Hot Take: What If We Analyzed Movies Because of How They Made Us Feel?

There are many annoying things about the internet- about as much or more than there are good things about it. One of the things that I find most annoying is the discourse about movies and TV shows that are full of vitriol, people voicing their opinions as facts, gatekeeping whether or not you're a real fan of something, and completely devoid of nuance.

The Russo Brothers even wrote and directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier to be so technically perfect that it would be immune to internet scrutiny. A lot of people loved it because it supposedly had "no flaws."

And look, The Winter Soldier wasn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it was not at all moving to me in any shape or form. Actually it sort of scared me, but that's a separate conversation.

My main point is that people are so focused on judging a movie based on how many "flaws" it did or didn't have. Not only does that sound exhausting to microscopically analyze every movie you watch, it's exhausting to listen to, and I feel like it completely misses the point of what movies are: art.

Art is meant to make us feel, make us think, and sometimes just meant to lift us through hard times. This means that it is entirely subjective to the person experiencing the art. Van Gogh's Starry Night is a classic painting, and yet I'm certain there are some people who don't like, and possibly are even disturbed by it. There is no objective way to say Starry Night is a good or bad painting. You can say the brush strokes are technically proficient, or they evoke feeling. You can say the colors blend well, or are discordant in an interesting way- but even that would be subjective. But you could not argue with someone who doesn't like it that it is an objectively good painting.

I have had arguments with someone who told me that movies are not objective. I'm not entirely sure what makes movies the exception, but all art is subjective. Technical proficiency is an entirely different thing, and even then people will argue that technical proficiency diminishes the quality and effectiveness of the art- if one valued their proficiency over the feeling they put into it. There's a whole Bones episode on this where Angela is disturbed because a witness said he loved her technique. She then goes on to do a piece completely from the heart and beams when the same witness says "your technique sucks."

Something I wonder all the time is why we analyze movies and TV so much from our heads- when that's not even where they're supposed to affect us most. What if, instead, we analyzed movies based on how they made us feel?

The Winter Soldier honestly didn't make me feel much. Not nothing, but it wasn't mesmerizing to me.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy takes me on a whole journey full of emotions. Sometimes I'm laughing, sometimes I'm bawling my eyes out, during the Beacons of Amon Din scene I feel inspired! Sometimes I'm scared, too (the Nazgül chase in Fellowship is really scary in the theater!).

Game Night made me laugh out loud, repeatedly. I actually hurt my neck laughing to it one time.

Revenge of the Sith is so compelling to me because somehow I end up empathizing with Obi-Wan, Padmé, and Anakin all at the same time. I can feel all their pain, and the one thing I always wish every time I see it is that things would have turned out differently- to the point it's almost depressing to watch the original Star Wars trilogy afterward. Darth Vader is not an exciting villain to me. He's deeply tragic and painful.

These are just a few examples I can come up with. Two of them are acclaimed by fans and critics alike. One is barely discussed, though it was critically acclaimed. One was hated for over a decade and one of the actors wrongly criticized until suddenly nostalgia kicked in and the fandom apparently forgot how much they had trashed him. You'll notice, however, that I never once mentioned anything about how good or bad the writing or the acting was. I have a lot to say about those things in regards to all those movies, and even then, it would still be my opinion.

But isn't it much more interesting to hear about my personal experience with each movie? I'm all for discussion about what you did or didn't like about a movie. What I'm tired of hearing, though, is "the writing was bad" or "so and so is a terrible actor." I especially don't like hearing these comments when people can't even explain why. Don't even get me started on the fact that nearly every female lead in a fantasy, sci-fi, action, or adventure series is called a "Mary Sue" (a type of female character who is depicted as unrealistically lacking in flaws or weaknesses). Honestly, the only reason Elizabeth Swann wasn't is probably because everyone thinks Jack Sparrow and Will Turner are the heroes of the Pirates franchise. Even if that particular accusation isn't thrown at them, it's still a pattern I see that nearly every female-led or female-made movie or TV show gets trashed in one way or another. The Star Wars Sequels, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Barbie, A Wrinkle In Time, even Wonder Woman.

A similar type of discourse regarding lack of nuance that I see online a lot is criticism of certain characters and how "good a person" they are based on a few actions that, if you actually watch the episode or movie, were the entire point of the story. People seem to see things in very black and white terms and completely miss where that character's behavior was necessary to the story or even their character arch. Besides that, since when does a character need to be a "good person" in order to be compelling? Sometimes cautionary tales are intriguing. Sometimes the story is still morbidly fascinating even though the entire cast are basically horrible people (anyone watch Bloodline?). I once saw someone base their entire dislike of Lance Sweets (Bones) on one action he did in season 3. He was on the show for seven years, and they hated him for all that time because of one thing he did in the beginning that wasn't cool.

On the one hand, I can see how this may be a bit of an arbitrary topic to bring up, but I think it speaks to a broader problem in our society. Because the truth is, as annoying as this kind of discourse is with movies and television, it's the same way some people tend to view other humans- analyzing for any flaw, being incredibly judgmental, and completely lacking in nuance.

What are your thoughts?

As always, I am not the owner of any of the images used in this article.