Why do we watch movies?

Are we all just watching movies because we're closet voyeurs?
I mean, isn't that exactly what Tomislav gotovac was getting at in PEEPING TOM... or am I totally off base here?

Good question. I honestly have no clue why I watch so many movies. But I do, and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

rapidcobra59 said:Are we all just watching movies because we're closet voyeurs?
I mean, isn't that exactly what Tomislav gotovac was getting at in PEEPING TOM... or am I totally off base here?

It's honestly pretty wild—whenever I head over to Central Park for a screening and see Tom hanging around, I can't help but wonder if it's just some cosmic coincidence or if the old fox has actually just subscribed to a daily dose of voyeurism. 😁

I don't really sit down and watch movies

Gregory Rogers said:I don't really sit down and watch movies

then why the hell are you hanging out in a movie thread???😕 😕 😕

I watch movies for a few specific reasons. Sometimes I need an emotional shift on days when nothing much is happening. Other times, when life actually gets interesting, I watch to see how others navigate similar situations. It’s also a way to experience things I’ll never personally encounter—or perhaps to witness scenarios I hope to avoid at all costs, though there's a certain fascination in that, too. Occasionally, it's just about learning something new through observation or having something worth discussing with friends.
I think that covers the essentials. 😁

I mostly just put them on when I'm bored or looking to unwind—though sometimes they serve as my go-to sleep aid, mostly because certain ones are so mind-numbingly dull they practically knock me out instantly. 🍿 🍿

I watch movies strictly for kicks. It’s either comedies or something starring Clint Eastwood, Steven Seagal, or Chuck Norris... You already know how they end, no guesswork needed. Clint always comes out on top 😁 Honestly, life is heavy enough as it is. We deal with enough serious stuff in our daily lives, so I save my free time strictly for unwinding.

Clint Eastwood is a far more serious filmmaker than what you’ve made him out to be... not to mention the absolute sacrilege of even grouping him in the same conversation as those two.. honestly

I mostly focused on his more lighthearted phase... 😁

Just because I was bored

I don't know 🤷

After watching a truly great movie, I feel somehow "reborn," inspired (I'm staying in today... watching Heart 🙏)... but when a film is garbage, I just feel frustrated (like, what the hell did I just waste two hours of my life on?). I always find myself hoping there will be at least one redeeming quality in a film—something to chew on for a day or a week afterward (let's call that my personal definition of a good movie)... but when I really think 🤔 about it, I spent the entire following week thinking about Showgirls 😬... it was simply a fascinatingly catastrophic film.
I want the director's phone number 🙏 🙏

Linda Gonzalez58 said:I mostly focused on his more lighthearted phase... 😁

I get what you're getting at, but I had to take issue with grouping him alongside those two. They have their own certain charm, granted, but even Clint Eastwood's "unserious" work is light-years ahead of Chuck Norris or Steven Spielberg... whether it's a good guy, a bad guy, or just plain evil. 🙏 🙏 Dirty Harry 🙏 🙏

I watch movies just to escape... honestly, it's pure escapism for me right now. That’s why I can’t stand local cinema, or those pretentious indie flicks, or even Fassbinder. I just want to see the hero make it out alive and ride off into the sunset 🙂 Or, if they absolutely have to die, they should at least go out making some massive, glorious mess first.

Then there are the historical epics... I guess I'm just a sucker for history. I remember thinking Luther was actually pretty great 😍 and tonight I decided to treat myself to A Bridge Too Far.

I’m basically watching movies because I’m an addict at this point.
Heh, glad it's not just me.

Let's be real—pretty soon we won't just have AA meetings; we’re gonna need FA (Film Anonymous) support groups to deal with this obsession.

Maybe I should just escape my own reality for a bit—just sink into someone else's world for an hour or two.🤷

Peter Flores67 said:I’m basically watching movies because I’m an addict at this point.
Heh, glad it's not just me.

Let's be real—pretty soon we won't just have AA meetings; we’re gonna need FA (Film Anonymous) support groups to deal with this obsession.

Hey! lonelynx44 here, and yeah, I've got a serious movie addiction too! 😁

Anyway, back to the point—I watch movies because... well, it's a deep subject... let me chew on that for a bit and I'll get back to you when I find a decent answer... 😉

rapidcobra59 said:Are we all just watching movies because we're closet voyeurs?
I mean, isn't that exactly what Tomislav gotovac was getting at in PEEPING TOM... or am I totally off base here?

I watch movies because I'm curious about:
other people's takes
their life experiences
how they interpret things

And by "other people," I mean the characters, the writers, and the directors too.

When I look at all those different views and stories:

It makes me question my own logic. Am I actually being objective? How much am I missing out on in my own life compared to what I see on screen?

If that makes me a voyeur, then yeah, call me one. 😎

Why do I even bother watching movies?
Because I can. 😛

If you define voyeurism that way, then every intellectual pursuit is just voyeurism.

Since people pick up books for the exact same reasons they sit down to watch a movie,
and I’m not just talking about fiction here,
but even non-fiction, because anyone reading a textbook is essentially "peeping" into an author's mind—their thoughts, their logic, and their conclusions.

By that logic, science itself is pure voyeurism.
We want to know how long it takes a car to get from New York to Los Angeles at a certain speed over a specific distance.
We study evolutionary biology to track the history of a species, which is basically invading their "privacy."
Even botany and zoology spend their time spying on their "subjects" from birth until death.
Then there's astronomy, spying on stars and planets and their "private" lives... where they move, what they do, what they are...
Meteorologists spy on whether folks in Chicago are going to get soaked by rain or if they'll be freezing on the streets and needing to crank up the heat...
And economics? It peeps right into people's wallets—what they buy, what they splurge on, and how much they're willing to pay for stuff... etc., etc.

So, movies aren't anything special; they're just as voyeuristic as everything else mentioned.
They aren't more or less than any other art form, and art isn't more or less than science itself...