Anyone here frustrated movie buffs?

Does anyone here just have a love of film, both classics and modern, yet get a lot of heat from friends and family who are not movie buffs? I say this because, out of everyone I know, I seem to be the only one who truly loves film as an artform and can see something good in everything. Yet when I start talking about film as an artform and my love for it, people start to squirm in their seats. What is it that makes them act this way? I can set and listen to and discuss with them on their rants about their favorite songs and musicians or their knowledge of details of their favorite actors' personal lives, yet they can't hold a discussion with me on film?

Sure.

It's even worse when you start obsessing over experimental/avant-garde/non-narrative pieces. No one ever seems to get my love for that type of stuff.

Whatever; I can't expect everyone to share my passion...


...which is I suppose why there are so very few people I actually like. Whatever.

Art in general is an obsession of mine. Most people aren't interested in art... our modern society's too busy with instant gratification to stop and appreciate the subtleties of individual expression.

I haven't had too many problems with it. All of my friends were movie fans, perhaps not quite as "fan" as I was, but we'd all go to the movies on Fridays after school or on the weekends. We all had our favorite actors and directors that we'd talk about. One of my best friends nowadays is an even bigger movie buff than I am, but he shares many of the same favorites, and we can often have some elaborate quoting games and such while talking about movies.

I think I got my love of films from my dad, who himself has loved movies since he was a kid and is probably the second biggest movie buff in our house; we're always discussing movies both old and new. Although it's less so nowadays for various reasons, my family and I always went to lots of movies when I was growing up. I particularly remember the summer of 1996, when my dad was unfortunately out of work, but he and I saw virtually every major film that opened that summer. We must have spent a fortune going to the theater almost once a week.

well, i love movies, but I like people more, so I try to keep it in perspective (I have a life which I enjoy) I love art as well, but I never try and convince why Motherwell means so much to me, not worth it to me, or them> I look at movies the same way.

roundshort said:

well, i love movies, but I like people more, so I try to keep it in perspective

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To paraphrase someone famous (I forget who exactly), I don't like people in general, but I do like people individually.

But with film, I like them in general and also individually.

I definitely have this dilemma as well! It's tough when the majority of mainstream artistic forms of expression: film, fine art(paintings, sculpture, etc.), music, etc. are all either dumbed down for the masses, or focused completely on their commercial quality. These more easily accessible art forms are all people are use to, so if you try to break them out of their comfort zones with a more non-mainstrem piece of art, chances are you won't meet eye to eye or it'll go over their head.

Most of my closest friends are artists so it's not so bad, but still with other friends, co workers, and family it can be tough!

The funny thing is I could talk about films for hours, but even most regular movie fans aren't up for that. Those conversations are usually really brief and dull, and like you said Adam, they start to squirm if the conversation lasts for too long!LOL

I had a bunch of friends in college who were huge movie buffs, and all of us had taken the same Music in Film class. It was kind of hilarious when we started watching a movie and someone would recognize the film's composer about 30 seconds into the opening credits. They were the kind of friends who didn't need any convincing to go to a movie in costume too. It was great.

I don't live anywhere near any of them now. But film is just like any other passion. I know I've made people zone out talking about many things, and I've zoned out myself when people started talking about things I have little interest in. Film as an art form may just be one of those things that you need to have a little more in-depth knowledge/interest to discuss properly. Anyone can learn about what Britney Spears did last week from any tabloid laying around. Why Korngold's film scores were an influence on John Williams is not as obvious to the general public (who've probably never heard of Korngold in the first place.)