What can be the best way for a second-hand experience of the world? Should it be real or imaginative? Human beings are symbolic beings; we understand ourselves, our lives, and the world through symbols, opening unimaginably broad possibilities for what we can experience and contemplate.
Storytelling through oral speech had been a dominant way to share experiences and pass on knowledge. Written languages expanded the amount of transmission of symbols by a tremendous scale. At last, the time of direct transmission of visual/audio symbols had come.
By relying on a more direct way of communication, movies provide viewers with the immediate experience of the newly created world. But it comes with a price. Strong visual reception, combined with the fast pace of the plot, gives viewers little time to process the input. It comes in fast and goes out soon. Here is what I say: Which movie is good, bad, or just entertainment-only? Good movies linger in your memory for a long time, leaving a residue that can trigger a chain of thoughts, even though you are not sure what it is or when it happens.
I like entertainment movies as well. They let me forget the daily complexities and step into the shadow world for a couple of hours with a nice snack and drink.
Movies and books are just different, and it is a great pleasure to have both. Everyday life is a continuous digest of the surrounding symbolic world. By interacting with other forms of the symbolic world, you can find a room to widen, rethink, and even escape your inner self.
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