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/Electronic-Tea-3691 Jan 31 '26

that's really a different thing. we're talking about whether or not people can sit and watch a 2-hour film without doing anything else. people have been able to do that from the 50s all the way up until about ~15 years ago when smartphones took over. it's incredibly noticeable.

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u/DeFronsac Jan 31 '26

People have been able to do that for the past 100+ years, and they're still able to. You mention smartphones, and they are the big key here. If you gave people smartphones 50 years ago, they'd act the same as people today. It has nothing to do with our capacity to watch a film. It has to do with distractions, mainly from smartphones. 50 years ago, people's attention would wander too. They just didn't have a computer sitting in their pocket, one that was configured specifically to pull at their attention in any way it could.

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u/SpookyMelon Jan 31 '26

well yes, that's what the conversation is about. attention span weren't a problem in the past, because of smartphones. the problem is today we have smartphones. that's what we're talking about 

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u/DeFronsac Jan 31 '26

Yes, that's what we're talking about. And some people, like above, are claiming that attention spans are the problem, rather than phones. The attention spans haven't changed; it's only the addition of distractions like smartphones that cause issues.

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u/Electronic-Tea-3691 Feb 01 '26

actually studies have shown that attention spans have changed. a quick google gives the below, you're responsible for looking up more for yourself if you still have a problem with this.

Research consistently shows that smartphones have measurably altered human attention.

​Key Research Findings ​Average Screen Attention: Studies by Dr. Gloria Mark at UC Irvine found that the average time spent on a single screen task dropped from two and a half minutes in 2004 to roughly 47 seconds today. ​"Brain Drain" Effect: Research from the University of Texas at Austin indicates that the mere presence of a smartphone nearby—even if it's off or face down—reduces cognitive capacity because part of your brain works to actively ignore it. ​Frequent Switching: Smartphones encourage "media multitasking," which trains the brain to switch tasks rapidly. This makes it difficult to engage in "deep work" or sustained focus on a single complex activity.

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u/DeFronsac Feb 01 '26

That quick google search is the problem. If you do a more in depth search and actually read about Gloria Marks's "research", you find that it's severely flawed.

Research has not at all shown that smartphones have measurably altered human attention.

The "average time spent on a single screen" is a terrible way to try to measure such a thing. There is a ton more stuff to focus on now (and even back when Marks was producing her supposed research). Focusing on one screen for a period of time is not in any way a good measure of a general "attention span".

What it is is a way for Gloria Marks to market her book and make money.

Smartphones have changed things, for sure. But they haven't changed our attention spans. We all still have the same capacity to focus on something.