What do you think is fun? Aside from watching animated films, I think every reader to this blog would have a different answer to that question. And yet why do we assume that everyone will think the same movies are fun?
This years seems to be the year of “fun movies” and I must have heard 100 times “oh come on, just have fun with this movie”. I have also caught myself saying it on videos and with blogs.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because it seems to me fun movies are great when you enjoy them but when other people tell you to have fun and you’re not it is very annoying.
For example, I had fun with Jupiter Ascending because it was so over-the-top. To me it felt like a campy soap opera and I laughed but I don’t try to pretend it is a good movie. I totally get why most people hated it. In fact, I may have just been in a good mood that day. At the least it is bad in ways I’d never seen before which I found entertaining.
In contrast, San Andreas was not a fun movie for me because it didn’t show me anything new. The special effects looked tired and were things I had seen in many other movies. The dialogue was bad without being over the top enough soap opera silly bad (with a few exceptions). The acting is terrible but not in an especially entertaining way. It’s not so bad it’s good but just kind of lame. Other people had fun with San Andreas and that’s great but how can they expect everyone to have that same experience?
And then there are the films I do have fun with but I don’t seem to like as much as other people. For example, Jurassic World I thought was entertaining but I didn’t rave about it like others. I didn’t mind they liked it more than I did until I started getting flack for it. It seemed to bother some people that I didn’t have as much fun as they did. I find that fascinating because again I can’t think of any other activity where level of funness would matter? I had fun. I was entertained by it. Why isn’t that good enough?
I know I am guilty of this as much as anyone else particularly when it comes to animation I deem ‘fun’ . I am going to try and not do that any more. Going to try and stick to explaining why I think it is fun and be a little less defensive if others don’t have the same experience. I don’t think I’m terrible in that regard but I have done it and am going to try to avoid it in the future.
So let’s go have some fun at the movies!
I guess a “fun” movie for me is one that actually amuses me, be it good or bad. Now what makes me amused? I guess that’s another topic.
But I dont think you care if other people share your same experience? That’s the key difference. Fun in a movie is perhaps the most subjective of all. It can come down to who I am with or being in a good mood.
Reblogged this on Smilingldsgirl's Weblog and commented:
Why do we insist everyone have the same fun as our fun?
You got flack because you didn’t have “enough” fun? Now I’ve heard it all.
Offhand, I think the kinds of things that would affect my enjoyment of a movie would be similar to what would affect my enjoyment of a book.
As a connoisseur of animated flicks, what is your assessment of the Fleischer Studios cartoons “Gulliver’s Travels” (1939) and “Hoppity Goes to Town” (1941)?
Oh yeah for sure. The film fan community is a unique beast.
I actually haven’t seen those but will check them out and let you know
But I actually don’t think it is limited to movies. I’ve seen it in lots of activities if someone doesn’t have the fun or enjoyment that you had it can feel like a bit of a let down especially if it is something you really love. You want them to share that same excitement and you want to share it together.