Films are a passport into interesting stories, a window into the deepest truths of human nature, vivid escapism that lets us see the world through another's eyes. They can also be fantastic teachers, however, I'll let you come to your own conclusions on whether you want to follow the example of these movie characters.
Jack Torrance (The Shining)
In a long career of iconic roles and unforgettable characters, Jack Torrance might be Jack Nicholson's masterpiece. Still considered to be one of the best horror movies of all time, The Shining is unsettling in its depiction of isolation and sanity. This is some worst-case-scenario stuff but might just show the importance of mixing things up when you're at home because "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". Oh, and if you happen to have an elevator full of blood, maybe leave that sucker closed.
L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies (Rear Window)
When you find yourself staying home for a long period of time, it's important to have a hobby, though I might recommend against spying on your neighbors with a telephoto camera lens. Rear Window is another near-perfect film from Alfred Hitchcock's massive library of movie masterpieces that tells the story of L.B "Jeff" Jefferies who, while wheelchair-bound in his apartment, uses his camera to take peeks into his neighbor's lives, making some startling discoveries.
Major Marquis Warren (The Hateful Eight)
When a massive snowstorm forces Major Marquis Warren to take refuge in a remote cabin called Minnie's Haberdashery with 7 other strangers (and a carriage driver), tension and mistrust ensue as someone is not who they say they are. The Hateful Eight shows that being in isolation might actually be better if you're by yourself but it could also just be that being trapped with other people is okay as long as your friends Smith & Wesson have your back.
Sam Bell (Moon)
Sam Bell is an astronaut who is nearing the end of a three-year stint on the moon where he sends back essential parcels to earth to help diminish the Earth's power problems. Moon is a (practically) one-man show that has Sam Rockwell in the lead role giving a masterful performance and is a movie best seen with little preamble. Don't watch a trailer or read a synopsis, just go in blind and hold on to your seat! It's quite a ride.
Stu Shepard (Phone Booth)
Phone Booth is about a man named Stuf Shepard who answers a ringing phone on a busy New York City street and is subsequently pinned down in the booth by a gunman. While it certainly isn't the best movie ever made, though it's not terrible either, I included it because although we all might be self-isolating, at least were not stuck in a 3-foot by 3-foot box with a red dot painted on our forehead.
Take Your Pick (The Breakfast Club)
What do you get when you put five iconic characters into an iconic school with the mother of all ball-busting iconic vice principles to watch them? The best detention ever, that's what! If you somehow haven't seen The Breakfast Club, what on earth have you been waiting for? Throw it on and work through some crippling issues of anxiety of teen angst with the criminal, the athlete, the princess, the basket case, and the brain.
John McClane (Die Hard)
Isolation can be a lot of fun as long as you have 35 floors, 10 terrorists, and 1 grizzled New York City cop to keep you company. Die Hard is a quintessential action movie with fantastic villains, excellent set-pieces, and iconic one-liners. If John McClane can make it through his ordeal, I think a little time at home doesn't seem so bad. So "come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..." because you can watch this Christmas movie all-year-round!
Featured image courtesy of Mo Abrahim via pexels.com
