I feel like recent generations have their choice of comfort movies. The 1980s have “The Breakfast Club”, “Pretty In Pink”, and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” The 1990s have “Ten Things I Hate About You”, “Groundhog Day,” and “Mrs. Doubtfire”. And of course, the early 2000s have “Legally Blonde”, “How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days,” and “The Notebook”. With many different movies with many different styles and feels, what they all have in common is the ‘’feel good nature’’ that they all leave the viewer with after the movie has concluded. And yet, this does not extend to modern day.
I feel like many movies made in the 2020s and beyond have lost what makes a movie a movie in the first place. Instead of being enjoyable and exciting for the viewer, I feel like most modern movies are replacing the enjoyable aspect with ‘’thought-provoking” and “gripping” nature to leave the audience with. Wanting to deliver a film that possesses something different and jarring that has not been seen before, I feel like most films are trying to be different and outgoing, that forgets to be well… Enjoyable.
I don’t want to say that many modern movies are trying to score for the Oscars, but I feel like many movies are trying to score for the Oscars. To use the term, “Oscar bait”, many modern movies are trying to create different movies that instead of telling a coherent and simple story the audience will enjoy, instead opt to appeal to the critics, which will then make the film more likely to be considered for an Oscar, hence the word, “Oscar bait”.
And while there is nothing wrong with movies that want to aim for an Oscar, it becomes a problem when all the films that are playing in the theater are trying to aim for an Oscar. Sometimes you do not want to go to the theater to think and ponder about the natural world of things. Sometimes, you just want to turn off your brain and watch a movie that makes you laugh while sucking down a large cup of soda and occasionally popping snacks into your mouth.
