Thursday Freewrite: The Power Of Movies

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Here is my entry into the 7/22 Freewrite!

The reason that we all spend so much time on social media, or in a book or at a theater is to seek out and exercise the part of our brain that powers the imagination. When in a movie theater there is nothing but you and the screen. You are literally told not to take out your cell phone because it will inconvenience everyone else in the crowd.

Cell phones have become a crutch for constant distraction. We don't seem to be spending enough time processing what we are seeing, but more just reacting to the content superficially. I have always felt like this was a little bit different when processing film or television content.

When we are watching a film with all of our energy, we become immersed in the story. We cannot change the film. We are not the directors. We are not the producers. We cannot just find a different form of media to distract ourselves. Rather, we must embrace the content.

The power of cinema is that we are along for the ride and not steering the ship. We are recognizing and observing the world that is being portrayed on the screen and it is much easier to get lost in the story than it is when reading a Tweet or looking at an Instagram post.

The power of cinema lies in the finality of it. It is what it is and we can either love it or hate it, but while we are sitting in that theater we are experiencing it in the exact way that the artists wanted it to be experienced. It is a book that has come alive.

We need to understand the power of finality and appreciate the art that we come into contact with because when we have the ability to pick and choose 30 second clips, we become easily distracted and lose sight of the power that the art is conveying.

The power of cinema lies in the way that we are almost forced to appreciate it at face value and are in a position where we must endure the entirety of the art.