So to keep this place busy while I am writing my next review, I will attempt to do these smaller kinds of blogs about stuff that I am interested in. So as a up and coming filmmaker, one of the things that my teachers at university constantly told me was that when I watching or reading any piece of media that was telling a story, whether it be a book, television show, or of course movies. So I started doing that, every time I started watch something, I found myself pointing out certain plot elements or character traits that each show kept going through. I then started to notice I also was doing this when I was watching with family members which has gotten on their nerves, wondering why I always had to do when we were just wanting to enjoy, this also got me to wonder, when is entertainment just entertainment.
Now what I am wanting to think about is how far analysis should be taken for certain media. For example, I don't think people who write for shows for toddlers don't think to much, they have the job of teaching children and keeping them entertained whenever they are home and the parents want them time in the morning. That is sort of a consistent goal of those shows and the only major difference is what are they teaching and what characters are they using to keep children entertained.
Creators when coming up with these new works generally have a goal in mind on what they want to do. Do they mostly want to focus on making something entertaining or tell a story that gets some point across that they want to talk about, some try to be both but there are specific examples that want to be something first. So for example, a lot of action movies from the 80's and 90's are probably instinctly entertainment first, thought piece second. That's not to say that all action movies don't have strong theme's, Die hard is a film heavy in theme's of masculinity, violence and greed, Terminator 2 is about defying one's fate for a better future. Those are just a few examples but there are definitively more examples of this kind of movie out there. On the filp side their are movies that are stories first, entertainment second. You go take a look at a good chunk of films that are for up for Oscar's and you will find a good chunk that are wanting to tell some deep story that either dives into history or deals in the human condition. Some of these films are definitely harder to get into because often for some these movies are not fun and may be hard to get into depending on the subject matter.
What I have talked about can be applied to other forms of entertainment like video games or books. Often what is seen is the vision of those in charge of the project and what they want from it to be to people or who they are making it specifically, sometimes this crosses over with one another most notably in shows that are meant for kids, but might have context that older people may better understand and that may give. Maybe I am overthinking as someone making movies but it does give each watching or playing of something that gives a worthwhile second go through while thinking about stuff. I guess what I am trying to get at here is that a entertainment is what you make out of it, if one was wanting to get into analysis, then starting on easier films that are entertainment first and then start to get into more serious stories to become a better critic and to better understand what work and what doesn't.
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