The Growing Boredom Toward Movies
Will movies be able to capture the attention of younger generations?
Not too long ago I had a group of 15 or so teenagers come over to watch a movie. As we started, I said something along these lines, “I don’t want to police this, but let’s try to put our phones away during the movie.” I tried to say this with a certain amount of grace and composure to sound less like I was over 40. As you can imagine, it only took a matter of time before they pulled their devices out and started to scroll.
These are great kids and I don’t say this to pick on them. They’re simply engaging in a practice that teens across the world do. Let’s be honest, it’s a practice parents do as well. Even if we’re not texting or scrolling social media, we’re checking IMDb throughout the movie to answer the question - What other movie have I seen them in?
The ‘X-ray’ features on Amazon prime (see below image) have incorporated this practice into the very movie or show we’re watching. As you’re watching the movie, in real time, the cast is listed on the screen, along with trivia about the movie. (It’s sort of like the ‘news ticker’ scrolling at the bottom of the screen while you’re watching news. One piece of news isn’t enough, we need more, just in case news happens during the news.)
The Practice of Dual-Screens
I’m not sure how old you are, but take a minute to think about what it was like for you to watch a movie when you were growing up. I grew up with one screen and was absolutely mesmerized by it. I’m sure if I had the option of another screen I would have been sucked into that as well, but my brain wasn’t conditioned for this.
With all the benefits of smartphones, one detriment has been the toll it has taken on our attention spans. For the sake of this discussion, one movie on one screen isn’t enough to capture our attention any more. We need a hand-held screen - smartphone, tablet, laptop - while another screen displays the movie.
If a movie - which is often the height of spectacle - cannot capture our full attention, what will this mean for books? Sermons? Casual conversation? Are we conditioning ourselves and our children to need a certain amount of stimuli that goes beyond what a single screen can offer?
As you can tell, I believe it’s important to push back on the practice of dual-screens during a movie. Watch one screen and enjoy it. Let’s train ourselves and our children to enjoy the act of watching a movie.
But, more importantly than simply watching a movie, is the impact this is having on our brains. As Christians, our brains belong to the Lord. Is the common practice of dual-screens poor stewardship? Is it something we need to be more intentional about? We don’t need to be overly rigid about this, for sure there are times we should be able to do this. However, if we’re always doing it, it does seem like this will foster an inability to focus on the movie before us.
As always, I want to hear from you. What do you think about the practice of dual-screens? How do you think it’s impacting our attention spans? Is it no big deal? Let me hear your thoughts.
No dual screens at our family/friend movie nights, to respect neighbor and protect brains. Nicholas Carr's book "The Shallows" talks about the damage this is doing to attention spans, critical (deep) thinking, patience, impulse control and more. What's worse is it leads to people pulling out phones while conversing with actual people! If you can't even wait an hour to look up an actor and discuss what they've been in AFTER the movie with your friends, something is wrong. The immediate gratification kills post-show conversation and exploration of these things *together*. On a lighter note, these are the same people who - after the movie - misunderstand character motivations, mistakenly think there are plot holes, etc. NO dude, it's because you were on your phone and not paying attention!
If you occasionally want to dual-screen when you watch alone, go for it. But without moderation, you'll find yourself too addicted to withhold doing it in group settings.
Attention is a scarce resource and we’re used to very customized and niche content, but that leaves us experiencing our own worlds, even in the same living room! Grateful to find your substack!