How we can watch films better.
What’s the last movie you watched? Did you like it?
What were people saying about it on Letterboxd or Rotten Tomatoes? Did you read any of those reviews? Did you write any?
Was the dialogue cheesy? Were the depictions of Black women as love interests flat and dated? Was there a super rad soundtrack?
Would you see it again?
I find these questions imperative to ask when you want to consume media and art with care and consideration. And they hit me most recently when I watched Beauty and the Beast (1991) and its live-action remake released in 2017.
Though I’m far older than the nearly 32-year-old film’s original target audience, I was no less moved, no less enchanted, and no less enamored with both the animated and live-action films.
I cried during both films. I sang “Be Our Guest” equally as loudly. I danced equally as joyfully during both performances of “Gaston” (and admired those harmonies cuz Alan Menken went NUTS on that score). The point is, I can’t recall enjoying a film as much as I enjoyed the animated version of Beauty and the Beast.
So of course I did what any normal person would do. I went to go write about it in Letterboxd. And that’s where it got…interesting. On Letterboxd alone there are 16,000 reviews averaging at 3.9 stars.
The part I found intriguing about these two movies, and for other movies on Letterboxd, is what people used to form their opinion on the movies they watched.
Some folks strongly disliked the songwriting, others found the plot distasteful. Some thought it was peak Disney animation, others thought they could’ve kept this one in the drafts. It seemed that, no matter what the review actually was, a few folks amongst the masses were very capable and willing to be thoughtful and considerate in their review. They could tell you why they liked or didn’t like something. And that was super cool to me.
So as I thought more about the movies I like and how I wrote my reviews, I realized I have very specific things I pay attention to, just like when I hear a new song. This also extended beyond films! I realized that it’s equally important to me to be able to articulate why I love Twilight and Megan’s music video for “Her.”
I enjoy having the tools to give a why, but knew there was probably a way I could get better at it. So, being connected to the most amazing people, I called up some friends for help.
Ajayan, a New York-based product designer, cinephile, photographer, and one of my favorite former coworkers connects with his community through his love for and knowledge of film. He curates personalized film recommendations for his people through being attentive to their interests and tastes alongside being thoughtful about how the films he knows align with that.
There are more people behind your favorite film than just the director. There are scores and scores of individual artists collectively creating a world for you to explore for 2 hours or so. Giovanni, an old classmate of mine and a stellar filmmaker, wants us to be thoughtful enough to know what we liked or didn’t like and know ultimately who was responsible for that. You enjoyed the costumes for a film? Praise the costume designer. You thought the soundtrack was picked poorly? That’s valid, but don’t blame the director for that. That’s the music supervisor’s job whose work, you as a viewer, can certainly critique (kindly and thoughtfully).
Syd, another old classmate, my former stand partner in the violin section, and co-founder of Ladïbug Studios, an Atlanta-based boutique film production studio, wants us to know that filmmakers really do not care what we think. We can critique and ponder and be as thoughtful as we’d like, but we should always leave room for artists to express themselves instead of just the wishes and whims of the audience. They are artists creating their art and we are consumers consuming it. We can (and should) critique with as much freedom as they can (and should) create. This is a relationship that shouldn’t be bound by ego, but liberated through mutual respect, grace, and freedom.
We should watch films more thoughtfully because it builds communities, celebrates the individual artists involved, and facilitates creative freedom.
But how exactly do we do that?
Films are made to make us feel something, even if that feeling is bad. The point is you should leave with an even firmer assertion, if you didn’t have one before, that you are indeed a human with a range of potential emotions to pull on when faced with an experience that isn’t your own. That you are capable of feeling anything at all. Syd highlights feeling as her go-to metric for how to process a film she watched.
“I think the one thing that I always go to when I’m looking at a film is one, how does it make me feel like the plot can be one thing, the writing can be one thing, the casting, acting all that but at the end of the day, it’s supposed to make you feel something, even if that thing is bad. That’s kind of the point sometimes.”
“You can enjoy a film and not necessarily see yourself, but you can feel something. That’s what Black people have been doing since the beginning of time with white film, obviously or we wouldn’t have been interested in film at all. At the end of the day, you should be able to find meaning even if you don’t relate to it.”
When Halle Bailey’s The Little Mermaid was released, there was a particular comment floating around on Twitter that claimed that fair-skinned, red-heads would have a hard time being represented now that there’s a Black Ariel. But Syd, in unison with so many people on the internet, reiterated that to be thoughtful while watching a film is to find meaning even if the experience you’re watching doesn't directly reflect your own. More often than not, there’s some small piece here or there that will resonate with you, if you go beyond the surface. It’s not that hard, really. Folks of many groups have had to do it since the birth of cinema.
“I think it’s also important to think about representation. Even if you don’t feel represented in the film, think about the history of film and how this movie is pushing things forward in the space as a whole.”
Have your thoughts and stick beside em! Or at least that’s what Brynn, my girl since the first day of ninth grade, suggests you do when being inundated with the infinite swirl of opinions on the internet or even in your circle.
"Consume things in the way you consume them. Don’t be like ‘Oh, these other people have seen more things than I have or they’re more educated in this than I am.’ That stuff doesn’t really matter. And it’s good to take other people’s opinions into account if you see it afterwards like ‘Oh, I didn’t consider that. That is something that’s an interesting point.’ But I feel like some people let other reviews take over their own review and it’s not really necessary. Like if you have an opinion of something, let that be your opinion and let it hold. And over time you’ll develop your interests and be more concrete in your thoughts and then you’ll be like ‘Oh, wow maybe my opinion in the past wasn't as much as I feel about it now that I’ve developed my interests and critiques.’
She ends with perhaps a piece of advice that transcends the cinematic context of our conversation.
“It’s just important to be confident in your stuff, even if you’re just beginning.”
So to wrap it up, here’s some takeaways from our super smart, talented, and thoughtful friends on how you and I can watch films better.
That’s all friends, I hope this was helpful. See you at the theater!
