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[Movies] Do You Think Expectations Are Becoming A Bit Too Low Nowadays?

Blue Canary

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A little bit ago, I was staring blankly at the homepage of this very forum. That was when I saw a thread with the title "Do You Think Expectations Are Becoming A Bit Too High Nowadays?" in the gaming part of the forum. After seeing this, I looked at when was written, and I ammediatley thought of an idea I had a while ago. This idea was that when it comes to movies, people's expectations are far too low. Now, you might think that this is wrong, however, I have an arguement to support my claim.

Last year, when the movie Frozen was released, it took off in a storm the likes of which I don't think I've ever seen in my lifetime. Suddenly, there was fanart, song covers, and entire YouTube channels dedicated to this movie. People praised it as the best movie ever, and all who disagreed were those who had no taste.

However, I didn't know of this popularity until after I saw the movie. I went into the theater clueless about what lies ahead, and looking back, that was fine. I didn't need anyones insanely high praise raising my expectations to levels beyond belief. So, I watched the movie not know what it was. And I loved it.

I told praise of it also, I wanted to watch it again. Now, I didn't obsess over it like other people do, but I still liked it.

However, as I started being more active on websites, my love started to fade. I couldn't enjoy a movie when everywhere I go I see it. You couldn't log in to YouTube without seeing Elsa in a thumbnail on the homepage; You still can't.

As I started researching why people love it so much, I found the biggest thing it is praised for to be this:

It isn't cliche.

Now I thought to myself, the movie is definitely good. But that's the thing, it's a good movie made with a big budget. People aren't praising this movie because it actually was sky high, they are praising it because it is doing the things movies should.

Now, I could understand if this was an indie movie. But I movie made on a big budget by a well-known company? That should entitle it to being a good movie. That should mean that it should be well written by people who know what they are doing.

But what does it really mean to people? It means that there is a good chance it sucks.

At first, I thought that even though Frozen didn't deserve the praise, The LEGO Movie did, because it is a good movie based on toys. But I realized, I was praising it because "it is a good movie". That should be the requirement, not the best ever!

It just makes me sad that people are praising things as the best ever simply because they are good. It really goes to show that the expectations aren't all that high. And this is where my point stands: People's expectations are too low.

Now, I'm not saying it is only the people's fault. It is the movie industry's fault, also. But, in business, if it makes money, then it is good. So crappy movies are just going to keep being made. The reason? ...because that's what people expect, and they will take what they get.

TL;DR
: Frozen is being praised because it is good, not because it is the best movie ever. I think this is because people's expectations are too low, and instead of demanding good movies, they are taking what they can get.

So, what is your opinion on this?
 

Ganondork

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Joined
Nov 12, 2010
Well the thing is that appreciating movies, for the layman, is entirely subjective. I'm a layman, for example. The few times that I go and see a movie, I want a big-budget action movie, or something cute like Frozen or Monster's University. This has always been the case for me. If you asked me for my list of favorite movies, Alien, Predator, and Braveheart would all be very high up on that list. Those are all movies with plenty of action. It's what I like. I don't have the trained eye to think to myself, "Wow, the cinematography of these movie is impeccable!" because I simply don't know what constitutes that.

Now, are our expectations low? I know mine can be. I went to Godzilla, expecting 160 minutes or so of Godzilla beating up King Ghidora and some other kaiju. I was pretty disappointed with the end product, but that's neither here nor there. I think that it really depends on the kind of movie, though. I watched Goodfellas with pretty high expectations, and came out thoroughly pleased. I have similar expectations for Casino, and I doubt I'll be disappointed then, either. I think that when it comes to strictly action movies or comedies, my expectations are very low. But Mafia-type movies are where I expect something high quality.

Chimera said:
Now, I could understand if this was an indie movie.

I'm not entirely sure I understand what you're trying to say here. I'm a big fan of the indie movement - I love indie video games, self-published novels, and indie music is almost all I listen to nowadays - and while I am yet to have broken into the indie movie industry, I'm sure that they can produce some very high quality stuff with a smaller budget. The fact is that you don't need several billion dollars to make a good movie. You don't even need several million. So much of that goes into advertising, hiring A-list actors, and things of that nature. If you take out that factor, which indie movie producers do, then it's a much cheaper venture.

I'm going to close this with this: our expectations depend on the genre. I can go to Expendables 3 with very low expectations, and still come out pleased. But Wolf On Wall Street is a movie I had high expectations for, and I was very satisfied. Frozen I had next to no expectations for, and I came out pretty happy. It wasn't a bad movie, but it's far from my favorite Disney movie.
 

Moonstone

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Joined
Oct 23, 2012
I'm not as big into movies, but I'll say what I can about this.

I don't think our expectations are too low. Like with games, I think it's a mixture of both. In the case of Frozen- I love musicals, I love fantasy and magic, and I don't like stupid forced romance. To me, Frozen is one of the best movies ever. It has the music, it has the magic, and it says that "true love" is deeper than just boy meets girl. My mom and sister, soppy romantic comedy fans, thought it was "alright", worth one watch but not a second...or a third, like me. I think it all comes down to personal preference. I don't think the movies they like are even worth a single watch, but suffer through it occasionally to make them happy. (Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if that's how they feel about my movies...)

I don't know if movies get overhyped, since I don't really read anything about them, nor do I know whether the commercials are misleading. Since they are for games, I assume they are for movies sometimes, too. I'm sure there are plenty of times when movies are genuinely disappointing because of advertising or hype, but I don't know any first hand.
 

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