Did you sympathize with the characters?

[Spooky]

Heather was a control freak.
Josh was an arrogant ass.
Mike was nonchalant-turn-basketcase.

Did you feel sorry that these three people were lost in the woods and scared out of their mind?

Personally I felt sorry for Heather. I can understand the whole project-obsessed nature she had and naturally she did not intend for them to get lost, although she was blamed for it. Josh and Mike acted like puppets throughout the filming and then flipped out on Heather when she couldn't make everything right. You're not going to accomplish much if you just follow someone around who doesn't know where they are going!

[mrtnflmngak]

yeah i did, cause before Josh disappeared, they couldnt agree on anything, that was when i felt sorry for them but when Josh disappeared i was just scared for them

[lukevader]

I did for 2 main reasons...

One, I've been lost in the woods for the better part of a day before and I remember distinctly how mad and frustrated I got over it. It was myself and my best friend when I was around 16. It seemed so stupid that we couldnt find our way and we ended up pissing each other off over it. I never felt like any one of them were more in the wrong than the other because being under that kind of stress, you tend to behave in ways you wouldnt normally.

Two, all of them reminded me so much of people I know or have known in my life. I felt like I knew all of them, so much so that it made me feel like I was a part of the movie itself

And I honestly believe that's why there's such an extreme love it or hate it reaction to the film -- it all depends on the viewer's personal experience. The story line and the way it was put together makes it very difficult to watch if you cant relate to the characters at all.

All movies are like that to a point, but the BWP takes that element to the extreme since it's as stripped down and no-frills as it is. You dont see some axe-wielding murderer, there's no special effects, no real narrative, etc. The only thing this movie relies on is sympathy to it's characters (and your imagination, of course). If you cant relate to them at all, then there's no real reason to be watching it in the first place. It has nothing else to fall back on.

[derick]

It was hard not to. I looked at Heather as a professional ambitous woman with a potential in journalism. She'd be a great anchorwoman. Therefore, yes, she would have the capacity as a "control-freak". But when she realized she was about to die...all that changed. That's when i felt great sympathy for her (and for the guys but mainly her) I felt the tears were real, the emotions were real, is hard to see it as "acting". It always seemed to me she was genuelly frightned. She was documenting (or filming) for another reason, when they do die, the murderer will be caught on camera.

[Tweek]

You pretty much have to relate to the characters and care about them. Otherwise the whole thing would seem rather silly.

It also helps if you have ever been lost in the woods before.

*raises hand*

Been there, done that.

[twana]

When I was 10 or 11
I got lost from my family in
a huge museum in Canada.
It was a huge place filled with
crowds of many, many strangers.
It took me a very long time to
even find my way outside of the
building. I was going up and down
escalators and stairs and fighting
my way through crowds for what
seemed an eternity.

I was very scared.

Eventually I somehow found a door
which led outside and shortly after
that my Dad spotted me from down the
sidewalk and shouted out my name.

I had no idea until many years later
when I had a child of
my own just what he must have been
feeling when they lost me.

The next school year I wrote a short
story about the experience and the
school liked it and published it in
a school print.

I named the story "The Maze Museum".

I can relate to Josh, Heather, and Mike.

[terror93]

I didn't figure there was any use sympathizing with them anyways since I didn't figure they would survive the movie, so no, I didn't.

[captainspalding]

Yeah, I did because they weren't annoying. I can't get into a movie with annoying characters.
In the case of horror movies I can't wait for them to die becuse that means they aren't in the movie anymore. If I find myself actualy rooting for the killer or whatever is after the protagonists then It's a bad film.

[xBlairWitchLegendx]

I did sympathize with all of them, Due to the fact I would of probley acted the same way if I had gotten lost in the woods with friends and plus all Heather ever wanted to do is shoot the documentary she never wanted any of this to happen. She felt everything was her fault which makes me sympathize even more for her character and the others. This is one thing horror movies don't do nowadays they make characters that you won't care for when they die.

[voke]

One of the things I did love about the movie was that it was very reliant on the actors, as everything else was pretty much left upto the audiences imagination. Therefore it must have a superb cast; And so it does.

I sympathized with all 3 characters, as we eventually learnt some backstory and as they delved deeper into the forest we knew something bad was going to happen. But we couldn't help them. This creates a sense of helplessness for the people who are watching the film, and the characters within it. It's one of those great pieces of film-making where you have to remind yourself constantly that it's just a film.

[Duchess DeMonica]

50% Yes 50% No

[Tweek]

I understand that a great many arguments had to be edited out of the final cut of the movie to make the characters more likeable.  I can understand that.  If everyone looks like a jerk then you don't care if they die.  And the movie is diminished by that.