Are you afraid of re-watching some movies?
Are you afraid of re-watching some movies?
Are the memories better than the movie itself?
You've been there, I know. You click on the play button of a movie that you thought was funny, insightful, or groundbreaking. Maybe you invite a friend or your beloved one to watch it as well. When the credits of the movie start to roll, you are feeling disappointed and a little confused. How did I like this movie?
It is not a rare event, especially for movies you have watched before you were 15. Although many great children's movies do exist, we shouldn't expect that most films made in the last decades that appealed to kids would be interesting now. After all, it is not surprising that movies made for this target audience aren't all that great for adults.
To be honest, for instance, I don't think a story of a cute golden retriever playing basketball could be held accountable for not being a cinematic masterpiece.
Can our nostalgia blind us?
Sometimes even when the movie isn't that great it still takes someone else watching with you to point out how bad it is. Nostalgia can make us blind to some of the weakest points in movies we are watching.
My case: Titan A.E. I loved this movie growing up. I thought it was an awesome story that had incredible graphics and technology. And in 2000, it kind of did.
Upon rewatching it with my boyfriend, he was like: "hmm, this movie isn't that great."
He was right. It does seem cliché and generic watching it now. The graphics don't seem that impressive anymore. The characters are not super well developed and you can see the plot twist from a mile away. But for a pre-teen in 2000, it was quite cool. So, I still stand by it, although I understand all its shortcomings.
#MeToo and increased social awareness
Especially with rewatching comedies and romantic comedies, another relevant factor is how poor some of the jokes and sometimes the whole movie has aged. For instance, in Bridget Jone's diary, her main love interest is her boss. He touches her butt in the office and emails her about her boobs, but the movie treats it as a simple flirt. Now we know how inappropriate this behavior is.
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of the UK population (Bridget's country) experienced at least one form of sexual harassment in their lifetime, while two in five (43%) experienced at least one sexual harassment behavior in the last 12 months. This data comes from the 2020 Sexual Harassment Survey.
Originally, the #MeToo movement focused on the prevalence of sexual harassment everywhere. When it reached Hollywood, the focus shifted to workplace harassment. Although it is possible to have relationships in the office, there are still many cases of abuse, especially of women when subordinated to men. That is not a topic to be treated lightly.
Many older comedy movies further rely extensively on making fun of women, lgbt+, disabled, non-white, and fat people. Making re-watching them now a cringe-fest.
Making peace with our past
There's still a chance you won't enjoy a movie again, even if it wasn't offensive, or watched by you when you were too young to drive.
And it's ok if you loved a movie and now you don't think it is that great. Tastes evolve and our surroundings change and we swift with it. Some movies were groundbreaking at some point in time for a reason. Consequently, with their success, many copied them in some way or another.
The same happens to jokes and that's another reason they get dated. Once everyone makes the same joke, it stops being funny. Jokes rely on novelty and being unexpected.
When you go back and watch an older movie, most things seem unfunny and cliché now, just because now you have seen it a thousand times in other stories. It doesn't mean it wasn't a good movie at the moment, or that you have a shitty taste (well, maybe you do). It just means that we have grown and our surrounding has changed with us.
It is even still fine to enjoy older movies with some bad takes if you have a critical eye over them. It's not because a film had a few problematic views that we should completely ban them, just understand that they were made in a different contest.
Even knowing all this, I have some movies that I was or still am scared of watching again. Some I did watch and still love, such as 500 days of Summer and Captain Fantastic. Others I watched and still enjoyed, but don't think it is as amazing as I thought before like Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. It is still a nice movie, just maybe not as impeccable as I thought before. And there are some that I'm just not sure I want to ever watch again. Mainly, Into the Wild. I loved that movie so much, the story, the photography, the soundtrack, and I'm afraid I won't find it as good again if I re-watch it.
Maybe that's silly and I should just go for it, right?
What about you? Do you have any movie you re-watched and thought "well, this s*cks”? Or do you have any movies you are afraid of ever re-watching?
What to watch?
The Prince of Egypt (1998). I loved this movie growing up. I have re-watched recently and it's just such a great animation! Although it is a religious movie, the story is interesting by itself and not preachy. The animation is just so pretty, the soundscores are great. It is a movie completely out of the curve for what Disney and Dreamworks were doing at the time and has done since.
What to read?
The count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas). I read this book when I was a teenager and re-read it later on. It has something for all ages, and that's why it continues to be a classic even after 166 years of its first publishing.
Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If after being imprisoned for a crime he has not committed. His plan is not only to escape from prison but to unearth the hidden treasure he finds out about during his imprisonment and destroy the three men responsible for his downfall.
What to binge?
Sex and the City. Yes, there are so many aspects of Sex and the City that haven't aged that well, but it was groundbreaking tv when it was first broadcasted. No other show before had portrayed women in their 30s and 40s being open about their sexual encounters and changing the mold of what was expected for that age. I have watched it during 2 different periods of my life and I'd say it is still worth the watch.