This is a follow-up from my post about my perspective on film watching. One of my esteemed movie experts presented to me a very thought provoking issue. To wit, if my criteria for watching movies is so narrowly tailored to specific subject matters, then this may serve as the thing that is limiting my love for a diverse grouping of films. This observation is both enlightening and a little problematic for me. I will concede that if a film is about a subject I enjoy, it is more than likely going to be one that I love. However, there are some that fall into the category of being the subject matter I enjoy, but for some reason I didn't like film, e.g., Django Unchained, Birth of a Nation, Beloved.
The difficulty I'm having is with the idea of my love of films being limited to only one or few subject matters. In my opinion, my unique perspective on film watching allows me to transcend industry defined movie genres. While I may view films with a philosophical eye, meaning I want to understand the deeper meaning of a film, this does not preclude me from recognizing the other qualities of a film. If an actor/actress is good in their role, they're going to evoke a certain level of emotion out of the movie watcher. Watching a movie and looking for the meaning or thing that it represents in society does not necessarily mean that one is watching the film in a cold emotional state. It may be possible to separate the two, but I don't believe this is what I do when I watch a film.
When the film credits begin to roll, I believe we all should be able to give the film a thumbs up or thumbs down. How we arrive at our individual opinions is the part that makes movie watching interesting. I believe it speaks volumes for a film to have an impact on a vast majority of society. If we're all using various methods to rate a film and the film is able to impress each of us, then I think that it would have to be considered one of the greats.
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