Yesterday afternoon I succumbed to Karen’s wishes in which movie we would be seeing at the local theatre. The final decision was a $1 showing of Star Trek, which neither of us had managed to take in at the time of its initial release. I’ll condense my overall feelings about the movie by saying it was well done, though slightly courageous in its far-reaching impact to the Trekkie universe specifically, and the science fiction genre at large, a genre which I happen to hold very dear.
This came after a long and occasionally heated debate between Karen and myself after adjourning to a nearby Starbucks to discuss what we had seen. Of the group of people that went, Karen and I were alone in our discussion. In retrospect that was the thing about the afternoon that stood out the most to me (I’ll save my conclusions about science fiction for another post), because I think its indicative of how we take in entertainment and treat art in our culture overall.
One of my acting professors in college said that part of the experience of theatre was going out for a cup of coffee after the show with the group you saw the show with to discuss the show. A play or a movie of any quality (okay, okay, I know that can be hard to come by in Hollywood) is going to present questions for discussion, hard issues with which we should wrestle, predictions or revelations of current and future cultural flaws that merit exploration. Should we fail to bounce these ideas around in our minds at least, and at best work them through in conversation with others, then they fall flat. A critical part of the experience is lost.
Similarly, think of the last time you read a good book. Did it not immediately produce a recommendation to friends? That recommendation likely included a synopsis of why you thought so highly of the book. If the person to whom you recommended the book read it, then you had a great deal of potential discussion in which to engage afterward. For example, I recently began exploring Salinger’s short fiction at the recommendation of a friend. After reading Nine Stories, we began discussing Salinger’s stories over our weekly coffee meeting. Not long ago, I recommended this same collection to another friend, who is reading it currently. He wants to talk about it as well. The cycle continues.
To be fair, some of those who watched the movie with us yesterday discussed it with us following lunch today. I’m glad…the movie is actually too good to waste by not discussing the story arc. Whatever the issues a movie or play or book presents, it merits discussion, whether you agree with it or not…discussion about whether you agree with it or not, and why. I’m hoping that this lack of discussion I’m observing is an exception rather than a rule. I hope that, if it is more commonplace, that it is not due to an eroding of critical thinking on a large scale. I’m more inclined to ascribe it to the passivity with which we consume art on demand, immediately leaving one story to latch onto another, without ever taking time to process what it is we just experienced. I think this passivity is more often the case because when I see friends become involved in discussion about a film or play or book, they seem to latch onto it hungrily, eating the thoughts ravenously and finishing with eyes that gleam in want of more.
This is indicative of how little it actually occurs, in any case. Let’s talk more over coffee, shall we? Besides, a cup of coffee after every movie may even boost our economy. See? Everyone wins.