Saturday, January 21, 2012

What I won't watch.


There are a few films I won’t watch, and a couple of genres I have no desire to watch. 

The genres are action thrillers and horror: unless there’s something a bit cerebral going on I’m not interested.  This means I’ll watch Tinker Tailor and Rocky Horror, but nothing from the Mission Impossible or I Know What You Did franchises.  The main reason for this is that I’m not very keen on watching violence with no point to it.
And the films I won’t watch?  It’s a smallish list and it starts with Schindler’s List.  The reason for this is that I think I would be too upset to watch it.  I read the book way back when it was called Schindler’s Ark so I know what the story is and I think I would be overcome with the sadness of it on film.  Others I’m avoiding are The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Hotel Rwanda.  I also won’t watch Sophie’s Choice again.  I’ve seen Remember Me twice, but I’m thinking about whether I can watch that again, and I don’t want to see United 93.  Don’t misunderstand – they are all good films, and it isn’t a moral question, my issues with them are more to do with their effect on me.

There’s something about film that is immersive; it’s a multisensory experience, even on DVD at home.  That means that a film has more of an emotional impact on me than a book.  I read a lot and get very absorbed in the world of books, but the depth of my absorption is to a large extent under my control.  The vividness of the pictures I create from an author’s words can be moderated by how much I can stand, but when I watch a film it’s in the hands of the director and there are some images and emotions I would prefer not to have in my head.


Now I’ve started to think about it there are a few more coming to mind:  my husband has just asked me to set the recorder for 127 Hours and my blood has run cold at the thought of that film…and that reminds me, I don’t want to see Touching the Void either.

2 comments:

  1. You don't know horrific cinema until you've seen Midnight in Paris.

    I tend to watch horrific things because of this weird idea that I need to be able to cope with the horror in this world. Starting to realise this is just as foolish as ever choosing to watch Midnight in Paris.

    Thank God for Take Me Out, eh?

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  2. Is MiP bad then? I think for me film is about escape because I know the world can be terrible.

    What's Take Me Out?

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