CHUD.com essay: Film Lovers vs. Cinephiles (AKA Geeks, Snobs, Me)

[thehefner]

For anyone who has witnessed or, worse, incurred the wrath of Movie Snob Heffie(i.e., eldridgeprime), maybe this article will shed some light on my... particular affliction:

"Ultimately, what it all comes down to is passion versus enjoyment. The average film geek is very passionate about films, and practically demands that film be challenging and involving. Rather than just sitting there letting the movie wash over us, cinephiles have a desire to become actively engaged with the events that are unfolding before them on the big screen. Film geeks want to search for the hidden subtext that is hiding just beneath the surface, they want to try and spot all the little homages the director has made to those films that inspired him or her, and they want to hear exactly what message the movie is trying to convey.

The average movie-goer simply enjoys movies for what they are, and goes to the theater simply to be entertained. That’s it. There is no desire to look any deeper than what is on the screen in front of them. To the average movie-goer, film is a passive experience, one that is simply there. Perhaps it serves as a distraction from the drudgery of daily life. They pay their $9.00 (or more) and spend two hours with their brains shut off. They don’t need subtext. They don’t want to be challenged. They just want to be entertained, whether it’s through laughs or big explosions or both."

The whole thing can be read here. It's a great essay, and very eloquently expresses my own POV which, it is becoming increasingly apparent, is a bit different from the casual moviegoer.

Yeah, I know, alert the presses, right?

Comments

[2sick2pray.livejournal.com]

I find this article extremely condescending and arrogant in tone, to tell the truth.

It really seems to be trying to imply that everyone who isn't an obsessive movie buff doesn't care about anything at all beneath the surface. I think that's untrue. There may be a good number of people who look at films that way, but i think it's a massive generalization/stereotype.

There are some dumb moviegoers out there, but i think by calling that minority (and i truly believe it is a minority) "average," he's raising himself onto a pedestal that's a little higher up than he deserves to be...

And I find his claims about all those people walking out on great films quite dubious. I've only seen people walk out of a movie theatre a couple of times in my life, and once was because their child was crying loudly and they were simply being considerate. People just don't walk out of movies that often...

But hey, if condescending to everyone who disagrees with him makes him feel better about himself... good for him. or something.

I'll give him one thing: the essay is structurally sound and relatively concise.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

You make good points, and I must give you mad credit for actually reading the article... I didn't honestly expect anybody to do so.

You say minority, and I'd like to believe that myself, but how do you account for the box office reciepts of some of the films he mentioned? I mean, this year's prime example is "White Chicks", which was by NO MEANS a failure. We may not have seen too many people walk out of theaters (but then, I'm usually paying attention to the movie too much to notice if someone doesn't come back), but the money doesn't lie. That SO MANY people are willing to shell out 9 bucks to see this says something. That experiemtal and different and quality films (art and genre alike) like Bubba Ho-Tep and I Heart Huckabees should be relegated off to "select theaters", neglected in favor of some mainstream rehash (even worse: it's remake-mania out there!), that says something.

Personally, I don't think he was so much angry at "everybody else" as much as the "unwashed heathens" who would reject a Memento (I know a couple examples, personally and off-hand, of people walking out of that one) in favor of a Wild Wild West (which was a hit, regardless of universal critical panning).

I don't dismiss other's opinions on films out of hand, for the most part, although as previously stated even I have my limits. You raise some good points, and I'd like to hear what he'd have to say to that. I just find it interesting that this seems to have inspired such ire in you.

[2sick2pray.livejournal.com]

I think he's operating on the presumption than there aren't people capable of enjoying both types of films. There are many people that will shell out money to see something dumb like "White Chicks" just because its an entertaining thing to do on a friday or saturday night, but will also see and love films like American Beauty or Memento or Hero. I just didn't like the condemning nature of the idea that for people who enjoy one-liner comedies from time to time, "There is no desire to look any deeper than what is on the screen in front of them."

And I hope you were being ironic when you used the phrase, "unwashed heathens," seeing as that phrase in and of itself demonstrates exactly what irks me about that article.

I don't know. It doesn't really inspire that much ire... its just that once i start to disagree with something i feel this urge to explain myself fully, and, writer that I am, I argue my thesis statements aggressively.

And I really fscking hate being condescended to. Even though I'm not the target of his condescension. I just feel like he's talking down in general and being a little too self-celebratory. "Look at me, I'm smarter and more sophisticated than most people! Aren't I special? Don't you approve? Don't you wish you could understand the complex films that I like, instead of the shit you settle for?"

Again, none of this is against you. I love most movie snobs, just not this one. I'm a tiny bit of a movie snob myself. (not as hardcore as yourself I know... but hey) But in fact, I dislike the phrase movie snob in general as I feel it's also a kind of condescension when others call people with different tastes that may be too "artsy" or whatever "snobs." I know when one refers to oneself as a movie snob its generally said sardonically, but still. On principle I just find it nasty to generalize people based on movies they do or don't like.

Not that I'm above doing the same with relation to theatre. When someone would rather see 42nd Street than Shakespeare, I must admit it grieves me. I suppose its one of those, "I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down" issues... eh.