When it comes to movies, I am very close to being indiscriminate. I'll watch almost anything and even put off doing urgent things needing attention if I've rented a movie (or two). Since I moved within walking distance of a library where I can now borrow films for free, my geek cup runneth over.
I've allowed myself this indulgence because, aside from the "I could be doing something more productive" internal conversations, it's a fairly benign habit being a movie geek. But recently, I uncovered a downside to geekdom. And the downside comes wrapped in a little story.
The downside: Being indiscriminate has taken away some of my passion. Because I've seen so many, some of the conventions of genre movies (Westerns, romantic comedies, sports films, musicals, etc.) are no longer as fresh for me. I find myself being a tad cynical when I can predict how these types of films will turn out. The story? I've begun to give the offbeat or unusual or non-genre films more credit than they sometimes deserve. Yes, I'm worried this geek could be morphing into a snob. This kind of thing ever happen to you? If not with movies, how about with literature? Music? Occurred to me it's possible this road I find myself on may be a road professional critics find themselves on from time to time. Ever notice how there are a few critics who rarely seem to like anything a lot of us "regular" folks like? Maybe those critics have seen or read or listened to so much of what they're paid to criticize that they've gotten cynical, then told themselves a story, and presto = a snob is born. Your thoughts? Strategies to assist me?
About Me
- Pat Barton
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my thoughts-are you sure you are giving "offbeat, unusual, non-genre films" too much credit?
ReplyDeleteIn my house we watch 95% indies, documentaries, and foreign films and we love it and we don't consider ourselves snobby nor giving too much credit to undeserving films. We just enjoy these truly creative and thought provoking films. You like what you like. Mainstream movies leave us dissatisfied somehow and wanting some originality. So, we've seen all the Academy Award nominees in the other 5% of our time. I don't think we've gotten cynical just bored with Hollywood.
The way we judge films these days, is-are we still thinking and recalling movie bits and scenes weeks after seeing the movie or has it stirred some controversy that we must discuss with each other? another words-is the film thought-provoking. Some of my friends, feel that thinking and discussing a film is not entertaining and tell me I watch the most boring, nerdy, weird stuff but I don't care in the least. There is a whole wide world of creativity out there just waiting to be discovered.
BTW, what is a non-genre?
Non-genre=something "unclassifiable" like "Being John Malkovich".
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I do think I'm giving those quirky things too much credit sometimes - a story I tell myself so I can badmouth the "mainstream"