters.
"Punching the snow is just my way of keeping it real."
It even translates to Middle earth. The primary sin of the orcs in Lord of the Rings was building advanced, mass production facilities. The entire premise of Star Wars is that of the galaxy spanning evil Empire butting heads against a bunch of monks, a farm boy and a gay robot couple. The audience would have never put up with Luke Skywalker's incessant whining if it looked like he had any chance of success.
Incessant whining was presumably a family trait, and look where it got him.
And don't forget Obi Wan repeatedly acting disgusted at the thought of using a blaster instead of more old fashioned and "elegant" lightsaber, as if slicing people with white hot plasma is somehow more humane.http://www.iphonereplacementscreen.top
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