The Importance of Entertaining Films
I can’t stress enough how much I care about this.
If you have been following Our Movie Life for a while, you have probably noticed that I constantly mention how big the importance entertaining films is. I was talking to a friend of mine today about cinema. She thinks that films are a lot worse now than they were fifty years ago. She also thinks that Hollywood is filled with crap movies that suit only a certain audience and that in fifty years, our grandchildren will not perceive any of the movies we watch today as ‘classics’.
There is a certain truth to that. I completely agree that there are a lot more bad films today than there were in the 1960’s or 1970’s. But no, I don’t think that the film industry, as a whole, is producing more bad films than good. Even though what my friend said is partially true, there are also a lot more good movies today than there were in those times because generally a lot more movies are produced today than back then.
So why do people think films are getting worse and worse with time? Well, to begin with, more than half of what’s usually playing in theaters is definitely not worth watching. It has been this way for a couple of years now. However, if you want to watch amazing films, you can certainly find them. Small producers (and quite a few big ones) are constantly making fantastic, philosophical, and truly well-made productions. You just have to know where to look. However, chances are, those films will be very heavy.
And this is where the importance of good entertaining films comes.
A very large majority of the public watches movies to relax. Personally, I love all genres of film. I think I can get something out of every movie I watch, regardless of whether it’s heavy or light, drama or comedy. However, I can’t watch only deep philosophical heavy productions. I’m pretty sure everyone’s like that. Sometimes, all one desires is to play a light action movie, chug some popcorn, and relax.
And this is Hollywood’s main problem. Big producers don’t seem to understand that entertaining movies can also be fantastic movies. Companies either finance very heavy and really well-made productions (like ‘Moonlight’) or awful films that are meant to entertain you, but certainly don’t succeed (like ‘Why Him?’).
Hollywood needs to focus on producing very well-made productions, that are not, however, heavy. Take ‘Kick-Ass’, for example. One of my favorite films ever. It’s very light, it’s relaxing, it’s entertaining. And it is all those things while simultaneously being a marvelous production. It’s perfect on every level, both technically and story-wise, but you don’t feel emotionally exhausted after watching it. Another example is ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’. Once again, a fantastic film, perfect on every level, but it’s entertaining and you can watch it to simply relax.
I’m not saying there are no good entertaining films, there are. But not enough. A vast majority of the public likes to see only those kinds of movies. A lot of people never see a film if they know they’ll get emotionally exhausted from it. So, produce more movies that those people can watch, but that are also good productions. Cinema is an amazing art form. It’s the most influential art form. Thus, everyone should have the right and the opportunity to watch a well-made film, regardless of what they feel like watching. Fix this. Create more well-made entertaining films. Make Hollywood great again.
What did you think of this? Do you agree? Share your thoughts in the comments section below! Don’t forget to like and share this article if you enjoyed it!
Thanks for reading,
Pouty Boy
I feel like I’m that “she” person 😜
There’s definitely an issue with too many films being made poorly. Even if the subject matter and writing weren’t poor there’s no effort or care put into how the film is directed and it all becomes just static and dull. Of course, there’s still entertainment to be had, you just have to look a bit harder for it, which is a shame given it is supposed to be the entertainment industry.
I am certainly guilty of old-man-yelling-at-cloud criticism of today’s lagging quality of movies, but every time I give into that line of thinking I have to remind myself of the plethora of film choices that just don’t happen to ever make it into theaters. I’ll just browse through Netflix, HBO Now, Starz or Showtime, and remember that if I really don’t like what’s playing in theaters there are so many other movies I could watch (not to mention TV shows).
Yet, as you argued, there’s an inherent elitism to rail against films which are meant to simply be entertained. I grew up on those movies, and at times I still prefer them. These days, it’s just that outside of Oscar season the movies that play in theaters are our desert; the smaller ones we can find online or eventually in our nearby theater if we’re lucky are the actual meal, if that makes sense.