Ooooo jeez Marissa that last comment made me cringe. In my film/drama class whenever I suggest we watch something the teacher always says it will be too slow for the class. It is like well show it and the stupid part of the class will complain later but the other half will be blown away and have a whole new world exposed to them. We shouldn’t dumb the world down for the Norbit fans.
I have had the same experiences Marissa. Oh, hicks… will they ever learn a decent definition of art? No, the Dale Earnhardt Sr. commemorative racing cups are not art, and don’t need to be displayed on the mantle in your, “movin’ home.” Now go place the, “truck balls,” on your new Ford F-350 that you will only ever use to drive down to the 7-11, and Costco to pick up “chewin’ tobaccee,” and “Bud Light.”
Younger people are stupid, they’ll learn, and if they don’t… screw them (figuratively, obviously not literally, we don’t need more of them). It gets better, though, at least in college it gets a little better, and I hope it gets better throughout life. If not I’m looking at a short life.
I’ve found recently the key is to search out the film lovers in the world. Its like an automatic connection with someone when they know the films on my t-shirts. Wearing my Persona shirt is my version of a sign saying “Help! I need friends who love movies!”
I feel the same— Being only 17 myself I feel as if I’m the only teenager in the state of New York who knows about.. pretty much all the great directors on this site. Even the teenagers on here are more drawn to the relatively popular AMERICAN directors— coen bros, gondry, etc. It’s a shame that the younger generation cannot appreciate true cinema- they want to go to the theater to be entertained by action and violence rather than think and use their brain. Even the Film Study course offered to Juniors and Seniors in High school is below my level— even though I do like the teacher (Have to give credit where credit is due).
Woah woah woah, give us some credit here. Though I am also another 17 year old from NY who appreciates film, you can’t expect everyone to know the talents from previous generations. It’s expecting them to know some untaught history. Thought I also feel like high school courses offered are below me, we should all get off our high horses and be thankful there is some refuges for us to interact and discuss film, we should definitely stop this dark downplay of an entire generation.
Alex – Fuck our generation! If they don’t know as much as I do about film then they deserved to be thoroughly mocked/humiliated. Preferably as in the days of yore, lock them in a stockade and throw rotten fruit and vegetables at their puny heads.
The public beating has not gone out of style, but I’m just lobbying for a little elbow room.
There really should be a section for general topics.
Oh, and it may be too late for me to appreciate art. And I am only 14.
Would it be recommended to fuck off and go to MySpace (which I do not have),
or to keep trying.
Oh, and my question has vague connections to human nature: narcissism and self-centeredness. I believe my generation is so thoroughly rotted to the core by these follies that the mainstream pop culture-loving public (youth) will kill me and others like me off before we are able to fully mentally mature.
I just want to say this. Everyone on this site knows more about film than I do, so, you’re all safe. The rest of the world… I don’t know, maybe fuck them, maybe not. It’s a case by case thing… like possession of narcotics.
I’m 23 and work for a film festival and in local film production. Through my work I’ve met countless people my age who know film. That’s the thing, though, they “know” film. So many of them try to learn all they can and memorize it, and see everything they’re supposed to see so they can jack off in front of all the other art school hipsters. Guess where at least three of them are right now? At a screening of the new Fast and the Furious movie.
The key for me has been finding people with taste (similar to mine or not, it doesn’t matter) who can offer perspective and passion to a conversation about film. I certainly don’t know as much as many people on this site but I also don’t pretend to, I come here to learn and be edified by all the different points of view here. Despite all the people around me who love to talk film, I still come here to get my fix. It’s enjoyable rather than being a chore.
Also, my two best friends in the entire world are both 21. One of them could not possibly be less interested in film. She sees whatever’s playing at the mall when she gets the chance and couldn’t name a single director if you paid her. The other knows more than I could ever hope to know about film and writes eloquently about it. His film collection is impossibly refined and he offers incredible depth and perspective, not to mention knowledge. I could listen to him discuss Bergman for hours on end. They’re both intelligent, amazing people, they just have different things to offer.
The point I’m trying (failing?) to make is… don’t judge your friends too harshly. Knowledge definitely isn’t everything. You have to seek out people with passion and good taste. Luckily, there are plenty here. But they exist around you too, even in your generation.
Well-said, Brittan! I agree. Thanks for putting things in perspective on this board. You didn’t fail at all, you expressed your point extremely well. I don’t think, at least I hope, most of us actually judge people on the films they like or the film knowledge they have, it just gets irritating when you hear people go on about something they’re clueless about (as I talked about in my first post) or want to talk about a movie or movies in general and there’s noone to talk to. At least not where I’m from. Like you were saying before, the entire younger generation isn’t hopeless, even if it seems that way sometimes. My two best friends are almost as passionate about film as I am (all 16), but I also have close friends who watch whatever’s at the multiplex, even if that’s the Street Fighter movie or Paul Blart. It doesn’t make me like them less, it’s just not a subject we usually discuss.
Col. Dax — That comment about hicks was hilarious, and sadly, it hit too close to home.
And Drew – That’s a great idea I never thought of before, haha.
@Fellini Fan :“Even the teenagers on here are more drawn to the relatively popular AMERICAN directors— coen bros, gondry, etc.”
Enter sassy and sarcastic snark about Gondry being French and me personally liking him as a director here
@ thread:
Enter another small jeremiad about 50s adults giving kids shit for liking James Dean here
Memo to self:
Come up with some new and original repartees. Your argument style is gettin’ stale.
—PolarisDiB
Marissa – I live by them. I’ve been in their homes! It smells like Tobacco, beer, fried chicken, and the distinctive odour of lost dreams. I doubt their dreams rose any higher than seeing Jeff Foxworthy on the, “talkin’ box,” or seeing a “’splosion” at the NASCAR race, but the smell is there anyway.
I hope people don’t think I’m saying I judge people based on their knowledge of film. I do, but it’s not just that. I also judge women completely based on appearance and no other factor. (I hope you people get sarcasm…)
My film class when I was a Junior in high school we had to go around and say our favorite movie. It was rather disappointing.
Brittan’s statement was a good example of the same two friends that I have, haha.
“…Now go place the, “truck balls,” on your new Ford F-350 that you will only ever use to drive down to the 7-11, and Costco to pick up “chewin’ tobaccee,” and “Bud Light.”
Careful, that could be Sam Shepard, Wim Wenders or Cormac McCarthy you’re talking about…
I’m 18 and from the UK, film isn’t arguably as big a part of the UK’s culture as say America or France, yet I feel that these potential film fans that are unaware of these great directors/films etc are not to blame.
I think the problem is films currently are being made on the whole in the eyes of nostalgia, rather than focusing on the relevant issues of youth today in a form which a majority of people or a subculture can grasp too. People need to start in the present before they can step back in the past. I’m lucky to have a father very into film who showed me alot of the classics from a young age, and lots of b movie studio films from america which rank amogn some of my favourite films. Not everyone has that advantage or as a sociology student would say “cultural capital”. Also the fact im a film student adds to that i guess.
I dont see why it’s shocking that the “youth” of today are out of touch with the heritage of art/cinema. It just shows that there is a lack of imagination in western countries in being able to capture what it is to be young profundly.
There is one exception to the rule; Tim Burton.
Not my kind of director but he has the icons under his belt; Depp, Bonham-carter. The subculture; gothic/emo/horror/literary/humour. and the burton brand sells beyond films. This is because he is probably the only western autuer director currently working which a huge ammount of young people can relate with in a full body of work enough to idolize his films.
Even though i generally agree with what lars von trier said at cannes about making the films for himself. Maybe makign films for a wider demograpgh rather than the self would surve this era of film culture better.
Jamie
I blame videogames. We used to spend hours watching fims, now kids spend weeks playing GTA.
So what? That means we’ll always have an edge over the poor suckers..
I’m 16 and no one at my school particularly has an open mind about movies, specifically “old” movies, black and white movies, and foreign movies. Its very frusterating when people won’t open their mind even a little bit to explore art outside of their comfort zone or what is considered “normal”.
See what I mean? Forget about them Trevor. You will be better off.
@Trevor – I feel your pain.
The amount of frustration about people who won’t keep an open mind about anything new (or in this case old). I have a cousin in his twenties who decides how good a film is by how good the special effects are. My nephew (just turned 13) won’t watch anything in black and white. There are other people who won’t watch anything old and this is sadly why there are so many terrible remakes being made.
Trevor, when I was your age I didn’t even have access to foreign movies, at least not many. My local blockbuster didn’t even carry Seven Samurai. The library didn’t have shit. So I didn’t even get to watch all these movies all despite wanting to until I got to college. Take solace in the fact that you’re one better off than I was.
I think people of all ages can apreciate art, but I think people shouldn’t expect too much of younger people in terms of tastes in aspects of nostalgia until they are between 16-21.
I’ve seen a ton of films in my life but I was 17 when i saw Rashomon (im 18 now) that was mind blowing for me.
I think people need to recognize we should all live our own generation, we will always think a generation before was amazing its just a fact of life, but as well as embracing the old people should have time to watch the dispensible films such as watchmen and 17 again (neither may cup of tea!)
But i am glad their are bridges between dispensible cinema and serious cinema appearing, for instance the nolans batman frnachise which I love to bits, has inspited people i know of my age to go watch old crime thriller movies etc. We should deal with whats happening now, before we can expect a majority to delve into “high art”cinema.
I mean would you expect your average 13 year old to read the brothers karamazov or crime and punishment? I think not. Just as I wouldn’t expect a 13 year old to like Bela Tarr, same sort of impact.
I think people of all ages can apreciate art, but I think people shouldn’t expect too much of younger people in terms of tastes in aspects of nostalgia until they are between 16-21.
I’ve seen a ton of films in my life but I was 17 when i saw Rashomon (im 18 now) that was mind blowing for me.
I think people need to recognize we should all live our own generation, we will always think a generation before was amazing its just a fact of life, but as well as embracing the old people should have time to watch the dispensible films such as watchmen and 17 again (neither may cup of tea!)
But i am glad their are bridges between dispensible cinema and serious cinema appearing, for instance the nolans batman frnachise which I love to bits, has inspited people i know of my age to go watch old crime thriller movies etc. We should deal with whats happening now, before we can expect a majority to delve into “high art”cinema.
I mean would you expect your average 13 year old to read the brothers karamazov or crime and punishment? I think not. Just as I wouldn’t expect a 13 year old to like Bela Tarr, same sort of impact.
I’ve lost faith in faith.
It’s a very sad predicament about my generation, or rather, those people who happen to be a few years younger than me (around middle school). What I have to say, though, is that, although the younger generation does seem to be having some problems in the art / film area, I can’t blame them entirely. Frankly, the vast majority of my family does does not want to watch the films I’m watching. I always point out that I feel like watching something like Europa, or Breathless, or something utterly fantastic, something unlike anything they’ve seen before, but they shut me out and watch something they’ve seen dozens of times, merely because they don’t want to watch something “weird.” Like everything foreign or old is weird! I can’t stand it? What causes this? Why do they not want their minds stimulated? Since when did foreign become a disgrace? I do not understand it. Now, even, it has come to the point that, if I choose a movie to watch, and they have not heard of someone in it, they will automatically lump it into the “foreign / weird / old category,” no matter how new or popular the film is. I just get so annoyed by this. And, although my sister is a big proponent against what I want to watch, my dad tends to be even worse, when he, like one of my brothers, scoffs at a film because he might have to “read” it. So what? Oh freaking well! I’m sorry, but even my sister watched The 400 Blows and Breathless (although, sadly, she will not, I think, ever, EVER watch 8 1/2, after seeing and hating the first scene, that which I so love).
Oh well, I guess. It appears as if there’s nothing that can be done, when even the younger generations’ parents aren’t doing anything to help them. Hopefully art can sustain.
Savvy
I think it would be a gift not to be burdened with such an awareness of culture, popular and otherwise. It becomes a kind of competition. A hoarding of knowledge, of products (DVDs, songs), quotes, trivia, the only use of which is to sling at one another. Now, it’s true that if one is interested in the arts or culture, one probably communicates with greater clarity or maybe on a higher level of discourse, but I certainly don’t know if knowledge makes you a better person. I don’t even think it makes you wiser or more insightful.
I fear that I am wasting my life watching movies, reading books, writing in forums, rather than experiencing the fresh air, the tangible and practical. My brain is swollen with this shit. I wish I could forget half the things I know. It might be easier to talk to people.
I don’t think younger people today are any less informed or intelligent than in generations past. The majority of people in American society have never given much of a shit about the sanctified personages of art and culture. It is only after a thing is passed that we’re willing to discuss it’s genius. When the Honeymooner’s was on, probably all the sophisticated people who read the New Yorker thought it was garbage. Now it’s considered a television masterpiece.
People want to fortify themselves with their tastes. It allows them an arena of control, an advantage. “You don’t know who Fellini is?!” is just a way to gain an advantage over someone. Bergman doesn’t appeal to everybody. That’s his appeal.
I would rather eat breakfast in a McDonald’s than in some fucking health food cafe. It’s all narcissism. I think a film or any piece of art is useful and worthwhile to you in the pleasures it brings you, or the way it expands your consciousness. If most people ignore Goddard because he’s boring, than so be it. That doesn’t have anything to do with whether you like him or not.
I don’t want to plunge into willed ignorance either, like so many seem to want to, but when your preconceived cultural hobby horsing is causing you to look down on what may be perfectly fine human beings, it’s an improper use of art.
My library was showing Seven Samurai last night and I go to watch it with a couple friends. During the entirety these twelve and thirteen year old’s walk in and out of the room, and are whispering to each other, “this is boring. I don’t get it.” That made me lose faith in everyone younger than me, sans a select few (who know who they are). You can’t walk into the middle of Seven Samurai and think you’re going to catch up on it. It’s not Pirates of the Caribbean, it doesn’t continuously repeat the plot over and over (we have to get the black pearl of whatever that’s going to make Johnny Depp stop acting like a complete asshole (he makes me want to kill him in those films)). Fucking brats.
All it takes is one particluar movie, or a set of movies, to get younger people interested in more films.
For me, those movies were definitely “A Clockwork Orange,” “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” the original “Star Wars” trilogy and heck, even “The Matrix.” I’ve been interested in silent film for a few years now, and I hold Luis Bunuel’s sensibility about the world, that he shows through “That Obscure Object of Desire” and “L’Age d’Or” in absolutely the highest esteem.
I only wish that darn Criterion and Kino releases were cheaper, so I could have several dozen of ’em!
I’ve been able to get my nephew (who’s six years younger than me: I’m 25) interested in different movies, like “Requiem for a Dream,” “Akira” and “Old Boy.” But I haven’t been able to get him past the subtitle barrier yet. I was there once myself, when I couldn’t concentrate on the action in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” because of those darn subtitles! (rolls eyes)
It’s up to us olden peoples to help the younger generation along.
There’s a part of your brain that doesn’t become fully developed until you’re like 25. Before that, your mind is attracted in a more notable manner to explosions and such. I know exactly what Drew means, but just be sure not to judge someone before you hear their voice.
Marissa C
Oh god, I understand completely. I’m constantly disappointed by the people around me, I can’t talk about movies with anybody. No one ever knows what I’m talking about and it’s too frustrating to even bother with most of the time. I actually talked to someone who said “The Unborn” was her favourite movie. I also know people who don’t watch films outside of the “black guy plays morbidly obese, angry black woman with an attitude” (Norbit, Big Mamma’s House) genre. This might sound unbelievably ridiculous, but in my English class today (I’m 16, in a small hick town, so you can imagine…), we started a film study unit, and my teacher used Transformers and 2 Fast 2 Furious as examples when discussing the art of filmmaking and the effectiveness of specific camera angles. I’m not kidding.