My freshman year at film school, I knew at least a half dozen people who dropped out of the program, if not college altogether. Even more changed majors in the years following. After picking films apart for class after class, they found that they just couldn’t enjoy going to the movies anymore, which was probably the reason they signed up for film school in the first place.
This attitude carries over into the professional world, too. I can’t tell you how many people I know who don’t go to movies, or don’t ever watch TV. They know too much about the bullshit going on behind the scenes to take any of it seriously.
It’s sort of like learning the secret to a magic trick. Once you know the trick, there’s no longer any magic.
Somehow, my brain doesn’t work that way. I can shut the analytical part off when I watch a movie. When I sit in a theater (or switch on my TV), I forget about those four years in college, and my years behind the scenes. I get transported into a different world for an hour or two, and only when I re-emerge, blinking in the sunlight, do I realize, “Whoa, wait a second. The flying suit is cool and all, but you’ve got a computer that can speak natural language, crack jokes, and make aesthetic judgments. Why isn’t this a big deal to… everyone ever?”
So, unless you’re like me, I highly recommend that you not seek a job in the entertainment industry.
One Response
I’ve been writing and analyzing story for a long time. I’ll admit that it makes it harder to watch bad movies, but not that it makes it impossible to enjoy movies, at all.
I just enjoy the GOOD movies, that much more.
I don’t consider it a loss to have a more refined sensibility, for art (writing, filmmaking, painting, etc), nor a loss to not enjoy bad films.