BY MEGHAN BAEHL, STAFF WRITER
My friends and family have raved to me about the new movie, The Batman, but I am not sold on it for one reason. The movie is two hours and fifty-six minutes long.
I want to normalize movies being a solid hour and a half situation. I cannot sit still, and I am the product of my generation, which means I apparently have a short attention span. But I firmly believe that I am not the entire source of said issue. I have been actively engaged in movies before and continue to remain actively engaged in something that is important to me.
As much as I appreciate Robert Pattins0n and Zoë Kravitz, I would appreciate them far more if their movie was under the allotted attention span time. We live in a day and age where most people have to check their phones every couple of minutes or so.
So, how do movie makers operate under the expectation that people like me or my generation have the attention span to watch these types of movies? This is all sounding really negative, and I can assure the readers that this is not my intention. I just wish we could go back to normalizing movies that are not marathons in length. One can argue that maybe I just don’t like movies. But I love movies, specifically in my own home. I pay far too much for streaming services per month to be spending additional money on movie theater prices. Also, the ability to pause and use the restroom, make a snack, call your mom- whatever you may- is mad solid. Also, trying to coordinate movie times with my friend group will leave you wishing you hadn’t asked. Especially nowadays.
I am not sure how they do things at the AMC Allegany 8, but back at the Lombard AMC, you can’t get a ticket sans reservation. You also have to sit in an assigned seat like this is some sort of classroom. I like to watch movies my way.
There is also no pressure to finish a movie, even though I have a firm distaste for people who start movies and don’t finish them. It is the equivalent of taking two sips out of a perfectly good drink and then tossing it. At the end of the day, I have an appreciation for the tradition that is going to the movies.
Since the pandemic, we have fallen into being comfortable at home. I am the first one to admit that. There are fond memories I have at the movies, so I am not judging anyone who still goes. I just feel like all of this is very tell-a-tale of the age we live in. So unless going to the movies will cause my spontaneous combustion, maybe you’ll see me there. So back to The Batman. Is it worth the watch, or should I just wait? Does it really feel like it’s almost three hours long? I will be waiting by my computer for your reviews.
