I’ve noticed that different people watch movies in different ways, and with different attitudes. In the spirit of oversimplification, here are some handy stereotypes I came up with:
The Tourist
Just along for the ride. The tourist views a movie with little in the way of preconceived notions or expectations, and takes the movie as it comes. The tourist is rarely disappointed in a movie, but at the same time never gets the same emotional experience from a really good movie as other types.
The Cynic
Looking for imperfections at every moment, the cynic is very hard to please. The irony of the cynic is in his ability to overlook fictionalizations in the big picture while picking out unrealistic details with extreme precision. The cynic is most pleased with a movie that has no holes.
The Detective
This is a person who’s main goal is to guess what will happen next. The detective looks for significance behind every line of dialog and every turn of plot. The detective’s favorite movie is one that is not easy to solve.
I suppose that most people are some combination of these types. I myself tend to be a tourist. I’m just coming to the realization now though, that to get the most out of watching a movie, I should adjust my attitude going into it for whatever type of movie it is. For Transformers I should be a tourist; for The Bourne Ultimatum I should be a detective; and for whatever the Wayans brothers do next, I should be a cynic.
Do you adjust your attitude going into a movie based on what kind of movie it’s going to be? Also, What are some other movie watching attitudes and what does a person’s movie watching style say about their life living style?
I’d include another one that’s something like the “Star Gazer” who follows the actor more than the movie’s character played by the actor. For example, someone could be a big Angelina Jolie movie fan just by gawking at her and not really remembering a thing about her character in Mr & Mrs Smith.
That’s a good call, Ed. It reminds me of a thought I had recently about how it would be funny if a character had a flashback to a different movie with the same actor. I think it could have worked well to do a flashback in Austin Powers that was actually just a 5-minute clip from Wayne’s World.