That’s the End?

Sometimes the end of an interesting movie or book seems to come suddenly…and with little satisfaction. There are of course rare times where this is kind of ending is appropriate and makes sense (at least to me), but most of the time it frustrates me and I just throw my hands in the air and say “What! That’s it?"

It’s really disappointing when an ending feels unresolved because you’ve invested time and energy into seeing how a character and story develops so you want to feel as though that time was worth it, but instead you feel gypped. Betrayed that your expectations of a satisfying ending were dashed, and that you’re only left with a hollow feeling of discontent.

With a bad from the beginning movie or book, I’ll quickly realize I don’t want any part of it and will set it aside before I waste too much of my time. But a seemingly good movie or book with a bad ending is like a bait-and-switch, because you were prepared to enjoy the story all the way through but instead you’re given an ending that sours the entire story (and even when you recall it later, what stays in your mind is how disappointed in the ending you were). It’s like finishing a delicious meal with a dessert that leaves a bitter aftertaste—and you just can’t seem to get rid of that bad aftertaste.

Overhyped and Underwhelmed

With some movies there’s a lot of positivity surrounding it, with both critics and the general public loving it. There seems to be a general consensus that it’s a fantastic movie with winning characters and a good plot, and this in turn makes me want to see it. Yet more often than not, while I’m watching the movie in question I’m waiting for it to get good. And then I realize that this is the movie and I can just expect more of what I’ve already been watching and while it’s not a bad movie, it’s also not a great one—it’s just fine.

So then I feel a bit out of the loop because I’m not quite understanding why people were so “wowed” by it; perhaps the movie is better than average, but it still wouldn’t be something that I would emphatically recommend to someone. It’s a movie to watch when you’re bored or when it’s on TV, but it’s not a movie to have such strong feelings for.

The fault lies mostly with me: I expected too much. I wanted this movie to be awesome. I expected this movie to be awesome. I thought of the other movies that I consider great and expected this one to be at that same level…only it wasn’t. It’s just rather disappointing. [Sigh.] I probably would have enjoyed the movie more had I had no preconceived notions of its greatness, which only left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed and unsatisfied.

Is This a Bandwagon Worth Jumping Onto?

Some movies or TV shows or books become inescapable; they suddenly explode in popularity and no matter where you go, you’re surrounded by this pop culture phenomenon. It then seems like everyone is talking about the story or the characters with a fiery passion and you’re suddenly an outsider that has no idea what they’re all talking about. But they want you to understand and they do their best to convince you that it’s quite fantastic and you must watch/read it.

Sometimes I’ll instantaneously balk at whatever’s captured the public’s interest and avoid it as much as humanly possible until its moment in the sun eventually passes. While other times I’ll be curious enough to the join the majority in experiencing this mainstream phenomenon. It tends to be a mixed bag; sometimes I’ll discover something wonderful while other times I’ll sit in wonderment of why it’s popular at all. But hopefully I avoid the worst of the bad mainstream movies, TV shows and books; it all comes down to the crucial decision moment of whether or not I’ll give something a chance.

I can’t watch or read everything that becomes popular (and nor do I want to). While it’s nice to be in the pop culture loop (especially to understand when it’s being alluded to or parodied), I can’t care about everything. I won’t just blindingly throw myself into a story merely because it’s popular; I have to weigh my knowledge of the topic at hand and think if it’s worthy of my time and consider how interested am I in it really. Knowing which bandwagons to jump onto and which to avoid saves much time and annoyance. So I always ask myself if this bandwagon is worth jumping onto, because there are some that just aren’t worth it…at all. If the current bandwagon doesn't appeal to me, I can just wait for the next one, because if I'm going to jump on a bandwagon, I'd like it to be a good one.