Despite the fact that streaming services provide on-demand entertainment that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago, many of us still consider going to the movies with friends to be an important ritual.
In point of fact, if you’re like the majority of Australians, you’re going to the movies more often than you did ten years ago.
It goes beyond the fact that we are seeing movies more frequently. Additionally, we continue to be interested in film culture. According to Google Trends data, online searches for “Oscar nominations” have nearly doubled in the past ten years.
So, why do we still enjoy watching movies? And is it just about having fun, or do we learn more from the movies we watch?
According to the five experts who were interviewed for this article, going to the movies isn’t just about laughing and letting off steam. In a format that is more accessible to many of us than a gallery afilmy wap.com, watching a movie can also be a way to appreciate art and learn about ourselves and the world.
How to do it:
According to Adrian Danks, lecturer and associate dean of media at RMIT University, “We can learn a huge amount about certain moments in time or certain perceptions of moments in time” from watching films.
Films help us learn.
To put it another way, movies can have an impact on how we interpret the world we live in today, regardless of when they were made.
For instance, Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, which is up for Best Picture at the Oscars and is about a black police officer who breaks into the local Ku Klux Klan branch, uses footage from Trump-era rallies at the end to frame the film as a reflection on current politics.
According to Dr. Danks, “It’s obviously a movie set in the 1970s, and it’s able to connect some of those issues or relationships to something that’s happening in the present moment.”
The Australian director Robert Connolly’s career has been centered on the idea that “fiction can explore historic events in different ways to a documentary 4movie rulz.” Among his films are Romulus, My Father (2007) and Balibo (2009). According to what he tells ABC Everyday, the first uses the story of a father-son relationship to convey “something about that period of time, the immigrant experience, in that part of Australia.”
Mr. Connolly cites Oscar nominee Roma as an example of “an amazing film” that tells a real-life story in a different way than a documentary. Roma is another biographical memoir that was inspired by filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón’s upbringing in Mexico City in the 1970s. The story of a family’s relationship with its live-in maid is told in the movie to bring up current issues of race, culture, and class.
Films have always been able to influence social change
They teach viewers about experiences from a different perspective, elicit empathy, and raise politically charged questions.
Dr. Danks asserts, “That’s kind of their role, to be provocative.”
Yale researchers discovered that in 2004, The Day After Tomorrow contributed to raising awareness of climate change. The public outcry sparked by the 2013 documentary Blackfish led to SeaWorld’s announcement of the closure of its contentious orca show and Priscilla: The 1994 film Queen of the Desert was instrumental in bringing LGBT themes to mainstream audiences.
Recent calls for action regarding sexual harassment and racial hegemony in Hollywood (see: new debates about racial and gender equality.
According to University of Melbourne media and communications professor Scott McQuire, this resulted in audiences becoming “much more attuned to a non-binary understanding of gender, of different sexualities, of the importance of diverse communities.”
According to Dr. McQuire, we are encouraging Hollywood to continue producing diverse films by purchasing tickets to a film that was produced by a diverse team and tells the story of a group of people who are rarely represented on screen.
Dr. Lynch wrote her PhD thesis on “cinematherapy,” the practice of psychotherapists and psychologists using film in their clinical practices as an adjunct to therapy (a practice that is well known to anyone who has bought tickets to a comedy for some light relief or turned on a tragic love story to cry to after a relationship breakdown). Films help us process difficult life lessons.
To put it another way, movies can be “a safe space” where we can find alternative role models we can relate to and watch how those characters deal with problems that are similar to our own.
Films can also provide viewers with metaphors or symbols that help them deal with major life challenges.
According to Dr. Lynch’s research, recovering addicts, for instance, have used the Lord of the Rings symbol to comprehend their struggle. One interviewee told Dr. Lynch that Frodo is “on that journey to destroy that ring, to overcome that ring, and he never does, he never overcomes it.” He can get away from it, but it still tempts him, and it’s still there.
The fact that we continue to pay $20 to go to the movies despite the popularity of streaming services demonstrates just how important moviegoing remains to our social lives, according to Dr. McQuire. Films are (still) a social experience.
According to Dr. McQuire, “the other growth area has been what you would call “para-cinematic exhibition experiences,” such as movie events in bars or rooftop cinemas.” This kind of thing is really taking off.”
Even when we stream movies at home, we increasingly use social media, online forums, and pop culture websites to connect with friends and communities through movies.
Streaming has also helped some movies reach a wider audience than they would have otherwise.
“Through streaming, audiences from all over the world are seeing a movie like Roma, which might not have been seen by as many people otherwise. And that has undoubtedly contributed to its widespread recognition,” says Dr. Danks.
Films help us appreciate art
Although movies are typically viewed primarily as a means of entertainment, it is important to keep in mind that cinema is also a form of art.
Watching a movie can enable us to appreciate aspects of, say, costume and sound design, architecture, and theater because the medium can be understood as a “combinatory art form.”
In a format that is more accessible to many of us than a gallery, simply watching a movie can be a way to appreciate art and increase your cultural awareness. Ian Davidson, president of the Australian Council of Film Societies, states that movies are simply “easier to take in” than books or other forms of storytelling.
When we watch a movie, we get more than just entertainment: Additionally, we are taking in something lovely; learning about ourselves and the world at large; interacting with groups; and making a positive contribution to social change.
Furthermore, “it’s all over and done within two hours,” as Mr. Davidson points out.
Author Bio
Zara white is graduated from London University and she writer blog from more than 5 years. In various topics like education, finance, technology etc. Visit his website at Fastitresult.com.
