You HAVE to See This Movie!

It’s a sentence I hear most of the time when someone finds out I haven’t seen a particular movie. I’m told that I absolutely “have” to see this movie. Sometimes the reasoning is just “it’s a classic, how have you not seen it”. Other times, the person acts as if seeing this one movie will completely change my life and I won’t be the same afterwards. Either way, the insistence is the same. I have to see that movie.

Do I though? Do I really? If I’ve survived 25 years having not seen Gone With the Wind how will my life suddenly be different having watched it? If I’m fine having never watched Rain Man, I don’t see how I’ll be a completely different person two hours and thirteen minutes later. I don’t need to watch The Sixth Sense because I knew what the twist was before I was even old enough to watch the movie. Avatar may have, at one point, been the highest-grossing movie of all-time, but I’ve never had the urge to see it.

Now, for the most part I understand the sentiment. The movie in question is a well-known movie and/or one that did well at the box office. Or maybe its just this person’s favorite movie and they want other people to see it to see what they think. My problem isn’t with someone insisting I see a movie. It’s more that, sometimes, it gets hyped up too much, or the reason the person insists I see it doesn’t make sense to me. This kind of falls into two categories: movies I need to see because they’re classics, and movies that were popular.

Let’s talk about classic movies first. Just because a film is a classic doesn’t mean its good. Citizen Kane is considered to be the greatest film of all time, but the story itself isn’t great. A lot of the accolade comes from technical aspects of the film being excellent. The cinematography, the editing, the musical score and plot structure. The plot itself isn’t that great. The only thing most people remember from Citizen Kane is the whole “Rosebud” thing, which I knew about before having watched the film. There are also some cultural or social reasons why I don’t want to see a particular classic film. Plenty haven’t exactly aged well. The Jazz Singer isn’t just a classic film, it made history since it was the first feature film to have full sound. There’s also a lot of blackface happening in the film. I think too many people equate a film being influential with it being good or entertaining. Those aren’t always the same thing.

Also, let me take a brief break and bring up something related to the “it’s a classic argument” that I think people overlook. There are some movies I don’t want to watch because, while they may be classics, I know they’re going to upset me. The premise itself is going to upset me. I don’t necessarily want to watch a movie that I know is going to make me cry my eyes out. Certain topics, even certain time periods, I know the movie’s going to upset me, so I don’t watch it. I don’t care that it’s a classic.

And now, for the other category, films that are popular, so therefore everyone must’ve seen them. Box office sales aren’t necessarily a measure of quality. The Transformers films did well at the box office and they’re 80% explosions with barely any plot. The Saw films made a lot of money, but they don’t have much to offer other than a bunch of fake blood. If you want proof of ticket sales not being proof of quality, look no further than the Fifty Shades films. I rest my case. I want to watch films that tell interesting stories. A film doing well at the box office, or winning awards, doesn’t promise that. There are plenty of Best Picture awards that have been given to boring movies. Or just bad ones.

Look, opinions are relative. If you think a particular movie is amazing, that’s great. Maybe I agree, maybe I don’t because we have different tastes. I’ve met people who hate the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe because they don’t find any of it that interesting. I was once talking to someone who didn’t like Star Wars. There are people out there who’ve never seen, and never wanted to see, Harry Potter. To me, that’s insane, but that’s just me. My point is, I haven’t seen every movie you have, I might not want to see every movie you’ve ever seen. Stop making me feel guilty or weird for not having seen it.

Are there any movies people insist you see that you really don’t want to?