How Modern Audiences Are Failing Cinema

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About this video essay:
Our relation with movies has changed. In this video essay, I explore the commodification of relatability, the increasing usage of cinema for self-righteous moralism, and the overwhelming constant stimulants that have descecrated the cinematic experience

Content:
00:00 Do People Even Like Movies Anymore?
02:01 Part 1: Into the "Literally Me" Movie Era
12:04 Part 2: Cinema as Self-Righteous Moralism
25:20 Part 3: The Overwhelming Constant Stimulants
33:44 Part 4: Towards True Nourishment

Sources:

Further Reading:

Music:
Maylin – I’ll be there
Dexter Britain – The time to run
Tim Mann – All the emotions
Tim Mann – What I felt
Tim Mann – Floating over fields
Tim Mann – Existential dread
Tim Mann – Exploring my thoughts
Tim Mann – ESP
CHPTRS – A slow return

[LikeStoriesofOld]

What's a movie you've recently seen, new or old, that really blew you away? And how so? Always love some good recommendations! :D

[mrink]

The funny thing about the first clip is that the good the bad and the ugly isn't even a pretentious film

[nope]

Passion for cinema is uncomplicated to me. I watch everything that interests me - be it mainstream, arthouse, old, new, considered "bad", considered "good."

I don't look down on anything. I just bring my hope to enjoy what I'm about to watch.

[palynch]

its not just cinema. if you try and have in depth conversation about any art form people automatically think you're pretentious. it makes me very slow to talk about stuff i'm really interested in cos people will think i'm weird.

[Raymando]

Anti-intellectualism is more harmful than plain ignorance.

[kevincgrabb]

What's your favourite food?

"Hmmm, a margherita pizza with nice bufala. Some nice olives and prosciutto on the side?"

Why are you lying? Just tell us it's carrots and ranch with Chicken McNuggets?

[Sannspoof]

"older classics like Fight Club"
Time keeps on slippin...

[ForlornFea]

Glad to see someone call out the commodification of relatability and the moralisation of taste. I run in poetry circles myself and it’s exactly the same thing. The end result is just people refusing to read empathetically, hating ambiguity and erasing expressions that they can’t project on.

[davidegaruti]

"it's ok you can say you want to look smart"
"no i like engaging with high concept ideas that strike me personally"
"don't make me feel insecure !"

[cjbowers]

I remember a documentary years ago that examined how an over-abundance of choice paralysed decision-making. They did it with selling jams. In one version there were 50 different jam varieties; customers were so overwhelmed with choice that they didn't buy anything. As soon as they cut it to five choices, everyone bought it.

[blaisetelfer]

What baffles me is how those TikTokers act like "I enjoy fun movies" is some sort of controversial hot take they need to defend. Blockbusters have $100+ million advertising campaigns and are made to appeal to as wide a market as possible, while the "foreign-sounding" movies they're mocking are lucky to have an audience at all. Deadpool 3, for example, is being shoved down my throat before it's even released, yet these people act like it's in a disadvantaged position. I'm a die hard Nolan and Villenueve fan, but I don't go around acting like the existence of lower budget, avant garde movies is somehow a threat to theirs.

[MephiticMiasma]

Sadly, most of those advocating that we "learn to face being uncomfortable" have in mind someone else being made uncomfortable, not themselves.

[mememachine-]

Oooo that opening made me mad. Yes I liked Star Wars and Iron Man, but one of the most impactful movies I saw as a kid was literally The Good The Bad and The Ugly. To pretend like that's some kind of fake snobby answer says more about those people than it does about me.

[gordyhowitzer]

I have a well-meaning friend who keeps throwing away drafts of their novel because they're uncomfortable with the antagonist being too "problematic." Honestly I always kind of thought that was the point

[mikeciul]

I thought it was weird to hear about people relating to Joker in a positive way. For me he was relatable, but I took that as a _warning, _ not as a point of pride. The power of the movie for me was to show a part of myself that I'm uncomfortable with, and motivate me to find healthy ways to integrate it. If cautionary tales aren't relatable, they're not doing their job!

[loganastrup]

Coming from someone who is in their mid twenties and loves cinema, one of the biggest issues I’ve had lately is people of my generation usually 15 to 25 years old are spending more and more time on social media for entertainment instead of watching cinema or reading books. And spending some time on social media isn’t bad, but imo when that’s mostly all you consume you’re training your brain to only take in short form content and you’re not challenging yourself. This leads to lazier and lazier behavior and shorter attention spans. And that just makes me sad.

[BobEllwood]

You've nailed it. When I see Tik Tok's talking about enjoying "fun" movies over black and white arthouse films, I wonder why they think so little of movies they find fun. Look at most of Spielberg's movies; they are pop culture juggernauts, but also revolutionized the industry and have a lot to say.

[cool_sword]

I've spent a lot of time watching video essays, and it's shockingly rare - maybe just because of the recommender or my own habits - that a video essay exposes me to a new way of thinking. Yours do that pretty consistently. You write these like you actually want people to sit and reflect on them, not just to passively consume something they already agree with in a slick audiovisual format. In these respects, I get out of your videos what I like getting out of written essays. Keep up the good work!

[tzrvines]

Nowadays, if you genuinely like "cinema", you are pretentious but if you watch content that everyone else is watching, you are a normal human being.

[CJojo__]

By mocking foreign films, arthouse, and older movies, all these TikTokers are showing is that they have very narrow taste.

People with good taste enjoy a large variety of art.