I'd like to thank my Mom...for raising me to be disinterested in this crap
Posted by Threnody at 1:40 p.m.For those of you living under a rock, last night the Oscars were on. And you'd have to be living under a rock, because I have absolutely no interest in the celebrity circle-jerk, and I still got slapped in the face with the thing several times.
It's kind of funny, actually. I take no more interest in the Academy Awards than I do the Super Bowl. In both cases, I found out incidentally the day of that the event was on. In both cases I was apathetic and found something better do. If given a choice, believe it or not, I'd probably pick the Super Bowl. Wouldn't Dad be proud.
As usual, some movies I've never heard of won a bunch of awards. The only movie I've seen in the last year is An Inconvenient Truth, and believe it or not, Al Gore did a better job of holding my interest than most Hollywood blockbusters do.
I just don't like movies. You have to sit there for like two hours, staring at a screen and absorbing. There's a dearth of interaction that just ruins the appeal for me. TV has a similar problem but the time investment is a lot lower. And even then, I watch very very little TV.
If I want an engrossing story, I'll read a book. Quite frankly, I think movies suck as a storytelling medium. They're good with visual things, but for character and plot development I'd rather have the author speak directly to me.
The funny thing is, I can screw around online for hours on end. but at least then I feel like I'm contributing in some minor way.
And honestly I think movies make for a crummy social experience. I would never, ever take a date to a movie. Isn't a date supposed to be about getting to know somebody? How the hell am I supposed to do that when I'm staring at a screen for two hours?! If I'm going to spend two hours not talking to a guy, it should be because he's got...erm...something in his mouth.
Same deal with friends. I don't have a huge amount of time to spend with my friends. I'd rather spend it conversing. There are lots of activities, like shopping, playing games, and, of course, clubbing, that let you be social at the same time. So why resort to sit-and-stare? There's no excuse unless you've got nothing left to say. And those of you who know me know that's not likely to be an issue anytime soon.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia. I love you Wikipedia.
Plus, sometimes cheap and shallow is nice to indulge in. I like the Oscars because I like to see what people are wearing. I'm not gonna pretend it's some important experience, but there's something satisfying about sitting on a couch eathing bags of chocolate and making comments about the starlet who gained 5 pounds.
P.S. You get the award for Best Picture.
I adore going to the movies with friends. Why? Because it means I have to clear a whole night. We always eat before and after. We're pigs like that. We chat while we eat, we catch a movie we all want to see but typically don't have time to, and then we eat and chat and (because we're mostly theater majors) talk about how much better actors we could have been and how we should be cast in the sequel. It's a good time.
I'm well aware that my opinions on the subject put me in the deep minority. There are a few movies I do love dearly though, like Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion, Office Space, Trainspotting, etc.
Beyond that I like documentaries. Funnily enough I only read fiction and I mostly only watch documentaries (ie movie non-fiction). Weird, eh?
The most fun I've ever had seeing a movie at the theater was actually Pearl Harbor. It was so bad that I had a blast with my friends just making fun of it. I think it pissed off the other people there though.
I'm super chatty before, during and after the movie. I realize this is annoying and make efforts to control myself when this isn't cool. I HAVE to decompress afterwards though- likes, dislikes, thoughts, related stories and final judgement. I've never walked out of a movie either, no matter how bad it is. I usually enjoy the badness once I've given up any hope of redemption.
The Internet is the only electronic medium that allows two-way sharing of information, and thus is the only one that truly engages me. Oh yeah, and I guess music would be the exception to the list above.