Boy howdy, is there a lot of media out there! And, boy howdy, are people both cavalier about jumping in mid-discussion about a movie or TV show to insert a movie or TV show you really should be watching.
In this era of way-too-much-content, where I'm already burning out on TV shows just because, man, I dunno, another episode? and a raft of new movies that trend for seemingly no reason (like, why DID you stop and watch Birdbox? I'm not saying it's bad, it's just... it just showed up so you watched it) we've all gotten pretty bad about telling people what they *should* be watching.
Back in the 90's when seeing a movie or TV show took some effort, you actually wanted a running list of things from trusted sources so when you went to the local video monger and they were out of VHS copies, oh, The English Patient, you would go and get Faces of Death III or whatever your friends had said might be worth a watch. If someone said "I like Larry Sanders" and you found out about in season 3, that kinda sorta meant you were given a pass to not watch the show, because no one had the expectation you'd drop everything in your life and track down copies of episodes.
NO MORE. We may not be able to educate our children or work out public transportation, but we can all watch Gator at the same time if we feel like it. If someone suggests catching up on the entirety of The Simpsons, you can do so. Somehow, people are able to "binge" watching 10-22 hours of TV in a week or two, plow through entire shows in a matter of a few weeks or less.
I'm not wired that way. At all. I don't even like watching more than one Avengers movie per every two weeks or so for the PodCast. Seeing episodes backed up on the DVR is enough to just make me quit on a TV show. And while I deeply believe in, like, and will defend a handful of TV shows, I don't necessarily get the urge to insist others watch the shows. Likely an after-effect of really going to the mat for Star Trek and Max Headroom as a kid.
And, movies... ahhh... movies. If there's one thing that's true, it's that all of us know, in our heart of hearts, that we have amazing taste in film, and everyone else's taste is suspect at best. It's a nicety when people agree on a movie, but we also may find ourselves in deep disagreement about, say, Aquaman (sorry, Max. We'll need to talk about that sometime.).
But what I really, really believe is that we all need to slow our roll on movie and TV recommendations. If we can learn caution when it comes to suggesting music to others (and if you aren't exercising caution there, I assure you, your co-workers are making fun of you), we can learn to do same with moving picture media.
And it's not that I don't WANT recommendations, it's that I want thoughtful recommendations. If you're going to suggest I spend a few hours doing something other than eating cotton candy and watching puppies play, I'd like a reason WHY.
THUS - The Form.
From now on, we're taking our recs from you and from people anywhere in my life via an easy to use Google Form. If you can't take the five minutes to fill it out, how much do you really want for me to watch that movie, anyway?, is what I say.
The good news is, the few of you who will actually use The Form will be captured in a spreadsheet I can review and use. Those of you too good for The Form? Well.
Anyway.
Without further ado: THE FORM
1 comment:
This genius. Especially the dissuasive questions.
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