Am I Stupid Again?

[elpachuco]

A couple of years ago, say around 3 years ago, I could not watch movies anymore. Every single movie was quite predictable IMO which completely ruined the experience.

This let me to believe that that phase of my life were I could just vegetate all day in front of a TV watching films was over.

I decided that it was either two things, I'm smarter now, more experience, or the population is simply stupider. I did not think that the films were worse then before, is just that I'd seen so many films that no new films felt original. For somebody just getting introduced to films, say a child, they were great films.

Lately though I've started to see a lot of really good films. At least films that have kept me entertained. And although sometimes you can still predict that the hero will win and how he will win I still find the films interesting.

This has let me two believe one of two things, I've become stupider or I was simply going through a depression phase of which I'm just becoming aware of.

By the way, two examples of really good films that I've seen are "The Last Stand" and "Jack Reacher". Just saw a trailer of "The Internship" and though it was hilarious.

So what does everybody else think? Has anybody gone through something similar?

[lhnz]

Liking or disliking films is, more often than not, independent of intelligence.

Just because you now enjoy films doesn't necessarily mean your intelligence has changed. It's more likely to mean that your personality has changed. Remember that there are almost certainly many people that are smarter than you whom absolutely love films.

Please don't be the guy in the room who thinks that they're really smart because they have different/non-existent consumption habits than other people. This is dumb social signalling because others will think you are being pretentious.

You seem to have some kind of hang-up about being seen as being smart by other people...

[6thSigma]

I don't think predicting that the hero will win is necessarily indicative of intelligence.

[elpachuco → 6thSigma]

Right, it sounds quite stupid in retrospect.

[davidroberts]

I don't think you have become stupider. Maybe more in need of the mindless relaxation that a predictable yet entertaining film can provide. I'd think if it had been depression, but there would certainly be other signs then film watching habits, right?

I don't even bother watching about 95% percent of the films available, just because they are so predictable, but predictability isn't everything. If you've watched a Lord of the Rings or Star Wars film more than once, it wasn't because you were wondering how it would end. I think unexpected plot twists are a relatively minor tool in the filmmaker's bag, compared with great acting, great storytelling, wonderful cinematography, etc.

Could it be that when you were vegetating in front of the TV, you were slightly depressed or indulging in some kind of escapism? Then you latched on to something exciting to spend your time on that erased your need for dodging reality? And now the raw peak of that excitement has faded a bit, leaving you some time and mental energy to enjoy the subset of films that are good, even when predictable. Could that be it?

[danso]

Could you give more examples of films in the past you've seen that you considered "stupid"?

I haven't seen "Jack Reacher" or "The Last Stand", but both garnered pretty lukewarm reviews, and at first glance, seem like the typical uncreative blockbuster fare.

How many independent studio films have you seen? How about foreign films? I've always been a fan of Kurosawa flicks, but a lot of Western movies follow in his thematic footsteps. After watching Park Chan-wook's films ("Oldboy" being the most internationally famous), I started to realize how formulaic Western blockbuster films were and have generally stayed away from them.

That said, blockbuster films can still have a predictable end but still be very entertaining. The first three Indiana Jones movies are the best examples of that -- i.e. you know Indiana Jones is not going to die at the end, and yet each (literal) cliffhanger is shot and structured so well that you suspend disbelief.

[elpachuco → danso]

The last Batman films and the last transformer films. I wouldn't say they were stupid, just so predictable that there was almost no point in watching.

I know that Jack Reacher and the Last Stand were not critical successes and yet I enjoyed them immensely. Which is what makes me think that I was probably suffering some form of depression.

[tait]

Yep, with novels.

I've read many SF/F novels and got to the point where they were pretty predictable and only bought one or two a year for a while.

After a break of a few years, I've been enjoying a higher fraction again.

For me, I think, it's an ability to enjoy the suspension of disbelief. If I've been reading a lot, it's harder to do so.

[Mankhool]

You're not becoming more stupid - Hollywood IS. In their quest for more return at the box office they make dumber movies that appeal to a large share of their target market (which is anyone with eyeballs - *thanks to Argo for that great line). Audiences, in turn, think that they are seeing really great films as the bar becomes lower with each passing year. In the end it is a complete circle and audiences end up getting the quality of films that they deserve because Hollywood told them so.

[onlyup]

Knowing the hero will win does not make you smart. Most people go into films knowing the outcome (even when the hero doesn't win). That's not why people like seeing films. It's for fun and it is an escape. When you're watching a movie you don't have to think about work, family, that doctor/dentist appointment you have been putting off..

I don't think you are "stupid again", I think you have matured more. Your previous opinion is similar to what a lot of teenagers go through when they think they know everything.

[1123581321]

I'll play devil's advocate. I don't think you are now stupid as in your cognitive ability is lessened, but you are settling for a lower standard of thinking (assuming how you used to spend that time was more mentally taxing.)

I think that you are unwinding after more strenuous living, which is great, but I encourage you to find more beneficial ways to recreate that are also a lot of fun.

[codegeek]

I would say irrelevant. If watching moves and being smart/stupid were correlated, I wonder where I will end up :). I personally enjoy all kinds of movies. Serious types, movies with a mesage or just cheesy/silly ones.

You probably watched too many movies back then and lost interest. You are back now.

[elpachuco → codegeek]

This could be it. I pretty much stopped watching films for a long time. I know find them enjoyable again.

[mesozoic]

I believe that likely your hypothesis that you were smarter then or the movies were dumber is flawed.

Perhaps the movies are just more entertaining to your tastes.

[tbirdz]

You probably overdid it on watching movies and TV before, and just got sick of it. Then after you took a break, you were able to enjoy them more.

[lutusp]

>I did not think that the films were worse then before, is just that I'd seen so many films that no new films felt original.

I think it's both. One wearies of a film's efforts to tell a story (compared to a book and an active imagination), given certain limitations in the medium, but the filmmaking process is getting much worse as time passes -- there's the temptation to blow stuff up for two hours (the Michael Bay approach) instead of tell a story. Also flimmakers know high-quality films can't find an audience -- old-style films that respect the intelligence of the viewers end up in art houses and late-night TV.

To a first approximation, modern filmmaking is a bunch of business-school graduates getting together and trying to create a "new" film that's as much as possible like the last film that attracted a large audience. They do all they can to include elements that worked before, they're extremely risk-averse, and their cynicism about their audience is boundless (and largely justified).

Meanwhile, films like "Juno" and other first-rate films get a modest audience, but at high risk -- most courageous films like "Juno" fail, so the risks are high in producing a remarkable film that people also watch.

People need to realize that filmmaking is primarily a business, not an art form. When a modern film is justly described as art, that's an accident, not part of the original plan.

[actionbrandon]

i always upvote satire