How to Watch Movies

Written by Jordan Petersen

If you like what you read check out Jordan’s podcast - Nerd Critic

When was the last time you read a book?

It probably depends on when you finished school. If you're like more than 80% of Americans, you won't read another book from start to finish after you're done with your formal education. In other words, you're not gonna read unless you have to.

Listen, I'm not trying to shame anyone. I happen to be a pretty voracious reader, but I'm also a writer, so hey. But this post isn't about books (those old dumb things), it's about movies.

But before I get into that, I think it's important to establish WHY school made us read books in the first place. Why was ENGLISH a required subject of study for a bunch of people who were by and large native English speakers? Because, as we all know, English was just a poorly constructed euphemism for literature.

They didn't push the Classics on us because they thought we needed to learn how to read, they did it because they thought we needed to learn how to Read -- to become an active participant in the medium, rather than a passive consumer.

See, one of the purposes of an education is to help young people (listen how old I sound) become good citizens. For a very long time (and even still!) it's been taken for granted that an ability to read with some degree of conscientious literacy is a pre-requisite for good citizenship.

Why?

Because up until the 20th century, books were the primary medium through which society communicated with itself. Being able to read and write meant being part of the conversation in some way. And even if you didn't write much, you'd be talking to people you knew about the things you read. The smarter you were about the things you were reading, the smarter the things you'd have to say.

Naturally.

But the world has changed. The vast majority of people don't read much anymore. You know what they do? They watch movies.

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When you go to a movie (or watch one at home), alone, or with friends, what is your experience? Are you the kind of person who watches closely, who pays attention, and who tries hard to understand and appreciate the broad strokes and subtle nuances in each sequence, scene, and frame? Do you make an effort to absorb the best of what that movie is doing, and conscientiously leave the rest behind?

When you talk to other people afterward, do you work hard to articulate your ideas and impressions? Do you help generate positive, thoughtful conversation about the movies you watch? Do you take the fruits of all that work with you when you're back in front of the screen again? Are you constantly trying to improve your relationship with what you watch?

This is called good media citizenship.

We don't really live in a society that encourages this. For starters, we're still required to take classes in high school and college that teach us how to read books deeply, but few of us are compelled to take classes that teach us how to watch movies in the same way.

And the enormous corporate behemoths that distribute our media don't much care whether we're thoughtful and proactive in our engagement with what we watch. They just want our money. Nothing wrong with that, it just means that they aren't going to be taking it upon themselves to teach anybody good media citizenship any time soon, especially since a more discerning audience is a harder one to capture.

It should be no surprise, then, that we are all heavily incentivized toward extremely passive consumption.

As a result, there are few good media citizens among us. Our world is completely saturated with media, so it would be easy to start droning on about how it's our duty to engage with it all in a healthy and productive way. But then you'd fall into a resentful slumber, and no one could blame you.

So instead, let me tell about the FREAKING awesome perks of good media citizenship.

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First of all, movies are KICKASS. The better you get at watching them, the more rewarding they become. It just never stops getting better. And this goes for nearly everything else, too. The skills of movie-watching carry over to TV, then shorter content online, and even music and visual art. The world turns into an infinite candy store.

Your experiences of awe and empathy become more frequent and more intense. The whole purpose of media is to make human experience communicable, and there is a WHOLE LOT of human experience, it turns out. The more this stuff stretches you out, the bigger and broader your heart and mind become. You get to be an emotional, spiritual, and intellectual giant.

If all that sounds as dope to you as it does to me, then I've got some great news.

If you want it, there's no class you have to take to get it. No test you have to pass. No dreary worksheets or tedious assignments. No essays. Unless you like writing essays. I love writing essays, but anyway I'm getting away from the point.

The only requirement for good media citizenship is willingness. You need to be willing to pay closer attention. To care more about what you're watching, and why you're watching it. To listen, to speak, and to keep paying attention.

I am, in fact, talking about becoming a student, but not the resentful, slothful kind. I'm talking about becoming a person who is driven by passion to study, to learn, to deeply understand a subject.

Not to get carried away, but in this case, I believe our subject is life. Because, in the end, movies, like all other art, are just a reflection of our collective effort to live.

The next time you go to the theater, or settle into your couch to watch something, pick up your pen, pencil, or mental stylus, and be a better citizen.