The way I view movies have completely changed since I started writing movie reviews many years ago. Instead of pure enjoyment, the experience became completely critical, analyzing everything, taking apart scenes, picking out the little things. Whereas before I could ignore and overlook, that option became unavailable. Now I had to remember, revisit mentality things I may not have liked.
I would see movies I really wasn't interested in, had a gut feeling, and the intuition proved correct, though I was out the several dollars and time for obligations sake.
Then there's the moral dilemma I faced: Not wanting to write mean things online. It's one thing to talk about a movie, analyze it to its bones in private amongst friends and family, but once you put it online anyone can see, even those you are writing about. That unnerved me. Praising and positivity was no worry, but when there was something I wasn't happy about in a film I struggled with the mention.
There were times I didn't like an actor in a role, or didn't like artistic choices, and stayed silent. And I don't like how movies have become so political with woke stuff, things I don't appreciate due to the divide it causes, but out of respect for differing opinions and beliefs I won't talk on such things. And I honestly believe wokism has stifled good storytelling, agenda over character growth or good plot development. It's so prevalent now that ignoring is impossible.
There's a fine line between how much I can reveal so there's stuff to talk about versus spoilers. This was a balance I never could quite figure out. Either I didn't reveal just enough that my review felt shallow, or revealed too much that I may have ruined the movie.
Then there's other little things like cost, time, etc. Right before the pandemic and lock downs I was seriously considering starting an exclusive movie review blog on WordPress with the possibility of starting a companion YouTube channel. Looked into the costs, started working on names and so on, then the lock downes started and theaters closed. I could have moved to reviewing streamed content, but I decided against it.
When it came down to it I realized the commitment, the time that it would take away from other projects, and realized I really didn't want to persue movie reviews outside of the hobby.
I'm glad for the reviews I did do. I learned a lot, and the critical thinking skills I've developed in the process will help me when breaking down and developing my own creative works.
I'll always enjoy the movies. I'll always enjoy stories. Now I'm focusing on the fun.
(Heh, though I seem unable to turn off the deep analysis, so that won't change... :P I love debating movies after leaving the theater).
Sarah
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