Enjoyment of Bad Movies

Since Star Wars Day is Monday, I considered doing a Star Wars Saturday Note, but I don’t know what I’d say? I guess I’m a bit Star Wars’d out on interesting essay topics.

I am a bit behind on letters, which is frustrating, though hopefully I can get that done in the next week. Still need to find a place to put annotations, though.

Presently reading An Unexpected Apprentice by Jody Lynn Nye!

The Joy of Bad Movies

You know what’s fun? Watching dumb, bad movies.

Allow me to clarify: there are movies that are bad because they are painful to watch, and movies that are bad because of some ineptitude in this or that part of the production process. It is the latter I want to talk about; however, I recognize that this is a fuzzy line. What works for some people as amusement might just be irritating to others. I have a couple of friends who have this argument about Neo Yokio on Netflix: one thinks it’s so bad it’s funny, the other thinks it’s just bad.

It is hard to know where the line is for each individual. I’m tempted to say that it’s a matter of how seriously the movie takes itself. That’s not a good measure, though: sometimes, bad drama is hilarious to watch because it takes itself so seriously. There was a discussion on one of my sporkings for ImpishIdea, in which I discussed which of two books was worse. The crowd seemed to think that the comedic one was worse, when I insisted that the conspiracy thriller was, and a friend pointed out something I think about often: when comedy fails, it’s grating, whereas when high drama fails, it can be unintentionally hilarious.

But a movie that takes itself too seriously can just be unpleasant to watch. That was my experience with Ironclad. It’s a film that not only is serious all the way through, it has gratuitous violence. And the action scenes are not well-shot–the movie fell victim to the 2000s/2010s trend of ‘shaky cam’, despite being set in the middle ages, so you can’t tell what’s going on in any given fight scene. It doesn’t look good, the scenes don’t look good, it’s too grim to be even unintentionally funny, it’s just a bad experience all around.

Compare this to something like Vikingdom. This is a movie that is trying to be dramatic, but it’s in a way that’s so cheesy, so over-the-top, that it cannot be taken seriously. The sets, the fight choreography, the story–it’s all ridiculous. I had so much fun watching that trainwreck of a film, because it was dumb. Mind you, my dad found it just plain bad, and he seems utterly baffled by how much I enjoyed watching that movie with him.

I am beginning to wonder, however, if I would enjoy watching this movie again. Maybe it loses its charm after the first time. I would also like to watch with someone; I don’t know if watching alone has the same effect. Unfortunately, I don’t know who I can get to watch this movie with me…

[Also, Vikingdom is long. It’s two hours, and I recall halfway through wondering how the heck the Plot would go on for another hour.]

I suppose watching with someone also helps greatly, though it is not necessary in every case. I will admit that watching bad movies with people, sometimes they seem to have a less favorable impression of the movie than I do.

I recall watching The Hunters on Netflix, and it is indeed a very silly, stupid movie. Despite being set in modern day, villains inexplicably shoot people with miniature crossbows, and the resolution involves the protagonist deciding that since one name sounds ‘kind of like’ another that it’ll all work out in the end. But I did have fun with how dumb it was, despite it being something I watch alone. I did remember thinking that I would have more fun watching it with someone, though, and I was never able to do that before the movie left Netflix, and it’s such an obscure piece that I haven’t seen it pop up anywhere else.

So this is my advice then: if you want to enjoy bad movies, find something low budget, find something that isn’t particularly violent or over-the-top gory. Gather some company that can either also enjoy a bad movie, or won’t hate you while you do so. Go in with low expectations–and that includes how funny the movie will be for you. Be prepared to make your own jokes about how dumb it is, or how things don’t make sense.

There are people who think that you’re wasting your time if you’re not watching only good movies. I don’t think that’s quite true–as long as you’re having fun, as long as you recognize the quality of the movie you’re watching, I think it’s fine.

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