Often, whether I am passing time on TikTok or Instagram, I find that much of my free moments are occupied by my beloved “scroll time.” While I also enjoy watching movies, to me, they require more commitment and attention. Through this, I find that any time spent away from my phone is both productive and a personal accomplishment. While this may seem humorous, I find that the value of movies beyond just enjoyment is largely underappreciated.
Movies, being available online, serve as an accessible way to expose people to multiple viewpoints and social commentary. While some films may serve for purposes of pure entertainment, others such as “Barbie” or “Sinners” allow the audience to explore societal issues such as modern feminism or the exploitation of Black culture.
Online, it has also become increasingly difficult to decipher jokes from serious content, AI from reality or verified accounts from imposters. However, media literacy and the ability to analyze one’s surroundings is an art that has been practiced in one’s life in various ways.
While the most immediate example that comes to mind may be English class, I argue that consuming long form content also plays an important role. Quality movies can sharpen analysis skills by dissecting character development, nonlinear plot and quippy dialogue. Movies often don’t portray every thought inside a character’s head, but viewers can still infer actions. The ability to do this lends itself to academic work, where students can apply these skills to annotating texts or poems.
To me, the most important educational aspect of movies is their ability to spark wonder. Whether a biopic or documentary is highly dramatized or impressively accurate, movies about historical events can create curiosity about these situations to an audience. When you leave a viewer wanting to learn more, exactly that is achieved—learning. For me, I once watched a biopic called “Charlie Wilson’s War.” Afterwards, I wanted to explore the film’s events, which led me down a rabbit hole that eventually became the topic of my International Baccalaureate History Internal Assessment.
While I do encourage others to engage in activities in the non-digital world, I believe there is merit in movie watching that goes beyond entertainment. Movies can be a gateway to different perspectives, ideas or events and should be treated as such.