What If Movies Were Different

You know what? Let’s go ahead and compare one thing to another. And what are the things that are going to be compared? Let’s compare the 20^th and 21^st centuries to times before. What do you think are the key differences? You may say technology, which is definitely true. But there’s something else that’s pretty specific, too. In fact, it is much more specific than the mass implementation of advanced technology. And what is it that I’m referring to? I am referring to the ways in which we entertain ourselves. It used to be that you had to either read books or go watch a play at some theatre to keep yourself entertained. But as it can be seen, that’s no longer the conventional means of entertainment.

Nowadays, the standards of keeping ourselves entertained have moved on. No longer do many of us find it realistic, let alone fun, to watch actors on a stage. Even fewer of us find it so when cracking open a book. That culture pretty much ceased to exist decades ago. Now we seem to all pretty much conform to a screen that has a moving picture on it. It seems that we have chosen to move to this because it is quicker and more convenient to get to. We also choose to look at screens more than text or a stage because of the realism. Think about. When’s the last time someone could achieve some sort of realistically gruesome death, like in Final Destination, all the while onstage? Obviously, only means of entertainment like TV can effectively put forth this kind of content. In the recent past, television and movie broadcasts have kept us entertained for those very reasons. But now, it seems, our expectations for staying entertained are on the rise again, just as the people in the early 20^th century started to want more than just reading books and watching plays. They wanted television as we know it today – same as how we want something more than average television rather than “bore” ourselves watching conventional television.

Just think about what I mentioned above, and you’ll see what I mean. For example, think of the original Friday the 13^th. It’s pretty lame by today’s standards, because it didn’t have the technology to convey as much realism as movies do today, with CGI and all that. Though movies of today and somewhat older movies are both delivered through screens, my point can still be seen: we have a tendency to get used to and thus get bored of ways that make dramas realistic – just like how people got bored with plays back then. So, it’s obvious that there needs to be an even better way of conveying realism soon, otherwise audience will begin to get bored. So, what can be done?

There are tons of things that can be done about to keep audiences entertained. All that really matters is the approach. For example, one approach could be to continue moving on with realism, make motion pictures seem more and more realistic. Another approach could be to simply hold off on exposing audiences to cutting-edge cinema technologies, and instead focus on the movies themselves. Perhaps we could just spice up the general styles of movies, maybe? I’ll go ahead and cover each approach further down. Let’s go ahead and start off with the first approach, being that we should make a push for ultra-realistic means of delivering content to the audience.

Contrary to what the title implies, I do not think that this approach will be feasible in the foreseeable future. You see, people are becoming more and more impatient, so it’s not like many will be willing to wait for newer technologies to come out. Even then, there are only a few plausible developments in technology that can achieve drastic improvements to realistic entertainment, like seeing holograms and the like. Further still, some these developments are already in a crude form. For example, there are already 3D-TVs out there, they just require glasses. And is the crowd really that all impressed? Not really, if you think about it.

In my opinion, the most effective approach to keeping the ever-impatient viewer happy is deals with movies themselves. Right now, let’s face it, many movies are beginning to become repetitive. For example, when’s the last time you have seen an action movie that does not, say, have some epic slow-motion scene of someone escaping an exploding building? Do you not find that boring? And don’t get me started on sequels: Final Destination… 5? Come on! People want brand new plots, not cheap variations of the same thing. And even if we can’t think of new plots, who’s to say that we simply cannot modify drama styles in general? Who’s to say that we cannot, say, make the antagonist win from time to time?