I think TV is ruining me for movies

I have been an avid fan of movies my whole life.  Growing up I could relate large events in my life to what movie had watched that day or in subsequent days.  I related movies to friends, times of joy, and days of deep sorrow.  I can quote more lines from movies that any human should (note the conflicting sense of pride and embarrassment).

Yet, recently my movie watching has become somewhat of a chore.  Last night, I finished a movie that is nominated for a couple of Oscars...this was my fourth attempt to finish the movie.  Previously, I had watched a little here and continued it on and on, hoping to get through it, but I just didn’t have it in.  Now, I could claim busyness or some other lack of time excuse, but the reality I don’t have those.  My media time is quite ample for any growing boy (including the ones that should not be growing anymore, such as myself).  Interestingly, I can still go to a movie theater and make it all the way through.

I blame a bit of it on my attention span.  I just don’t have the ability to commit to a single story line or a single medium for that amount of time, while at home.  When the story lulls or I just don’t feel into it, I have an overwhelming need to break out the laptop or turn the channel.  Worst off, I feel guilty if I am not giving my 100% attention to the visuals and the dialogue as I feel like I am missing out or not doing a service to the moviemaking enterprise.

In reflection, I realize that the issue is actually the quality of short subject media available online and on TV.  TV shows have raised the bar of plot, character development, production value, and the art of storytelling.  Moreover, they are limited by the bounds of 120 minutes of film.  How do you really develop a character, a relationship, or a detailed storyline when each actor only gets a few dozen pages of dialogue.  TV has really stretched the limits and made moviemaking stories seem almost pedestrian.  

Look at Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and of course, Lost.  The beauty of these shows (and the countless others) is that they draw upon the intellectual and creative resources to churn out television that is consistently engaging without the shackles of that horrible moviemaking anchor: resolution.  These shows can keep digging deeper, spend more time on the mythology, and produce situations that have no clear or distinct endpoint.  It really is a reflection on real life, where we as ordinary people have little in the way of closure or resolution, just endless chapters on continuing novel.  Even death, being so abrupt, doesn’t give us a neat clean ending found in your average movie plotline.

So, what to do?  Well, I am still committed to see the major movies nominated for Oscars, the big tentpoles during the summer, and the occasional art house flick that draws my attention.  But, I will tell you, my TiVo and my laptop win out when I have to choose a form of entertainment that is will be consistently engaging and accessible in a finite amount of time.