The Thrill of Not Knowing

There is something refreshing about going into a movie knowing as little as possible about it.  It amps up the enjoyment, adds some mystery, and keeps you surprised throughout the runtime.  In the current age where the internet means that everyone can know everything at every time, it is a relief when a movie isn’t spoiled to you over Twitter, Facebook, or the numerous other social networks that we peruse.  It’s a wonderful feeling.

                                        

One of my more recent encounters with watching a movie that I knew little about was when I saw Friends With Kids.  I knew who was in it, but had a large misconception of what the movie was about.  I was under the assumption that Friends With Kids was about a single person or multiple single people who felt left out when their friends had kids.  This is not what the movie is about.  I based my assumption on the title, which does describe the film.  I had interpreted it the wrong way.  Because of this, the story that unfolded before me was mostly a surprise.  It was a delightful surprise.

A major problem in this day and age is when a movie is over analyzed, over marketed, and spoiled.  People seem to feel the need to know every little detail about the movies that they are anticipating.  One of the biggest movies to fall into this trap was The Dark Knight Rises.  As soon as The Dark Knight was released, there was speculation and rumors about whom and what would be in the third installment.  When casting was released, there was speculation about who they were playing and what that meant.  When the movie started filming, there was an onslaught of set photos from every reporter or curious fan.  There was a year’s worth of marketing.  It was too much for me.  I don’t need to have all of this thrown at me.  I would like more mystery, more unknown aspects to the movies I watch.  It gives me more joy when I watch them.  It feels better to go in without knowing everything.

I don’t have too much else to say on the subject.  I’m worried that this will become a list of movies where I’ve gone in knowing little and felt good, or movies that I know too much about when I watch them and I don’t feel good because I feel like I’ve already seen the movie.  If I had a choice of a first watch of something I didn’t know much about or a first watch of something I’ve seen numerous synopses, trailers, pictures, and tv spots of, I will always choose the one I know less about.  It makes the ride more thrilling.  Can you imagine watching something like Catfish, or The Sixth Sense, or The Usual Suspects for the first time when you know what happens in the end?  I know the feeling.  I did that with The Sixth Sense.  It takes away some of the impact of the movie.

I’m not sure exactly why I am writing about this.  I think I just needed to vent a little bit.  It’s something that gets on my nerves.  “Person A was cast in Movie B,” “You’ll never guess what happens to character X in Show F,” “Watch this three minutes of all of the money shots in my movie!”  I don’t need all of that.  Give me a movie.  Give me maybe a cast member and a director.  Give me a genre.  I don’t need to see anything or know any story stuff beforehand.  Just give me the movie and let me watch it.