Reviewing
I used to re-watch movies all the time. I'd come home from school, probably in the middle-school era, and watch one of the Star Wars saga. Or later, as a teen, my best friend and I would have to see Pride and Prejudice or Anne of Green Gables every six months or so. I think, at that time, it was about recapturing a feeling or wanting to live in that "world" a little longer or just the comfort of familiar narratives.
Now, I still re-watch movies all the time. But the experience has changed somewhat. Sometimes I revisit old favorites for comfort's sake, and sometimes to share with someone the joys of something they hadn't seen before. But most often, I'm re-watching because I am a different person from the one who saw that film last time.
This might mean that, yes, I saw Casablanca when I was twelve or something and obviously my reactions are going to be different now. But it might also mean that I saw it in college (I just saw Grand Illusion again which made NO IMPRESSION on me ten years ago but killed me this time) or even that I saw it last week but Mr. Daroga or
joy needs to see it and I don't mind watching again at all. Sometimes I'm a different person because I don't remember. Sometimes it's because I was in a different mood, or inattentive, at the time. Sometimes it's because I've read and seen a lot since then so my critical viewing is different. And sometimes I think it's as simple as viewing something again because I couldn't catch everything the first time, and I'm no longer looking for comforting familiarity but to see more.
I've been thinking about this because lately I've been revisiting a lot of classics I either missed before or haven't seen since I was very young, and more often than not if I like it I end up making someone else watch it with me the next day or next week. And I wonder, should I really need to see Stagecoach again already? But it is different, on second viewing, because the person who watched it yesterday has already changed enough to make it so, whether it's my mood, my opinions, or what I happen to pick up the second time. I still re-watch for pleasure, but when I do City Lights again it will also be because in the past two weeks I've read Chaplin's autobiography/seen Limelight/watched old Mutual two-reel comedies. My experience of the film will be different enough already that in a sense it will be like watching something new.
It's curious, because while I've become more selective in my opinions, I also feel that I can "get something" from nearly anything. It all tells me something, and it's part of that paradox of increased expertise: the better informed you are, the more you'll see the flaws and the less you might be able to recapture the simple pleasures. But you're also opening up another world through knowing more. I don't know if I'd be able to escape into repeating viewings of The Empire Strikes Back anymore. But I'd be getting something else out of it.
This entry is also posted at http://my-daroga.dreamwidth.org/272782.html. Feel free to comment wherever you want.
Now, I still re-watch movies all the time. But the experience has changed somewhat. Sometimes I revisit old favorites for comfort's sake, and sometimes to share with someone the joys of something they hadn't seen before. But most often, I'm re-watching because I am a different person from the one who saw that film last time.
This might mean that, yes, I saw Casablanca when I was twelve or something and obviously my reactions are going to be different now. But it might also mean that I saw it in college (I just saw Grand Illusion again which made NO IMPRESSION on me ten years ago but killed me this time) or even that I saw it last week but Mr. Daroga or
joy needs to see it and I don't mind watching again at all. Sometimes I'm a different person because I don't remember. Sometimes it's because I was in a different mood, or inattentive, at the time. Sometimes it's because I've read and seen a lot since then so my critical viewing is different. And sometimes I think it's as simple as viewing something again because I couldn't catch everything the first time, and I'm no longer looking for comforting familiarity but to see more.
I've been thinking about this because lately I've been revisiting a lot of classics I either missed before or haven't seen since I was very young, and more often than not if I like it I end up making someone else watch it with me the next day or next week. And I wonder, should I really need to see Stagecoach again already? But it is different, on second viewing, because the person who watched it yesterday has already changed enough to make it so, whether it's my mood, my opinions, or what I happen to pick up the second time. I still re-watch for pleasure, but when I do City Lights again it will also be because in the past two weeks I've read Chaplin's autobiography/seen Limelight/watched old Mutual two-reel comedies. My experience of the film will be different enough already that in a sense it will be like watching something new.
It's curious, because while I've become more selective in my opinions, I also feel that I can "get something" from nearly anything. It all tells me something, and it's part of that paradox of increased expertise: the better informed you are, the more you'll see the flaws and the less you might be able to recapture the simple pleasures. But you're also opening up another world through knowing more. I don't know if I'd be able to escape into repeating viewings of The Empire Strikes Back anymore. But I'd be getting something else out of it.
This entry is also posted at http://my-daroga.dreamwidth.org/272782.html. Feel free to comment wherever you want.