Most everyone I know says they love movies to one degree or another. When I’m sitting around and talking with friends, rather than studying like I’m supposed to be, the topic eventually turns to movies. People start shouting how I need to see this movie or that movie because it is just so great. I will sit there quietly smiling and nod my head back and forth as if I were a bobble head. Most people love to talk about movies with their friends. I don’t. Why? Because no one knows what they’re talking about.
At this point in my life I have generally accepted that everyone around me has terrible taste in movies. It’s my lot in life but I’m willing to accept it. Being a film buff (see how I called it “film” rather than a “movie”? If you were a film buff you’d know why I did that.) is a full time job and one that generally goes unappreciated. There’s a lot of work that goes into it.
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For instance film buffs are probably the reason why you watch good films from time to time. One night my brother wanted to borrow a movie and I told him he could come over and borrow whatever he wanted. As he was perusing through my collection he asked if I had any of the Wrong Turn movies. I sighed to myself and told him I did not. He admittedly likes to watch horror movies but why watch the umpteenth sequel to some horror schlock when he could watch something amazing like Halloween or Rosemary’s Baby. I probably should have kicked him out of my apartment after he asked me such a question but I handed him Finding Nemo and then sent him on his way.
So many people I’ve met don’t watch “old movies.” Their definition of old is anything past the 1990’s. This always leaves me flabbergasted. Doing this cuts off decades of wonderful films. Others won’t watch a film if it’s in black and white. I cringe and say through gritted teeth, but "What about '12 Angry Men,' 'Casablanca,' 'City Lights,' and 'Psycho?'" All films that will never be watched because they lack color. Then there’s always someone who won’t watch a film because they have to read. Sigh. There are so many wonderful films imported from other countries. One of my favorite films of all time is Seven Samurai. It’s three and half hours long all in Japanese. I repeat, three and a half hours long!
It’s totally fine that people like bad movies. Everyone is allowed some guilty pleasures. I’m always skewered for liking anything Michael Bay has done. I absolutely love Armageddon, The Rock and Transformers. Just the first one though. Not the others. Those are plain garbage.
So it’s okay to have a love for a bad movie. It’s not okay to only love bad movies.
I have taken on the mantle of being a movie buff and knowing I need to teach others to like good movies. So in the future please be supportive of film buffs. You may not be able to spot them at first but if you find yourself in a conversation about film and you see a person whose face is painfully contorted then you’ve spotted yourself a film buff in the wild. It’s either that or someone is having a heart attack. So the lesson in the end is open your world to all of film and see your life enriched by it. Plus, if you do, you get a free pass for being snobby.
