Yeah so I’m sitting here with my wife and step-daughter, they are watching a film, and I’m doing this because I can’t both pay attention to it and not make lengthy comments every two minutes. I am the worst movie watcher in the history of watching movies, though I have a feeling I’d have fit in with Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
Just can’t watch stuff passively, like, at all. I gotta be commenting or not paying attention, for some unknown reason it has to be one or the other or I’m unengaged and I’ll just fall asleep or something. Pretty terrible and debilitating trait in this day and age, most people I know just want to stare at screens for at least a few hours a day, me I can’t do it unless I’m playing some kind of active part in it.
Oh well. I still love my family even if they think I’m a weirdo who doesn’t understand how to watch a movie.
You are not the first person to say that, and the main reason I do not go to theatres with other people, or more often than once every five years in general. I’ve had family members threaten to walk out on me, truth.
Trick is to go to joke movies like Home Alone 8 or some crap where you expect it to be bad, then you can just joke with your friends in the middle of the movie and no one will care.
That would work but knowing my lame-o friends they’d be like “shut up the kid is TALKING TRASH!”
Fun fact: I once ended a relationship because I was told to shut up because the TV was on 1 (or 1000) too many times. Anyone more interested in Xena: Warrior Princess than an actual conversation was clearly not the right person.
I enjoy it when people talk during a movie AT HOME. If you’re at the theatre stay quiet, if you’re at home it’s time to break out all the crackpot conspiracy theories of what will happen during the movie and make remarks on plot holes and writing.
And there it is folks, these are the people I truly do it for. The ones who think watching something on a screen is more important than face to face. I would NEVER consider someone a jerk for wanting to have a conversation instead of passively watching the same screen. Given I do not exist in this society very well at all, my priorities are totally at odds with most others’.
My room mate is like this, which is why I see movies alone.
But that is not the worst person to see a movie with. The worst is seeing a sequel with someone who assures you that they have seen the first movie. Then, five minutes before it starts, asks you to explain what happened before.
While I do like to comment on movies, I prefer to save my commentary for after the movie is over. I have no trouble focusing on the screen while it’s happening. It could be an attention-span thing.
Perhaps you could try my method and save your comments for a discussion after the credits have rolled. If your memory is such that you don’t think you’ll be able to recall whatever salient point you wanted to make, try taking notes.
The point is, a conversation should be between people who are focused on the discussion. That’s not possible when there is something else (like a movie) happening. You seem to think that there’s something wrong with folks who want to watch the movie rather than talk with you. The fact is, there’s a time and place for everything. Conversation during a performance, whether it’s live or recorded, is not appropriate in most settings.
People don’t watch movies to have conversations. That’s not what they exist for. Just watch the movie, you aren’t as fascinating as you think you are. Shut up, watch the movie. You’re not clever.
Considering I disagree with you in every respect but perhaps that I’m not fascinating (I don’t pretend I am, I just think a two way conversation is more fascinating than any screen). Uh, so, NO U?
Also forgot to mention rather than continue to comment I turned to the computer and ignored it, so I’d say I’m most definitely not a jerk as I didn’t force it on anyone, they weren’t receptive so I turned away.
To the other people in this thread, I do have horrid attention span issues so about 5 minutes after the movie I’ll forget I even watched it unless it’s something that’s DIRECTLY in my wheelhouse, which is like all of maybe 5 movies in the world. Some of the stuff my family watches is so foul to me I want to beat myself in the head until I forget I saw it though.
I can’t pay attention to 99% of what’s out there because my life experience doesn’t allow me to identify with 99% of stories and characters I’ve seen. Schizotypal it’s called.
The funny part is that I used to dream of being a writer and it was my one joy in life. Only literally no one understood or enjoyed reading anything I wrote. People were kind to not be cruel, and I made enough of an effort to get mostly A’s in college, but was left so disillusioned as what I thought was good fiction and what the world thinks is good fiction are just two totally different things so I split from it more or less permanently.
I’m done making stuff up and could care less about anyone else’s made up stuff, I don’t identify with it and I don’t enjoy it.
