It's that weekend when your brain is too fried to read your ethics homework, and your body is too tired to go out for all the riotous parties. Your pieces have been scattered to the winds over the week as you have relentlessly pursued competing claims for your happiness. The disunity of your week's experience has left you so fragmented that you don't even know what you want out of the night.... Then your buddie interrupts your blank stare (as you realize there is a facebook screen in front of you) and announces that some of the guys are watching a movie downstairs. What do you do?
1) Such a condition of fragmentation and overextension intrudes into my life often, but that was merely a starting point for what I'm focusing on. (I will treat the condition at a later date, probably in a post called "Why look for meaning in life?" I suspect my hypothesis will included something along the lines of self-preservation...). Last week, a few of the guys in my dorm offered to watch a movie. Being unable to do anything else do to my condition and liking the people (and being honored by the invitation), I decided to go. During the movie I analyzed away as usual. Some of the others, remarkably, did some homework during the movie. Immediately afterwards, as usual, everyone was about to pack up and go their different ways (to bed, to work, out, etc). I tried to start up a conversation to gather people's thoughts and judgments on the movie, hoping to learn from them. While I was very tired and so I couldn't generate as much thought power as I would have liked, we had a decent conversation, and then left each other (I later thought of much more I could have said).
I bring this (seemingly trivial) event up because it bothers me when a group of people (especially friends) just get together, watch a movie, and then immediately afterwards act as if we didn't just spend 2.5 hours digitally injesting a work of art (not to mention people who multi-task during movies). In my experience, we always leave immediately afterward or quickly shift back to talking about nothing. I think that this tendancy does not bode well for the value of the movie. Its as if the 2.5 hours of video has no possible significance for our lives; it becomes reduced to a mere distraction. Why, then, do people watch movies together? Is this reason or value worth investing time in?
2) I think that college kids generally watch moveis for companionship and subdued fun. Its a relaxing change-up to the fast balls of "normal" weekends that are over before they begin. Others might see a movie as quality time together. Significant others who watch a movie together might have additional motives, such as a desire for intimacy or cuddling.
Now all of these things are good things, and perhaps they add up to more than the "mere distraction" that I mentioned earlier. But for me, with all my heart's desire, I am not satisfied with an aimless companionship or meaningless fun, and I don't find rest in watching something with no relevance. In the case of intimacy or cuddling, the movie element seems superfluous. What I judge to be lacking is the meaning and shared judgment of that meaning. "We had the experience but missed the meaning" (T.S. Eliot, Dry Salvages). For me, if I am to continue doing something, it is very urgent to find the reason for why I am doing it and in what ways it contributes to the overall happiness of my life. I do not make 2.5 hour exceptions to distract myself. But perhaps I should...
3) I have already implicitly asked and posited hypothesises (somewhat out of sequence) on this topic. But here are some more interesting questions.
Is it good to expect this shared judgment of meaning from such an experience, or am I trying to hard? In other words, is distraction ever good?
What is the point of watching with others?
How can I find something for me in the movie and the experience of watching it with others?
Is it worth it?
4) Ok, so some few more quick comments in the way of further hypothesis (I feel I have not adequately asked the question in this post, but rather have just dictated my ideas. Please offer your ideas as well).
I think it is never bad to look for meaning from life experience, for I think meaning the anecdote to the condition of fragmentation discussed at the top of this post. That is, perceiving the meaning ties several isolated events into a quilt that is a vital comfort when life's dark winters set in. If meaning is objective and common to all, then it makes sense to share judgment on it. Some might say that there are some events too trivial to find meaning in, or else that the level of meaning most be understood to be proportional to the thing involved. I would like to hear this case better-- I see the benefit of such an idea being that I wouldn't trip over trifles. But the downside seems a severing of potential. It seems to me that the smallest things can be analogies, an up ("ana") word ("logos") pointing me to the Meaning of life. How can perceiving such Beauty in the small things obscure my view of reality (as some assert)? Isn't there a transcendent Order that is "really real," even more real than what we see?
The whole point of a companionship with others seems to be to point each others towards something good in caring for each others destinies. Is it a companionship if we don't talk about meaningful things? Isn't the duty of a companionship to help each other see the value of what we do together? Note: this is in no way shots against my friends, who often do talk about meaningful things, who are way smarter than me, and who probably think during movies but aren't accustomed to sharing their opinions as much.
I don't really have time now to address further that question of how to find something for me in the movie. Suffice it to say that I have been shown a great many themes that connect with my life and happiness, and it is now rather easy to find such things (although some would argue that its too easy, and I misread things).
Of course I think it worth it. I love movies. I hope you all join me in seeing them as holding serious proposals for truth and happiness.
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4 comments:
I'm going to bed now, but real quick: great post! This is really interesting.
I just came back from a movie with Theresa. We watched "Yes Man," and the movie's protagonist learns that by just getting into the habit of doing things he is at first too timid to do, he eventually learns to want to get out and do things. This good-habits-make-you-who-you-are philosophy reminds me of Aristotle's Ethics, and the philosophy is something I've involved in my life since before I saw the movie the first time. That's a movie I find applicable to life, and easily so, but even in that case, it's difficult to get people who don't think about that kind of thing to internalize what they have seen.
I think for a lot of people movies are like a midsummer night's dream: you move on as though nothing has happened, but a little has changed. On a similar note it might be valuable to consider Shakespeare's opinion in this respect.
Hey Pat, this is pretty interesting. I'll admit I'd never even really given thought to why we watch movies; I guess I'd always just assumed they were for entertainment, although some more "weighty" movies also contain some kind of theme or message you're supposed to get out of them. Usually I think I either write a movie off as frivolous entertainment, or if it's a serious movie, I'll think about it a little bit, but most of the time nobody really seems willing to get into a deep discussion about a movie, no matter how big the issues it raises are. I think it might be because, for most people most of the time, movies ARE just a distraction. And I don't think that that's necessarily a bad thing. I think that a little distraction is needed to prevent one from become distraught (haha, me so punny). If you're always thinking about what I call the big questions, you can drive yourself crazy or just get really tense (this is my theory, at least). So distraction is kind of necessary. Not that it's bad to look for the meaning in movies, or other little things; I just think it's dangerous to look for meaning in absolutely everything. As for why we watch in groups, I think it's for the community aspect. Even if you don't really talk about the movie, there's something about just being around other people. Watching a movie alone, maybe you can get a lot more out of it intellectually, but it feels kind of like you're missing out on something in life, doesn't it? (I don't know, at least that's what I feel.) When you're with other people, you get to see all the little reactions they make; you absorb, almost unconsciously, all their idiosyncratic habits, and so you actually can get to know people better, at least a little, by watching a movie with them. This, and the shared experience, builds a sense of community that I think is essential to human happiness. Granted, you could probably develop a sense of community much faster by, say, going ice skating, going to a party, or having deep philosophical/personal conversations together, but people aren't always up for that kind of stuff mentally or physically, as you said yourself. But if people are willing to talk about the movie afterward, all the better.
...Wow, I wasn't expecting to write that much, but I couldn't help myself. I feel pretty satisfied about this question now, though, and I'm going to bed. Btw, this gave me an idea for another subject you could post about: "Why should we watch and/or care about sports?"
Hey Pat,
Sorry this is late. I only just read your February post today. I think that movies - like their predecessors of plays, concerts, and hanging out at the local pub - are primarily for entertainment. People are entertained by hearing stories. These stories take them out of themselves and allow them to experience another person's life view or just temporarily forget their own. This stretches the viewer's mind, often without their realizing it, and can often help them to cope with their own problems or put these problems in perspective.
The benefits of movie-watching (and the other forms of story-telling that I mentioned) are usually overlooked when watching a light-hearted or fairly superficial film. On the other hand, there are plays and movies which specifically aim to generate discussion and provoke thought. I think that most people see no need to discuss films that they see as pure entertainment (like chick flicks). This may or may not be a bad thing. People do, however, see the value in discussing movies that especially aim to promote thought. I think that it is important to consider the purpose of the movie and the aim of the people watching it when entering into a discussion. This is not to say, however, that there is no value in discussing chick flicks. =)
This blog is quite interesting. I'm intrigued to hear that you usually analyze things. I would love to hear some more of your analyses.
Looking forward to our next conversation/discussion.
I tottaly understand..... ;-)
-Tiny Tim77 / Timmy
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