Why I Adore Film, A Valentine’s Day Love Letter
My dearest film,
I’ve tried to remember the first time you wrapped me in your flickering embrace. I can’t pinpoint the exact moment, only that you are now an emphatic part of who I am. Though you live in fiction, you have shaped my perception of the world.
Over the years your power to enchant and influence me has only intensified. You’ve quietly supported and nudged me in ways few people have. I might forget where I left my keys or what I had for dinner, but I can recite the opening scenes of Die Hard as if they were carved into my memory. While other parts of my brain keep track of birthdays and appointments, a special corner is reserved just for you.
As a child we spent many slow Sundays together watching The Railway Children, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Amazing Mr. Blunden. Those afternoons inspired countless games—mixing garden potions, creating tissue-paper costumes for dolls, and sending a Pocahontas Barbie on daring dives from the sofa. In my teens you were cathartic and bold: movies taught me the consequences of hedonism, inspired my goth hair experiments from Beetlejuice, and broadened my imagination.
When I later studied film I realised how deeply you speak. Films like Rear Window or Invasion of the Body Snatchers can be read as social commentary; Singing in the Rain and Sunset Boulevard reveal the changing nature of stardom. As I formed my own theories, our relationship shifted from admiration to understanding: I read between your lines, and you read between mine. Those childhood weekends spent with Labyrinth, Drop Dead Fred and The Goonies weren’t accidental—those stories left lasting impressions and quiet lessons I still carry.
You have saved me in small, unspoken ways. You helped me understand society, culture and history, guided my subconscious and soothed moments of overwhelming emotion. You made me laugh when I wanted to cry and offered solace when life felt too heavy. Through you I know myself better, and for that I am endlessly grateful.
You are, without doubt, the love of my life and my closest companion.
Happy Valentine’s Day, you brilliant art form. Stay relevant, daring and accessible.
Lots of love,
Elizabeth