^{me and earl and the dying girl dir. alfonso gomez-rejon (2015)}

why doesn’t anyone want to exert effort to appreciate art anymore?

the movie tracking website letterboxd has gained an even larger platform on tiktok as of late thanks to the oscars. if you’ve never used the website before, it asks you to list your top four favorite movies to be displayed on your profile. on the red carpet, they use the exact same format to interview those involved in the film industry and ask them to share their very own top four as well.

it’s no doubt that some of these answers include more experimental or underground films—the whole movie thing is essentially their entire life, so of course they’ve looked into the medium with a little more depth than someone who only goes to the cinema to see hollywood blockbusters¹.

cue the comments.

tiktok seems to despise every celebrity that answered something that isn’t like, disney or whatever. they’re pretentious! how dare they think a foreign film from before the year 1990 is something they can actually consider their favorite? ugh, they’re definitely just trying too hard to look cool to the rest of us.

honestly, the only person i’ve seen (not that i’m actively scrolling through the letterboxd official account) who had received positive feedback was daisy ridley, who listed her top four as matilda, mulan, coco, and moana. the comments basically expressed the same sentiment: “finally, someone with a REAL AND HONEST list of movies who isn’t trying to be a cinephile!”

weird! what makes you think other people are lying about theirs? god forbid we have different tastes, i guess? and what's wrong with being a cinephile?

it makes me wonder why the initial reaction to someone listing non-mainstream films as a favorite is “well, that’s pretentious” instead of “oh, that’s interesting. i’ve never heard of those!”. when i speak to someone who is clearly more into something than i am and they recommend something i’ve never heard of before, i’m usually in awe wondering how they found it in the first place. i immediately believe they are significantly cooler and way more interesting than i am.

this strong dislike for more ~cerebral~ media makes me ask myself: are people too afraid to think or do they not want to?

not that i’m always in the mood for something avant-garde either, but what makes these tiktok commenters think it's pretentious for someone to actively seek out media that makes them think? what is stopping them from trying to learn how to appreciate more complex and experimental art forms? could it stem from an unconscious fear of not being able to understand the unfamiliar? i just wonder why someone wouldn't at least try, although i'm very much a "try everything at least once" type of person.

but honestly, you can’t really win either way because people will also crap all over art that is on the other end of the spectrum for being “too simple”—or what seems like it, at least on the surface.

have you ever read a post by an account with a greek bust profile picture complaining about modern art?

i will admit i used to be one of them, long ago: “oh my god, even i could make that” a much younger version of me would say, pointing at a mondrian. thankfully i’ve moved past that chapter of my life. i was able to educate myself on the nuances of modern art and usually i find that a lot of the value of modern art comes from either the meaning behind the artwork and how the art presents itself as a metaphor for this meaning or the techniques used to produce it. i actually think it’s pretty freaking cool that we are constantly finding new ways to express ourselves and connect with others.

the artworks that seem to suffer the most from “anyone can make that” are contemporary pieces that involve large blocks of color. this is at the very top of the iceberg, i know, but this always makes me think about “who’s afraid of red, yellow, and blue iii” by barnett newman.

^{who's afraid of red, yellow, and blue iii by barnett newman (1967)}

if you’ve never heard of newman and/or this artwork: who’s afraid of red, yellow, and blue iii was a painting that brought out a lot of rather strong feelings from its viewers, though most of it were feelings of hatred. it was so controversial that people regularly wrote letters to the stedelijk museum to complain about it being hung up. one writer even said that it made her physically sick and someone else hated it so much, he had slashed the painting.

the museum scrambled to have the artwork restored, of course. the average person might think it wouldn’t be too difficult to paint over a primarily solid red canvas and i think in most cases, they would be right. alas, newman had a lot of subtleties in his technique like invisible brush strokes and using a rather unique shade of red that the conservator assigned to this piece failed to replicate.

when they hung up the restored version of this artwork, viewers immediately felt that something was off. the red had lost its “shimmering quality that gave it a sense of depth” and critics were very upset by the poor restoration effort.

i guess what i’m trying to say is that there’s always more to art than what meets the eye. “complex” cinema might be more enjoyable and accessible than one would think, and “simple” paintings might have more complex aspects to them that one may not pick up on right away. i’m not saying you have to like these things—you’re entitled to your own opinion. all i ask is that you at least try to acknowledge what went into its creation. let's broaden our horizons a little bit and put our thinking caps on! art is for everyone, after all! you will eventually find something that resonates.

before i end this more-of-an-unorganized-ramble-than-an-essay, i want to offer some additional things for you to check out if you want to: the essay “how to watch a movie” by evil female/charlie squire and “who’s afraid of modern art: vandalism, video games, and fascism” by jacob geller. they go a little more in-depth with what i’m talking about here.

until next time!

1. of course there is nothing wrong with being a fan of popular things or being a “normie” or something. please do not think that’s what i’m trying to insinuate here!↩