MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > can we ever return to simply enjoying mo...

can we ever return to simply enjoying movies?

posted 3 years ago by 123Guy (7281)
51 replies | jump to latest

Thanks to the internet stupor highway, we can all jump in with our perspectives and shred every movie ever made for having plot holes, science and physics issues, social/racial/religious offenses, political/social agends....

Every movie ever made, and that will be made from the future, will always have these issues.

There used to be a time when you watched a movie and simply enjoyed it, as is, for the fun of it. There was not some deep message about life to be learned, just some cool stuff happened to fictional people, over a two hour ride we went along with.

Can we ever get back to that? Or is this dissection of all writing, and hidden meanings all we'll get from here on out?

OH! This means THAT political agenda, or this groups female male bashing gay trans whatever pushing.... what happened to fun, fictional plots for entertainment?

[–] moviechatterer (15643) 3 years ago

Thanks to the internet stupor highway, we can all jump in with our perspectives and shred every movie ever made for having plot holes, science and physics issues, social/racial/religious offenses, political/social agends....

A very good point
I can still enjoy movies , in spite of the vitriol spewed on the net
I think its more a problem for the rabid fanboys and those obsessed with fighting against percievied threats like women or minorities.

I can still watch a film like "Atomic Blonde" ( oh no , a woman fighting!)
or the new star wars films even , and enjoy them

maybe im just too easily pleased , or maybe just not a crazy internet nutbag keyboard warrior

[–] huwdj (4566) 3 years ago

I think that's what I do. I'm not unaware of the themes that reflect 'the real world' but I'm not triggered by them. We live in a time of change (on reflection, when didn't we) but that's OK and I believe is generally for the better.

[–] MartyDeniro (4171) 3 years ago

Strange to come to a place like this if that's your view. I'd think you'd avoid "Moviechat" like the plague, and just return to simply enjoying movies.

As for me, I don't mind the dissection. Of course there's a lot of crappy posts with silly agendas, but I've learned a few things as well. Different perspectives and theories, or eyes that noticed more than mine, enhance my enjoyment rather than tear it down. But IMDb was definitely better for that kind of thing.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Thanks to the internet stupor highway, we can all jump in with our perspectives and shred every movie ever made for having plot holes, science and physics issues, social/racial/religious offenses, political/social agends

There used to be a time when you watched a movie and simply enjoyed it, as is, for the fun of it. There was not some deep message about life to be learned, just some cool stuff happened to fictional people, over a two hour ride we went along with.

Someone who doesn't get it!

One of the biggest lies of all time is that movies are "just entertainment." That has never been true, not even at the beginning of film. All movies have agendas and are filled with subtext, even "popcorn" films where agenda isn't evident. Keep in mind that when I say subtext or agenda, I'm not saying it's all bad, just making the point that everything has agenda, whether for good or evil. For example, The Towering Inferno was a morality tale about the type of piss-poor engineering and slapdash construction that would lead to things like the Miami collapse decades later.

Dirty Harry and Death Wish invented and pushed the "good guy with a gun" narrative. JFK pushed antigovernment propaganda and conspiracy theories. Independence Day was pro-American, "we're #1" propaganda.

Even Disney princess movies have hidden agendas. For example, The Little Mermaid teaches girls that they should abandon their friends and family for a hot guy and that it's okay if you endanger or hurt everyone in the process. Beauty and the Beast teaches cute, loving and sweet girls that they have the power to change abusive assholes into perfect gentlemen.

This is why movies are being dissected. People are waking up to the reality that filmmakers push agendas all the time and use all kinds of bullshit to do it. If you want to be a mindless goon just slurping up this stuff arguing that it's "entertainment," that's on you, but don't trash the rest of us who don't.

[–] 123Guy (7281) 3 years ago

we also live in a time where anyone can make up anything they want to believe out of anything on screen.

"Did you see that actor dude in movie X wearing a dark green sweater?? That means he was part of the anti-nuke clan of podunk townville, trying to defile industrial progress!! Prove me wrong!"

People make up fan theories out of nothing, NOTHING, that could fit, or rewrite everything based on what they want to see.... ....instead of simply enjoying it like it is: an entertaining movie.

Raiders of the lost Ark:
- about a cult of people that wear hats
- about showing undernourished peoples in 3rd world country we should be helping
- an ad for S&M promoting whip use in public instead of private
- an anti-air flight agenda showing how easily planes can explode from gasoline
- story about a peodophile "I was a child!" "You knew what you were doing"
- a male gaze, mansplained movie rescuing the "helpless female"

and on and on and on - one can make up anything about anything. why not just let the movies be what they are.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

we also live in a time where anyone can make up anything they want to believe out of anything on screen.

All you're doing is goal post shifting. I said that the reason why people are picking apart movies is that they were, in fact, filled with subtext. Now you goal post shift and say in so many words that even if what I was saying was true, people are making things up.

But for the sake of debate, let me take you up on your argument, anyway. Maybe it's true that some people are making things up about movies. But not everyone is, and it's not fair to make this argument that because some people are bullshit artists, everyone is. You could make that argument about anything on the planet, couldn't you? For example, "Some shady doctors are making up diagnoses to milk patients out of their own money=we're living in an age where doctors make up diagnoses to milk patients=don't trust ANY diagnosis, EVER."

The argument doesn't strike me as logical, either. After all, if some people are making shit up, the solution is to point out what, exactly they're making up and call them out on it. Not to decide that it's all bullshit and declare that we shouldn't entertain any analysis ever.

[–] 123Guy (7281) 3 years ago

I know! Let's have a deep, theoretic discussion about the art modern dissective conversationing utilizing the most modern snowflaked verbiage buzzwords found like post shifting, straw manning, gas lighting, mansplaining, capping, basing, shaft blathing, ermagazing, sniggle wiggling, fausta-plowming, and maybe we can forget the initial idea of the OP altogether.

You win. I am not match for your wits.
I hope day I can ascend to dissecting discussions like so well in my future. :)
But, probably won't bother.

(PS I didn't bother reading your post, since YOU started things with condecension of "another one that doesn't get it". not worth my time)

[–] 123Guy (7281) 3 years ago

other movies I learned nothing from but enjoyed: TENET, Cypher, The Matrix, Twister, Ford V Ferrari etc etc

[–] acidraindrop (3055) 3 years ago

There used to be a time when you watched a movie and simply enjoyed it, as is, for the fun of it. There was not some deep message about life to be learned, just some cool stuff happened to fictional people, over a two hour ride we went along with.

Nothing's changed.
There were ppl who liked to analyze and discuss movies back then. And there are ppl who liked to analyze and discuss movies now. There's no need for you to join in. There's no need for you to be here. I don't really understand your issue is. You're referencing a time that doesn't really exist.

There's always been people that cared more than you. You probably just know about them more now because of how easy it is to share ideas with everyone else via the internet.

[–] 123Guy (7281) 3 years ago

I would say a lot has changed:
- fake scripted REALITY TV has become the modern "Freak Show" that was banned in the past as entertainment
- "Documentaries" have become CINEMA ENTERTAINMENT. weird, but ok
- EVERYONE thinks they are arm chair directors/writers/critics when that used to be relegated only to chosen specialists who thought a lot about what they would say before committing to printed paper or magazine [IE higher quality reports verses the everyman idiot yelling as loud as possible]
- demarcation of quality thanks to low camera prices, and youtube availability
- proliferation of streaming services leading to a fight over content/eye views and a rush of quantity over quality
- reduction of peoples attention spans

much of this has permanently altered the landscape of the quality movie going experience where it is harder to even find GOOD films to see. shock and awe and CGI are the name of the game now, and the experience of enjoying films has been numbed by the silly over the top action. CGI removed "movie magic" and its just boring

Yes, there were 1 sided critics that may or may not know anything, but now, the noise of it all detracts from our experience.
Things do change, for the worse, unfortunately, sometimes.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7171) 3 years ago

I don't think I've ever "simply" enjoyed a movie, even as a kid. I get riled up, I get invested. I've got these things called feelings and movies provoke them, always have. But I do enjoy them, even if not simply.