My pal Dustin wrote an article for us this week which says that we should give movies a chance before judging them. I used to agree with his sentiments, but I do not anymore. He cited my rant about not watching Battleship in order to make Hollywood would stop making crappy movies, so I feel compelled to respond.
To get my perspective, let me give you a little background about myself. I’m a 28-year-old, self-employed father of two. I run a business and a website, and one of my children is an infant. I don’t have a lot of time and don’t get a lot of sleep. I have a mortgage, and a car payment, etc. etc. etc. Money is tight. Time is valuable.
So I don’t have time to waste on crappy movies.
So, how do I know which movies are worth my time?
I pre-judge them.
We live in a capitalist society. Movie tickets are anywhere from $6-12.50… unless I want to see something in 3D (which I normally don’t) which adds about $37 to the ticket (I kid, I kid). And I don’t get a refund if the movie sucks. I certainly won’t get the time back.
Under those circumstances, is it okay for me to judge a movie before I decided to spend time and money on it?
In the words of Sarah Palin, “You betcha.”
That’s why we have movie critics. And word of mouth. And sales figures. And cast interviews. And marketing. So we can get a good feel for what this movie is going to be.
And hey, you can like whatever type of movie you want. Like the Transformers movies? I didn’t really care for them. Excited for Battleship? I’m not going to see it. Like The Three Stooges? I’m not a fan of slapstick comedy. I’m not going to judge YOU for liking that kind of movie, beyond the fact that I probably won’t get a movie recommendation from you. But, I will probably have an opinion on it.
Telling people to not judge a movie before they see it is unrealistic. Money and time are at stake, and quite frankly, both are in pretty limited quantity.
When you put it into a situation such as that, I see your point. However, I didn’t have that scenario in mind. I was thinking of the people in my classes. Your scenario makes sense but when you hear these people go on about how crappy movies are these days, it gets annoying. Especially when a person like me, who has a broad liking of movie, hears it constantly. Plus, I don’t think judging a movie bases on a person who happens to be in it is sound. It’s also true that I’m not good for movie recommendations.
Yeah, I agree with you on that. I think people are generally just looking for something to complain about. I try not to be that way (at least as far as entertainment choices go).
Hahaha, I think you and I are in two different movie camps. And that’s fine. We can all get along without incident.
Also: Let it be known, that I enjoy terrible movies. The Room. Most 70s Kung-fu films. Shaft. Dolemite. etc. etc.
I think my problem is how often films seem predictably awful. I feel like I can tell based on the plot premise and trailer whether or not a film will be amazing, average, or garbage. Granted, my own sensibilities play a role in the assumption and outcome, but there are some universal things that movies should avoid to be considered good.
When we collectively give crap movies the benefit of the doubt, there’s no testing period. By the time we figure out it’s bad the industry already has our cash. I like to keep it competitive by making them work for my cash. And since my ticket value is the only means I have of keeping them honest, judgement is the answer.