To my fellow film lovers,
Given that we are now entering the time of the year when big budget independent dramas surface to be contenders for those coveted Academy Awards I must apologize. I apologize in advance. I confess: I will not see every single nominee for the best picture category before the ceremony. I apologize, in fact, that I have never done so previously. Given that my own mother has been more successful in her viewing record than I have I am ashamed.
I apologize for my Oscar prediction lists. I have never been more than forty three percent right about my predictions. I apologize that I saw The King’s Speech instead of the Social Network and still expected Social Network to win. I apologize I didn’t see Her and that I didn’t recognize the progressiveness of Frozen right off the bat. You see, I suffer from a dark malady that I’m afraid will never be cured: simple taste.
My curse has fostered an unhealthy passion for those villainous blockbusters you so despise. The junk food of cinema, I once heard it called. That’s right, I am the one who loved Iron Man 3. I enjoyed the first Transformers and lined up to buy the DVD collection. I even paid to see Guardians of the Galaxy in theaters twice! I suffer from consistent fascination with fiery explosions, buxom women, and harrowing gunfights. For me the world cannot be saved enough times.
I tried to shake off this evil plague, I really did! I watched a Lars Von Trier Film (I can’t remember which one.) I partnered Enter the Void with Waking Life in a double feature. I sipped wine whilst viewing The Artist and explored ideas of masculinity and greed in There Will Be Blood. I event went so far as to claim I liked Rian Johnson before he did Looper and got hired to direct the next Star Wars film.
Try as I might I can’t escape my condition. I am sad to say I am excited for Fast and the Furious Seven (requiem en pace Paul Walker) and the next Avengers movie. I always say I have had enough of this or that franchise, but return with my money in my hands and my dignity missing. I often catch myself daydreaming of working on a film that big and I think: “oh how I am doomed!”
There is good news though: things are changing. With the advent of streaming services like Netflix, HuluPlus, and HBOGo much more is offered to the commoners of film watching. We can screen Oldboy at our homes or puzzle over Only God Forgives while we wait in an airport. The same can be said of television. Soon, everyone can enjoy that status of exclusivity that you all share. Soon we can all discuss politics in House of Cards (the original one not the American remake) or chauvinism in True Detective. Soon, we will all be fellow film lovers together.
Do not despair I ask. I suffer from the same disease millions of people in America do and I am slowly being cured. If I can sit through 2001: A Space Odyssey and enjoy the middle third of it then others can too. Just think of all the Inception arguments you can have or the Hitchcock statistics quoting you can do when we join your ranks.
I look forward to the day when pure enjoyment is stripped from movies and intellectualism becomes our drive for watching. I cannot wait to put away my DVD copy of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and add the criterion collection of Yasujiro Ozu. Even now I am anxiously holding my breath for the Blu-Ray release of Apocalypse Now: Redux. These things keep me up at night.
I know never seeing a single Truffaut or Godard film makes me contemptible, but bear with me. Speaking on behalf of those lesser-knowledged filmgoers (and still a large majority of the film watching crowd) you will have to suffer these filmic trends before “good taste” can arise. This process may take awhile (as long as pop culture is alive) so you will have to be patient. Until then you have my sincerest apologies.
Sincerely,
Daniel Pappas
P.S. I still don’t get the ending to 2001 perhaps you can enlighten me?
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