A recapitulation of the conditions of leisure:
Leisure is an end and worth doing for its own sake.
The pleasure of leisure comes with the performance of the act and not after.
Leisure rewards intrinsically, i.e. it causes self-improvement in the agent.
How does watching a movie satisfy these conditions?
Watching is leisurely because it is worth doing for its own sake. I think it is easy to understand a person who watches a movie because he simply enjoys watching. There is no question here that this person is engaged in leisure when he is in the cinematheque. But is there something in a movie that makes it properly an object of leisure? If a movie is an art work, then it is a proper object of leisure. Like all artworks, a movie is not a useful thing. Its very reason for being is to be beautiful; to be contemplated and enjoyed for its own sake on account of the excellence that inheres in it. It is "useless." It does not generate an extrinsic reward. Very few individuals--professional critics-- are paid to watch a movie, and even then, the pay is not really meant to compensate the very act of watching. It is meant more to reward the work that will come after watching--the writing of a review. In fact, the general public actually spends money to stay in a darkened room to be mesmerized by moving pictures. What do they get after the movie? Nothing tangible, actually. They get the pleasure while watching. The operative word here is "while." It is absurd to say that you were entertained and enjoyed a movie only after watching it, in the same manner that it is ridiculous to claim that you enjoyed a song only after after listening to it. The pleasure we all experience comes as we watch. This is the reason why watching a movie is liberal. Nothing comes after it. It does not acquire for us a better good. It is a terminal activity.
What then do we make of the people who claim to go to a movie to relax? If relaxation is a way for us to recharge our tired bodies and minds, then watching a movie is actually counter-productive. To recharge ourselves means not to engage in any activity that requires exertion. If this is the case, then we are better off sleeping than going to a movie (although there are people who actually sleep during a movie. Right Alexis?!). Watching a movie is actually not relaxing if you think about it. To understand what you are watching, you need to think. You need to attentively observe what's happening on the screen, recall previous scenes, re-arrange the plot to grasp the story, relate elements and more when you watch. Moreover, movies can exhaust you emotionally. Consider watching horror films. Can anyone sincerely and truly claim that watching a horror movie relaxes? I don't think any person is relaxed while terrified! Action scenes also excite us to the point of exhaustion. Watch "Black Hawk Down" to see my point. A further point is that there are movies that are physically unbearably long. Movies that exceed two hours has a tendency to strain the lower back and at some point some people begin to lose the feeling in their buttocks. (I haven't seen any of them but I'm curious to know how people physically felt watching Lav Diaz's "marathonian" movies without subjecting myself to 11 straight hours of sitting.)
Perhaps what we need to do is to clarify what we mean by relaxing in a movie. And for this I am going to need the input of people.
I've already mentioned that watching a movie entails thinking. When we do begin to actively engage a movie by subjecting it to our mental process, then we are actually exercising and developing something uniquely human--our ability to think. Doing so also adds to the skills we have because we learn to apply and adapt our thinking skills to watching a movie. And the thinking skill required in watching a movie is different form the skills required in reading a novel, looking at a painting, listening to music, etc. Also, attentive and active watching allows us to understand and experience the beauty uniquely present in a movie. Watching many kinds of movies soaks us in different manifestations of beauty as can only be done in cinema. In the end, we exit the cinematheque better persons because we exercised exclusively human faculties, enhanced old skills and developed new ones and gained experiences that are now indelibly a part of our being. These benefits are permanent and lasting. They can never be taken away from us and can only be added on to and further enhanced.
Done properly, watching a movie can only make us better. This is why watching a movie is a proper exercise of leisure. So please, see a movie and don't relax!
Addendum:
To determine which of your activities is leisure and which ones are useful make two columns and label one as Things I NEED to Do and the other as Things I WANT to Do. The "needs" are useful and the "wants" are leisure. But you also ought to examine whether the activity is, indeed, a need or a want. It is an need if you're doing it for a reason other than itself and a want if the reason is you simply enjoy doing the act and that you grow from doing it.
There are other questions of course, such as "Is it possible to to enjoy a necessary act?" or "Is it possible for an inherently leisurely act to be treated as a useful act?" We can explore these questions later on if interest arises, but for now . . . adieu!
Leisure is an end and worth doing for its own sake.
The pleasure of leisure comes with the performance of the act and not after.
Leisure rewards intrinsically, i.e. it causes self-improvement in the agent.
How does watching a movie satisfy these conditions?
Watching is leisurely because it is worth doing for its own sake. I think it is easy to understand a person who watches a movie because he simply enjoys watching. There is no question here that this person is engaged in leisure when he is in the cinematheque. But is there something in a movie that makes it properly an object of leisure? If a movie is an art work, then it is a proper object of leisure. Like all artworks, a movie is not a useful thing. Its very reason for being is to be beautiful; to be contemplated and enjoyed for its own sake on account of the excellence that inheres in it. It is "useless." It does not generate an extrinsic reward. Very few individuals--professional critics-- are paid to watch a movie, and even then, the pay is not really meant to compensate the very act of watching. It is meant more to reward the work that will come after watching--the writing of a review. In fact, the general public actually spends money to stay in a darkened room to be mesmerized by moving pictures. What do they get after the movie? Nothing tangible, actually. They get the pleasure while watching. The operative word here is "while." It is absurd to say that you were entertained and enjoyed a movie only after watching it, in the same manner that it is ridiculous to claim that you enjoyed a song only after after listening to it. The pleasure we all experience comes as we watch. This is the reason why watching a movie is liberal. Nothing comes after it. It does not acquire for us a better good. It is a terminal activity.
What then do we make of the people who claim to go to a movie to relax? If relaxation is a way for us to recharge our tired bodies and minds, then watching a movie is actually counter-productive. To recharge ourselves means not to engage in any activity that requires exertion. If this is the case, then we are better off sleeping than going to a movie (although there are people who actually sleep during a movie. Right Alexis?!). Watching a movie is actually not relaxing if you think about it. To understand what you are watching, you need to think. You need to attentively observe what's happening on the screen, recall previous scenes, re-arrange the plot to grasp the story, relate elements and more when you watch. Moreover, movies can exhaust you emotionally. Consider watching horror films. Can anyone sincerely and truly claim that watching a horror movie relaxes? I don't think any person is relaxed while terrified! Action scenes also excite us to the point of exhaustion. Watch "Black Hawk Down" to see my point. A further point is that there are movies that are physically unbearably long. Movies that exceed two hours has a tendency to strain the lower back and at some point some people begin to lose the feeling in their buttocks. (I haven't seen any of them but I'm curious to know how people physically felt watching Lav Diaz's "marathonian" movies without subjecting myself to 11 straight hours of sitting.)
Perhaps what we need to do is to clarify what we mean by relaxing in a movie. And for this I am going to need the input of people.
I've already mentioned that watching a movie entails thinking. When we do begin to actively engage a movie by subjecting it to our mental process, then we are actually exercising and developing something uniquely human--our ability to think. Doing so also adds to the skills we have because we learn to apply and adapt our thinking skills to watching a movie. And the thinking skill required in watching a movie is different form the skills required in reading a novel, looking at a painting, listening to music, etc. Also, attentive and active watching allows us to understand and experience the beauty uniquely present in a movie. Watching many kinds of movies soaks us in different manifestations of beauty as can only be done in cinema. In the end, we exit the cinematheque better persons because we exercised exclusively human faculties, enhanced old skills and developed new ones and gained experiences that are now indelibly a part of our being. These benefits are permanent and lasting. They can never be taken away from us and can only be added on to and further enhanced.
Done properly, watching a movie can only make us better. This is why watching a movie is a proper exercise of leisure. So please, see a movie and don't relax!
Addendum:
To determine which of your activities is leisure and which ones are useful make two columns and label one as Things I NEED to Do and the other as Things I WANT to Do. The "needs" are useful and the "wants" are leisure. But you also ought to examine whether the activity is, indeed, a need or a want. It is an need if you're doing it for a reason other than itself and a want if the reason is you simply enjoy doing the act and that you grow from doing it.
There are other questions of course, such as "Is it possible to to enjoy a necessary act?" or "Is it possible for an inherently leisurely act to be treated as a useful act?" We can explore these questions later on if interest arises, but for now . . . adieu!
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