Intellectualisation of cinema : the novel methodology to pick up DU baddies

“Oh, did you watch that *art house* movie?”

“Yes, I did! I love how it talked about how we need to teach our cats about the socio-economic state of the world, or else they might eat us when we die.”

Okay, this might be a little exaggerated, but I have heard people talk like this at movie screenings of so-called “art house films,” and I absolutely hate it. As a film enthusiast, I have (for so long) watched movies that made me look more intellectual and sound smarter than I actually am; but I never really enjoyed all of it. I have acted pretentious at movie screenings and talked about how a certain camera angle probably meant something that our peasant brains couldn’t comprehend or how a certain dialogue definitely had secret meanings instead of actually meaning what it sounded like. I have hidden the films that actually mattered to me and talked about only those which made me seem smarter because, as Shreya Punj said, “God forbid that people discover I have a fun side.”

We’ve turned something as simple and pleasurable as watching movies into performance art. The films we watch and are able to talk about with ease determine our intellectual capacity. If we don’t end up liking a low-key art film, then we “definitely didn’t have the smarts to process it.”

I am not saying that people do not enjoy art films, but the same people would also love to watch the trashiest of films with no sense behind them (just for the fun of it); and I know it because I am one of those people. I can enjoy and understand a Satyajit Ray film, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying a film like Housefull either. I love how the film Superboys of Malegaon depicted cinema in such an awfully gorgeous sense, but I also loved the show, Traitors, because I enjoyed the drama. I love the cinematography and direction of Wes Anderson films, but I also loved how fun Farah Khan’s Happy New Year was to watch. I have cried watching Ladybird, but I cried harder after watching Vijay 69. I loved Emma Watson in Little Women, but I loved her more in the Harry Potter films.

Right now, even having fun has turned into an achievement. Our Instagram needs to be a certain aesthetic, our Twitter needs to make us sound like the smartest person on the planet, and our LinkedIn needs to show how we can literally do everything in the world. Our ability to enjoy complex films now determines how well-read we might be because somehow, the need to be taken seriously by literally everybody in this world and seek their validation has somehow become our biggest priority in life.

But sometimes, all you need is to be doing is sitting on your sofa and watching Ta Ra Rum Pum instead of Cabaret. Sometimes all you need to be doing is listening to Hawa Hawai or laughing at Jhangya’s questions in Chillar Party instead of watching something that tells you the world sucks and you’re going to die.

The world does suck, but things like films, art, and music are somewhere meant to make us feel better about a shitty world that nobody enjoys. So consume and create art that YOU enjoy. Watch the cringiest of films and trashiest of shows, listen to the most dissonant music, and read the sluttiest of books. Never be nonchalant about art because the tortured creatives deserve love and adoration for the awesome art they create.

(Please do not use AI to create art for fuck’s sake. PLEASE. I BEG YOU)