Sunday, January 2, 2011

Aftermath of watching a movie and problems with theater watching

A good movie completely grips your attention and is cathartic is ways. The emotional and deep movies make you ride a roller coaster of emotions (provided you allow yourself to be fully sensitive) and bring you to a deep alpha state at the end of it. I believe that along with enjoying the movie, the state of mind just after watching it is to be relished too. I think this state can last pretty long up to 1/2-1hr after, if you allow it to stay.

I've always found movie watching in the theater to be an incomplete experience. Incomplete to quite a degree, but I couldn't really conceptualize what the problems were. After repeated analysis, I think I hit upon the main points. Here they are:

1. In theaters, firstly the interval is distracting and frankly,
2. Constantly munching something is a distraction from the real movie experience. Your attention needs to be gripped and locked all through for you to really feel its depth and cathartic effect.
3. Additionally, when you go with friends, there is this small talk that you need to keep doing now and then. Even a single interruption breaks the thread of alpha state.
4. After the movie is over, the subtitles start and usually the music/visuals is stimulating and flowing but in the theater you need to immediately start moving. This feels really uncomfortable and abrupt in so many ways, according to me. Not only do you not get to dwell in that awesome mental state, you miss out on the ending music/visuals and you have to start hearing the chatter of everyone around you. 5. The social energy around immediately shifts you back to beta state.
6. Then you have to encounter road noise, have some discussion or small talk with friends and that's the last nail in the coffin for the alpha state.

A highly enjoyable and desirable state we pursue in life is "A State of flow". Gripping Movies/Novels take us really close to it which is why they are so popular. So I think this feeling needs to be experienced in its entirety with full awareness to derive maximum fulfillment and satisfaction.

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