Contributor's Corner: The Film That Changed Your Life

During the dawn of Viddy Well, we asked each interested contributor to fill out the same questionnaire. The questions spanned from grave to goofy, but the replies were nearly always unexpected. This week we'll take a look at the following question: 

What’s the first film that changed your life? 

Brenda Torres: 

Since you said first film that changed my life and not a film that changed my life, I really ransacked the depths of my memory for this one. I'm gonna take you back to 1998 with Disney's Mulan. She was my feminist hero before I even had the faintest idea what feminism was. She was a badass go-getter who SAVED CHINA. I could go on forever but I won't...

Anthony Cleveland: 

Terminator 2. I think I saw it around the age of 3, and I was hooked. The kid tags along with his own personal killing machine. What's not to love as a kid to get you hooked on movies. Oh yeah, and the robots, explosions, and gore.

Jake Bottiglieri: 

Genuine answer: Jurassic Park because it was the first time I saw that the medium could be used to essentially make anything feel real. Although, the ironic Millennial douchebag answer: Disney's Hercules cause Meg gave me a boner...

Kie Richardson:

The first film to change my life just so happens to be my favorite film of all time and that’s Pulp Fiction. I saw that movie for the first time when I was like 10 years old and my head exploded like Marvin's. I no longer had any desire to watch cartoons after that. I remember sneaking to watch it on HBO or something and being blown away. The language, the dialogue, the story telling, the imagery, the blood, the violence; it was all so new to me. I couldn't wrap my head around how the story was being told. Later I found out it was out of order, of course, and became enthralled with trying to piece it together from start to finish.

Dave Mcdermand: 

This little Artsy Fartsy thing called ODDSAC by a guy named Danny Perez and Animal Collective (I know, I can hear your groans through the internet wires right now). It was a visual album that showed me that you don't need to follow any sort of easy to follow narrative and can use emotion, colors, and audio-visual symbols to tell a story that can be interpreted differently for each person in the audience. I was like 17 or something and hadn't been exposed to too much modern experimentalism that wasn't cheese dick or pretentious. This movie got me to appreciate the power of formalism.

Tanner Standridge: 

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory blew my mind when I was a kid! It felt like a real world I could live in every time I played the VHS. 

Aaron Haughton: 

The first films I really fell in love with as a kid were Ghostbusters, Home Alone, and Indiana Jones. But, the first one that really opened my eyes to the power of film is A Clockwork Orange. I remember renting that when I was 16 or 17 and watching by myself late at night. I was completely awe-struck, like eyes as wide as Alex's during the treatment. It was so brutal and nihilistic and theatrical, balls to the wall formalism.  My dad was traveling for work, and he came home while I was mid-film, and I remember exuberantly asking him if he'd seen it. Of course, he had, but he lacked my newfound enthusiasm. I stayed up that night and finished it, and I watched it again the next day. Then, I showed it to all my friends. After all that, I got the novel and devoured that too. I even named this site after a bit of slang from the film. 

What do you think? What was the first film that changed your life? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and, as always, remember to viddy well!