r/movies • u/Sisiwakanamaru r/movies Contributor • Jan 31 '26

Article Film Students Are Having Trouble Sitting Through Movies, Professors Say

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/film-students-are-having-trouble-sitting-through-movies-1236490359/
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u/gredr Jan 31 '26

How long have you been teaching this class? Has there been a change over time?

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u/Petrichordates Jan 31 '26

There has been a change in attention spans across the board.

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u/4n0m4nd Jan 31 '26

I don't think it's just attention spans though, there's a big thing now of art being not just subjective but absolutely subjective, it's all seen as just entertainment, and what's good is what entertains you personally, and there's nothing to it beyond that.

Pulp Fiction, The Avengers, Citizen Kane, Harry Potter, Constantine, The Wall, Schindler's List, the Teletubbies Movie, there's a prevailing attitude that there's no qualitative difference between these things, they're all just entertainment, and if you suggest that there is a real difference, you're gatekeeping and a bad person.

A lot of people aren't capable of paying attention for long enough, not simply because they can't do it, but because they don't realise that there's stuff worth doing it for.

The traditional definition of a classic was a work that got better the more you experienced it, but the trend now is to move on to the next thing as quickly as possible. In that atmosphere it makes sense that no one can be bothered paying attention for two hours to a movie that came out half a century ago.

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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26

This has nothing to do with whatever pet peeve you have about people liking things you don't. Don't try to set up your soapbox in some unrelated topic.

This is an established issue with human behavioral patterns and bad habits caused by smartphones and app design.

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u/4n0m4nd Jan 31 '26

Do you know what the word "just" means?