I Hated That Great Movie

I remember watching Star Wars with my friends for the first time. I’d watched it years earlier by myself and... didn’t actually like it. But when I watched it with other people, I was genuinely confused. How did I not like it when they all thought it was so good? The plot was great, the characters were likable, the soundtrack was… well… it’s Star Wars. How did I not like it?

You’re probably wondering the same thing: “How did this guy not like Star Wars?” But let’s be honest. I’m sure we’ve all had that experience, where we finish a movie, hear about how great it was, and wonder how we didn’t like it. Years after watching Star Wars, I gained an appreciation for movies I didn’t like, to the point that after my last movie night, I could say “I didn’t like it. I know what I like, and this didn’t have it. But it was a pretty good movie.”

Yes, there’s a difference.

The difference is that taste is subjective, but quality is objective.

That perspective prevents arguments, breeds appreciation for things we don’t naturally like, and could even help solve some of society’s biggest problems. In a culture where we’ve stopped asking “Did you watched the game last night?” and started asking “Have you seen Wonder Woman yet?”, movies are pretty important to our society, demonstrated by the fact that this year, just 10 movies have already made a combined $7 billion. And it’s only July. The way we think about the movies we invested $7 billion into is a cross-section of the way we think about the politics and current events we invest our time and thoughts into. So changing the way we think about movies will be one small step towards finding solutions to the world’s issues.

It seems like everyone agrees that taste is subjective. Anyone and everyone I know would be perfectly fine saying “What I like isn’t quite the same as what you like”, and that’s a good thing. When ‘subjectivism’ rose and we all decided that taste is subjective, it looked like we’d finally get into fewer arguments, we’d be more respectful toward one another, and we’d be able to discuss our own personal tastes in ways that would help us understand one another. Since people decided that taste is subjective, I can ask for more specific recommendations for movies by telling someone what I like and asking for movies that do that well. I can stop being disappointed by a movie everyone said was good and start asking “Would I like it?” And all those are very good things.

But we’ve taken subjectivity a little too far and decided that not only is taste subjective, but quality is subjective. We decided that if I liked a movie, it must be a good movie. And I can understand that - after all, the purpose of a movie is to entertain, so if someone was entertained by it, they can say that as far as they were concerned, it was good.

But if my tastes determined the quality of a movie, we’d be in serious trouble. Because I don’t care about how fleshed out a character is, how effective the cinematography is, or how immersive the cinematic experience is. I just want a movie that’s clever, with wit, clever plans, creative stunts, and subtle set-ups to important plot points. So if my own flawed tastes decided that my favorite movie is the best movie, The A-Team (the 2010 movie with Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper, not the 1980’s TV show) would be the best movie of all time, and anyone who saw it knows that it just isn’t.

Even I know that cleverness alone isn’t enough to make a good movie. I think we can all agree that a good movie is one that uses the elements of film and the elements of storytelling for the purpose of telling a story with an inspiring message. Some of these elements could include 3-dimensional characters, deliberate cinematography, realistic CGI, tension, and believable actions. And yes, some movies intentionally have sloppy editing, clunky exposition, and plot holes, and my film fan friends sometimes call a movie like this “so bad, it’s good”. But as TV Tropes reminds us “Keep in mind that even when something is So Bad, It's Good, it's still bad”.

But why not just let everyone keep believing that whatever they like is good? Because a standard definition of “quality” will get us out of a lot of trouble. Once we decided quality was whatever we thought it was, we had more arguments than before because value judgments like “That movie was good” became infused with personal judgments and emotions. People had to pretend to like movies they didn’t like. And some people started assuming that a movie is beyond criticism just because they liked it. I remember chatting with a friend about the story problems in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (this isn’t the place to talk about its story problems; just know that there are plenty) and my friend said “Hey! I liked it!” And I can understand why he liked it. It was a return to the series he and I had both known and loved since we were kids. I came with the perspective that taste is subjective and quality is objective, so I tried to say “It’s OK to like it, but it’s still not a good movie.” What actually came out of my mouth were the words “I didn’t say you didn’t like it. I said it wasn’t good” and to him, that sounded like I was saying “You’re wrong”. A society where “good” and “bad” are whatever we think they are runs into problems the moment anyone tries to make any statement of that they think is “good” or “bad”.

If we can look objectively at the facts while still keeping our own opinions, we can engage in more civilized discussions. When we disagree, if we’re going to understand each other better, we need to be able to discuss our differences respectfully. And if we’re going to understand truth better, we need to be able to discuss our perspectives open-mindedly. Just 2 weeks ago, I told a friend that I thought there were some serious story issues in Arrival. For the next 2 hours, we discussed each story problem and why it wasn’t really a problem in this exact case. She opened my eyes to her perspective and her perspective opened my eyes to a higher understanding of what makes a good movie.

The way we talk about movies is a cross-section of how we talk about current events. Virginia Satir, one of the pioneers of modern psychology, believed the concept behind this so deeply that she titled one of her books “How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything”. So if you want to start finding out what’s really best for the world instead of what specific people think is best for the world, start with something small. Ask yourself what you liked about the last movie you saw. And ask yourself what was objective good about it. Maybe like me, you’ll find yourself sometimes saying “That movie was so bad, but I loved it”. And sometimes, we’ll both turn to each other and agree, “I hated that great movie.” And keeping that level of objectivity and subjectivity can bring the benefits we wanted from subjectivity in the first place.