They have every right to call you a liar if you tell a friend you saw a movie last night and they know you never left your apartment. You can't watch a movie at home if you don't know how to spell. A movie theater is the only place you can see a movie. The point is that You are at the mercy of the movie. It is forced upon you, almost out of time, to look at it all at once. You can't see a movie if you stay home. This is completely different than what you did.
Most movies are that way today. Most of their history has been seen. They are watched on a variety of electronic devices. According to Gallup, if you are an average American, you saw the new Spider-Man in theaters in 2021. Being above average, I saw it two times. The phrase "watch a movie" has replaced the phrase "see a movie", which was on the rise throughout the 20th century, as of late.
You are not blamed for this development. That is not the case. With their belief in the sanctity of the cinematic cathedral, Cinephiles do. The same way a business executive might say first class is the only way to fly, they say it is the only way to see a film. The underlying assumption that seeing is better than watching is self-explanatory.
What does it mean to watch? It sounds like it would be more worthwhile to do. To watch is to constantly attend to; to see is almost passive. It's difficult to focus on a movie at home. The bathroom calls, the kitchen, and the rewind button all seem to have something in common with you. Texts, calls, and information are offered by your phone. The actress in that movie was in another one. Let's use the internet to find her. The trailer needs to be watched. Let's text a friend about it Mom has called. To say nothing of crying babies, barking dogs, screaming neighbors, and malfunctioningAlexas. By the time you remember, it's time to go to sleep. Tomorrow, you will finish it.
If you want to watch a movie at home, you have to ignore it or at the very least experience it piecemeal. I am certain that the data on this would be confirmed if any of the streamers released it. I don't know anyone who watched the Justice League cut. This year's Oscar winner is Drive My Car. It took them a long time. If they didn't finish.
Both of those movies took four hours to finish. You say that neither body nor brain can be expected to survive that. It is not possible to watch four hours of television. You watched four hours of television last weekend. It could have been last night. Simpleminded arguments like "our attention spans are shot" are often not convincing on their own. You just watch TV or TikTok. It looks like complete attention all the same, even though it is less unified, less artistic and less artistic. It is difficult to commit to a movie for 90 minutes. You scroll and scroll and scroll, never quite ready to make a decision, aware that you don't have the strength to make it.
Maybe this isn't a big deal to you. The dying art form of movies is television. I'm pretty sure it does. You miss movies if you don't watch them. You don't get the full story of it because something TV or TikTok doesn't provide. To be watched all at once, a movie has been designed to serve a single emotional journey.
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