So I don’t know why, but lately when I am flicking through channels, when I see an old classic that I have not ever seen, I am starting to just jump in and give it a try. Recently this has included, the original Mad Max, Mad Max 2: Road Warrior (Yea, I'm pumped to see the new one), Unforgiven, and The Good The Bad and The Ugly. With these movies I am just popping in when I see them on, so usually I miss the first 20-30 minutes but I started noticing a trend: these movies are taking their time. Scenes linger, they take time to set up the plot. If you watch more recent movies, I feel like they don't this. Everything nowadays is pressed for time, cut mercilessly, and as tight as it can be. And when its not, people(me) get bored. In old movies, they seem to take several scenes introducing characters, establishing motives of said characters, and then put in scenes that show how these motives clash and create the plot.
But now, people are soooo much smarter. Maybe smarter is the wrong way to phrase it but with media now having been around for so long, everything has been done, so viewers immediately grasp the set up and are already miles down the road figuring out the big reveal. Or they have already categorized each character into a known stereotype: the high school thug that bullies cause his family life is bad; the guy with a violent and bad past but is good now; oh shes the carefree slut that always gets murdered first; the crazy/comedic relief wing man that will probably die…the list goes on. Ten years ago, that list was a lot shorter. But every time you see something that puts a spin on one of these tropes it gets registered in our brains so we can call it out the next time.
Anyway I know I am focusing on cinema but it is just as evident in news articles as well.
Look at this blog post, look at those long, daunting blocks of text.
People write these days so there is a lot of white on the page. No more than a 3 lines of text before needing a paragraph break.
See, I bet you read those and skimmed the first two paragraphs.
Hey, even look at workouts, 8 minute abs, no 7 minute abs, 20 minute all-in-one workouts…everything is getting tighter. It's all about maximizing your time and attention.
I feel like everyone now is asking media to constantly get to the point. Maybe it's just me. Is it just me? I mean, I do have a lot on my plate. If you know me you know that is laughable, but I mean I have a lot of hobbies. I watch plenty of TV shows, there is a new video game I want to play almost every other week, writing, streaming…I also have kids and a wife so I don't even get to consider that stuff until they are in bed(Except for Thursdays, Welcome to the Parker Power Hour!!). So when something is slow I start thinking, I could be playing rocket league right now instead (if you have played it then you're always thinking that). Or I really should be writing right now. But with something that grabs your attention and forces you to pay attention because each scene is extremely vital to the plot, you're not thinking about that stuff. Maybe I am wrong about this being something new.
I know when I get my mind right for seeing a movie, or jumping into an hour long show, I know I am pretty forgiving with a slow set up. And maybe since I am just flipping channels when I catch this old stuff I am already at a heightened ADD level, or maybe new media gets to the point a lot faster, and the old stuff is just not holding up in this new era of instant gratification and short attention spans.
On a side note, any of you know any good old movies I should check out the next time they're on? Maybe some that show this blog post is completely wrong. Also, when would the cut-off be? 90's are probably too early. Maybe the 2000's and before? I don’t know, now that I think about it, this is all horseshit. Who cares anyway, no one made it this far, you saw the length and the big blocky text and said, no way, TLDR!!