What’s the weirdest movie you’ve ever watched?

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One of the things I have come to conclude about writing is that my choice of words is critical. I’m looking for the most straightforward way of saying something – because if someone has to reach for a dictionary in order to understand you, it’s pretty much time to give up.

But at the same time, I want to be unambiguous enough to convey to the reader what I’m seeing in my head.

I think some words are naturally ambiguous, so for that reason, I have built up a list that my computer will warn me about. You know the way a spell-checker might, if it comes across a misspelt word? I still have the final say, but I want my use to be very deliberate.

For example, one word I try to avoid is the word beautiful. Because it’s so ubiquitous, it’s pretty meaningless. Something pleasant is about all readers will get. There’s got to be a better choice, surely?

Or the word say or said. What does it mean? Someone opens their mouth and words come out. I’ve found there is almost always a better word choice, one that not only conveys speech, but mood too. For example, screamed implies speech, but it might also imply urgency, say, Or, whispered implies speech, but also secrecy, perhaps? So I’m very seldom happy when one of my characters says something.

Which brings me to today’s prompt. What do you take weirdest to mean? It could mean several things, surely? So it’s another one of those ambiguous words.

I mean, if I were being pedantic, the answer is none, because quite simply, I’ll switch a movie off as soon as it becomes weird.

So I looked at a selection of other responses, and the general consensus was that the prompt meant strange. One chap mentioned a movie called Rubber. About a killer tyre. Yes, you read that right. A killer tyre. So they’re probably right. Strange is a word I might use, too, if I were feeling particularly charitable. But alas, I’ve never seen the movie.

Another story I might consider strange is something like Catch-22 (I’ve read it but never seen it). But I’d be more likely to describe it as brilliant rather than strange. I mean, it is certainly a strange storyline, but it brilliantly delivers its message.

Or, do you remember the wonderful Sixth Sense? When Bruce Willis played the psychiatrist? I mean, that movie was certainly strange, because only at the very end do you realise the truth, which turns the movie onto its head. But if someone were asked to describe it in one word, I doubt that word would be strange.

Someone else mentioned Monty Python as being strange. Fair enough. I found a lot of their comedy strange, too, but I can appreciate how groundbreaking it was.

But overall, I think I’ll stay with my original answer. I’ve never seen a weird movie!