Don't let the title fool you - this is not a rant about how bad today's movies are. It is hard to resist a rant, however, when I remember that my generation is responsible for the "Twilight" and "Transformers" franchises. But hey, there are embarrassing movies to be found in every decade, right? (1990s: "Wild Wild West") But the difference between my generation and our predecessors is that we embrace the bad stuff.
We are a generation that relishes bad movies, more so than any other. Have you noticed that? And when I say "relishes bad movies," that's not an attack on how bad our taste is, or how we don't appreciate great movies - we do. But we also appreciate how it feels to crack up in a crowded theater when Robert Pattinson calls Kristin Stewart a spider monkey. We appreciate the outpouring of awful Sci-Fi Channel Original Movies that is as regular as the seasons. We appreciate celebrations of bad movies, from re-runs of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (the show that started it all) to midnight screenings of "The Room" (which used to screen at The Moxie here in Springfield, and still screens at The Tivoli in St. Louis). We love our Oscar-winners and indie sleeper hits, but we also know that you can learn just as much from watching a bad movie as you can from watching a good movie - and that sometimes, it's more fun.
I think this infatuation with bad movies has ushered in a new and different era of film appreciation, and I will proudly stand by with my football and water bottle in hand as it develops. So say what you want about my generation's Hollywood. Maybe our attention spans are too short. Maybe we're too sequel-happy. Maybe our romantic comedies are sexist. But you know what? At least we understand that only by viewing all types of movies - the good, the bad, the parodies - can we get the whole picture. The more bad stuff we watch, the more we will learn to appreciate the great stuff.
If anybody has a favorite bad movie that fills their life with joy, please share it! In the mean time, I have included a thematic YouTube montage for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.
I watched a movie called Sea-Beast tonight. Viva la bad films.
ReplyDeleteThere are two types of movies audiences today: one that doesn't know the difference between a good movie and a bad one and just want to be entertained; and the second type that knows a good movie when they see one but are amused by the bad ones. As a card-carrying member of the second type, I think we find bad movies so funny because we know that the writer/director/producers thought it was good. It's often obvious that whoever wrote the script thought their characters were so cool and powerful that they should and could deliver tough catch phrases and THEN that the director bought into it. Or, as in the case of George Lucas, let lines infused with their own sappy sentimentality past the first draft of the script and decent actors trustingly performed them. Some of the worst movies of all time were made by the king of B movies, Ed Wood. We find them hysterical because he didn't seem to know they were bad!
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