i feel like when i was younger i exclusively did the first thing, just relate to the main character. but now it’s more fascinating to zoom out more.
ex I’m watching Black Swan atm and instead of being like oh dancing is hard the teacher wants to fuck me etc, I’m thinking about like, that’s a lot of effort just to do ballet, which the opening 5 minutes establishes is a completely irrelevant art form
I’ve seen people reacting to movies say things like “oh you can’t do that to me!” when something happens to the main character. I always thought that was a bit weird, but you’re telling me that’s a certain way people watch movies - to sort of put themselves in the main character’s place and experience the movie from that perspective?
Maybe it’s me who’s weird.
Well, yeah, that’s a pretty normal thing for people to do; living through somebody else (in this case a fictional character). Even if the circumstances aren’t the same, the feelings usually are, making it more relatable.
Or you’re putting yourself in the director’s place.
That’s the way I mostly see movies now, and while it gives you a broader window over the whole movie it also removes some of the fun.