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I don’t think it’s about attention span. People nowadays will stream and binge watch 10+ hours of a show if they’re so inclined and enjoy it. Same with 3 hour blockbusters in the cinema. Hell, some teenagers will even watch anime or stuff with subtitles if they’re into that. It’s no more about today’s viewing habits/media than it was in the past (again, I just imagine an older film buff in the 80s or whenever saying, ‘kids today with their MTV, flashy music videos and video nasties don’t have the attention span to sit through La Dolce Vita. What is this generation coming to…’)
I think we forget film’s been around a long time, as have many of these movies we’re discussing. Most schools don’t teach cinema as they do art, and even then it’d be a niche interest. If we grew up watching some of these films, have a specific interest in them, or perhaps were younger when they first came out we’re more likely to have a connection with them than the average person, let alone an average 16-18 year old. With foreign cinema it’s especially the case (hell, I’ve been to a number of film festivals and even in that setting have given up on and walked out on what I found to be boring artsy films, often foreign).
Well all, I’m happy to report that during my time as a teacher during the pandemic, there is some hope. I taught a group of 5th graders who had seen Back to the Future before. I started with a minor reference to the day being November 12th. It was more than half the kids who got the reference! However, it still proves that there is hope for classic cinema in future generations. Don’t lose hope yet!
That is encouraging
Perhaps DarthDimi just got unlucky with his class that day :))
I can definitely see a younger kid being more familiar with those films than later teens being familiar with Alien for what it’s worth. I know the Alien films are still being made but I don’t think it’s had the same level of relevance. I think when you get into the territory of media made that long ago/a majority of kids quite young recognising them or not there’s always a reason (often cultural, and unfortunately not simply to do with said media being great or even classics - ie. Kate Bush’s music had a bit of a renewed interest among many teens after Stranger Things used one of her songs. The second Top Gun I know from talking with my teenage cousins got their friends to watch the first. It’s usually stuff like that).
I remember director Terry Gilliam being crestfallen, when his young son in law ( or nephew, can't remember which!) was doing a film thesis..........and was starting with 'Star Wars'!!!
:))
Thanks for sharing, I'll try and not lose hope ;)
Also, most of them had seen the BTTF movies via their parents and older siblings they said. So, we are raising a generation who will see the classics if given the chance. I also taught some 3rd graders who were excited to see Indy 5. If something's a true classic (in any art form) people will help keep their legacies alive. In one way or another.
Perhaps. :-D Though I must admit, some other so-called "timeless classics" aren’t faring much better.
Bond and Star Wars still carry weight—especially the latter, which is hardly surprising. Bond, on the other hand, tends to be more vaguely familiar to most, though its tropes remain widely recognized.
Interestingly, my students are often surprised by my knowledge of recent films. In fact, they’re downright shocked when they realize I know far more about modern cinema than they do—right down to the director, release year, cast, composer, and more. It’s adorable watching them struggle to recall “that one film with the guy… with the thing… and the clown… or something.” Ladies and gentlemen, we have a true connoisseur in our midst!
And then there are those moments when students just… forget to think. Utterly baffled by my awareness of the MCU, they’re gently reminded to do the math: Iron Man came out in 2008… Now, where were you, dear student, who turns 17 in 2025? ;-)
All joking aside, I get the sense that many (though not all) simply watch what the streaming catalogue has to offer. Every now and then, a more interesting film percolates up in those, but mediocre romcoms and D-list action flicks on, say, Netflix are sadly dictating the norm.
True. I think it’s worth saying films like BTTF and Indy are easier to get kids of that age to watch than many other classics films (including Alien probably). That’s good to hear that your students enjoyed them though. The Indy example even surprises me a bit - that’s another trilogy I didn’t watch until I was well into my 20s, and I know the recent one didn’t do well.
I’d also say that I agree that there’s easy access to many of these films nowadays. You have to take the oversaturated landscape of streaming/the internet with that positive. If younger people are interested, they can find these films and many more. Personally, I never came from an overly film interested family and beyond a certain point wasn’t introduced to many of the films I eventually found and loved as a teenager/young adult through family but through the internet and even streaming a bit later into those years. Even many of the classics you’re ‘supposed’ to have watched as a movie fan passed me earlier (as I said I didn’t watch things like Indy, BTTF or Star Wars until I was 20+. If I’m being brutally honest I don’t have the same nostalgia for them as many others do, and they’re not films I hold close to me). So I can sympathise to some extent with not all teens that age immediately knowing certain films.
Not the worst place to start i suppose... :))
While the original SW films are excellent and have changed pop art forever, I'd argue film is much much more than pop art or blockbusters. It's a shame true pioneers like Méliès, Lang, Fellini, Antonioni or Kurosawa would go unmentioned in a 'film thesis'... . It would be incomplete to say the least. With which I don't want to take anything away from SW's quality.
I love them all but I understand that many disagree with the sequels. Still, 'The Matrix' (1999) is an exquisite film, worth checking out.
I did see the last ten or five minutes of this one. I can see the appeal about the fx, otherwise I just thought I had seen enough.
Me too. I can't understand the negativity that the Matrix sequels get. If only other science fiction/fantasy films had half of the imagination presented in them.
@LeonardPine
Apart from the cool action and whatnot, it's the imagination in the Matrix films that pulls me in most.