Something has been on my mind for a little while. Scratching away at my sanity. Something that I overheard a complete stranger say in passing as I was nosily eavesdropping on their conversation. Usually I don't let things like this get to me, but I just can't seem to get his completely mislead, idiotic, justification-less argument out of my head.
As I walked through the mall, I happened to pass by Cinema 1 (the DVD store) as a couple was walking out. They were only a few steps ahead of me, and were chit chatting about the weather and what-have-you, until the topic of film arose. Naturally I could no longer ignore my urge to listen in. The man said the the woman "That 127 hours was a great flick though, we should go see it". To which the woman replied "I went to see it with Kerry on Tuesday. It was good, but I expected it to be better, you know? I mean, it was super intense, but otherwise it was just a guy stuck in a hole for 2 hours. It was entertaining, but I went and complained and got my money back anyway. It was all hyped up and I expected more".
Now this is not the first time I have heard something to this effect before, but that time was "the straw that broke the camel's back" so to speak. Her comment bore a hole into my mind, one that was deep enough that I can't dislodge it. So I shall blog.
I have 2 main problems. The first is the most obvious, the fact that she complained for her admission price back, regardless of the fact that she was genuinely entertained by the movie. She returned her ticket on the grounds that the film of her choice didn't quite live up to her expectations. It wouldn't bother me so much if her reason was that the disliked the movie, or even that she got bored and fell asleep (not that I think it's possible to fall asleep during 127 hours). Imagine how little money the industry would make these days if the general public could justify a ticket return that easily. Hollywood would collapse if being entertained wasn't enough to satisfy the masses.
Which brings me to my second issue, that being entertained wasn't enough to satisfy. More and more I hear people shun or trash talk movies that don't have a "deeper" message. There seems to be a problem with stuff blowing up, something being too funny, or one too many appearances by Nicholas Cage. Without a profound lesson learned, are films just not worth it any more? May I remind you the reason why films and filmmaking was first created in the 1880's was entertainment.
It just bothers me that people expect so much from something that was never created to deliver more than what it promised. Entertainment.
Because I can.
Adrian.
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