You Gotta See It... Or Your Life Will Be Incomplete!

We've all been there. Seen something, read something, heard something, experienced something that makes us want to share it with the world. Nothing quite capsulates this like movies. "Have you seen that movie? It changed my life." And the assumption is that it will change yours as well.

I've been the victim of this a couple of times, and more often than not my life has not been changed. The clouds did not part and Heaven's light did not shine down upon me revealing all the secrets of the Universe. At best it was a mildly entertaining way to waste a couple of hours and at worst I'm thinking I have to mow the lawn or change the oil in the car (both acts that I usually leave as the last possible options for free time). Then there's the confessional afterwards. "Didn't you just love it?" At this moment I could either confess to my lack of ability to meet their expectations or lie. Lying is not as simple as you would think. That could trigger further conversation about the deep subtext or characterization, a place better left alone unless you paid enough attention to perpetuate feigned interest in the topic. Nodding and agreeing does not count as at some point you will be expected to participate in the exchange with intelligent, detailed comments. Of course, the other option, telling the truth, could bring about crushed dreams and fractured relationships. So what to do?

A confession before continuing. I have been known, on more than one (or twenty) occasions to use this phrase myself. For me it's a spontaneous reaction, like a hammer to the knee. A story or script that has spoken to me so deeply that I believe legislation should be passed, nay, a constitutional ammendment, mandating viewing. So the reaction is more "You haven't seen it? But you'll be arrested!" And so the proverbial "You gotta see it" comes out.

But that's the point, everyone has something that speaks to them. That something may not be right for another person, but then it could be. And if it is, you've shared a beautiful thing. For myself, the Big Lebowski is one of those things. If I hadn't been told "you gotta see it," then I may not have seen it, and I may not have said "you gotta see it" to someone else who loved it. I may have missed out on the laughs shared or the knowing glances when a line is quoted. That is why we continue to say those four words, and why we keep believing that our lives will be changed.