Kennedy London, Staff Writer 

The amount of film spanning over the past 100 years is such a sprawling and dense collection that there is something for everyone to enjoy. From “No Country To Old Men” to “Blade Runner” to In the “Mood for Love” to “Network” to “Sorry To Bother you” and so on, it is almost too much ground to cover.

It is one thing to have a preference when it comes to the films you watch. You can run the gauntlet between action, drama, horror, comedy, and thriller or just sit comfortably with one. However, when you judge, throw remarks, or view people in a certain light for simply their preferences is the part where the things get muddy. Even worse is putting yourself in a box and not willing to give other types of genres a chance.

I had a conversation with a friend of mine and he asked me what was my favorite movie of 2018 and I replied If “Beale Street Could Talk”. He proceeds to smirk and say “Oh, you one of those artsy people, huh?”. He then proceeds to say that the only movies he watches are the one everyone else has watched like Black Panther and that he doesn’t really watch “independent” films.

This sparked a thought in my mind about the people who watch and also make movies that blow off entire genres of movies because they don’t think that they are worth the time. If not that, then it becomes a discussion about do you like movies or do you like “films”; in that context, people believe that “films” give you deeper levels of conversation and satisfaction rather than movies.

It is generally not good to box yourself in when it comes to film. Not only it is pretty ignorant to do, but it does not serve a greater purpose. Just because you watch such thought-provoking masterpieces jam packed with content doesn’t make you above people who watch movies for fun and vise versa. It is actually pretty common for some to look down on arthouse movies, superhero movies, horror movies and even certain dramas because they are deemed “beneath them” or for a certain circle of people.

Leonardo DiCaprio in “Revenant”. Credit: courtesy of variety.com

For example, acclaimed Mexican Director and my personal favorite director Alejandro González Iñárritu slammed superhero movies during a 2014 Deadline interview saying that they “have been poison, this cultural genocide, because the audience is so overexposed to plot and explosions and shit that doesn’t mean nothing about the experience of being human.” Another example would be an article from Glamour from 2016 called “Do People Actually Enjoy Watching Horror Movies?”and writer Abigail McCoy is confused by the draw or horror movies. She goes onto say, “But I maintain that there is absolutely no value in feeling scared. Why do people want to be scared? What is good about that?Feeling scared is always, always a negative experience, and I don’t think it’s even the kind with a silver lining.”

Holding such a firm stance against entire genres isn’t really a healthy thing to do to keeping an open mind. I can understand if you don’t prefer superhero or horror movies. But, to throw them to the wasteside is a bit much. Even if there is some merit to the comments of Iñárritu, McCoy, or any others with similar views (there is definitely some strong merit in Iñárritu’s claims), the dismissiveness to some of the comments is a drawback.

It is important to keep an open mind when it comes to the levels of film that is out there. You can get yourself lost in the filmographies of some of the most creative people that have walked this earth such as Wong Kar-Wai, the aforementioned Iñárritu, Barry Jenkins, Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Thomas Anderson and countless others.

It is better to respectfully not prefer movies and understand what makes them major draws rather than the “I don’t understand why people like these soulless creations” approach. You’re getting no any brownie points because you figured out how the horror movie industry bleeds money from audiences by rehashing franchises and that’s why horror movies are trash. Just say you don’t prefer it and keep it moving. It is better for the rest of us.