Ironically, as our ability to focus on a show declines, streaming services like Netflix seem to respond by making content that requires less attention.
This involves familiar tropes and broad storytelling that feel primed for surface engagement rather than meaningful impact.
Such moves are intentional, suggested American cultural critic Will Talvin in an essay on how Netflix ruined movies.
More “pseudo movies” were being made for viewers to run in the background while doing other tasks, “designed to be played but not watched”, Talvin wrote in n+1 magazine in December 2024.
“Several screenwriters who’ve worked for the streamer told me a common note from company executives is ‘have this character announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this programme on in the background can follow along.’”
Wow. Those last two are a complete disaster if true. Imagine investing millions of dollars into creating a product in a visual medium, with the express intention of making possible for it to be...
Wow. Those last two are a complete disaster if true. Imagine investing millions of dollars into creating a product in a visual medium, with the express intention of making possible for it to be passively consumed.
So, this was intentional after all.
I have an American friend who consumes several hours worth of TV shows almost every day. I have asked her how she makes the time, and she told me that she just lets the shows “play in the background”. I have discussed this with her a few times, and she doesn’t understand why it confuses me so much that she does this. I mean, how does she ever even remember what happened in the show when all she knows is what she “heard”? So much of the visual story telling medium through film is about “seeing” scenes with no or minimal sounds. But again, she couldn’t comprehend why this bothered me so much.
I think the only shows I could ever put on aw "background shows" are ones that I've watched before several times and already know what's going to happen. Having a new show be shown in the...
I think the only shows I could ever put on aw "background shows" are ones that I've watched before several times and already know what's going to happen.
Having a new show be shown in the background makes me think "why not listen to a podcast/audiobook/audio drama/old school radio drama" instead.
I'm a sucker for documentaries, so I tried to put them on as a background thing for a little while and then end up rewatching 3 hours of Modern Marvels. Turns out I can't do that for background...
I'm a sucker for documentaries, so I tried to put them on as a background thing for a little while and then end up rewatching 3 hours of Modern Marvels. Turns out I can't do that for background stuff.
I think if there was one show we would do that with in my house, it would be Friends since my wife and I watched that together a couple of times.
To be fair that’s what people mostly had on TV in the past anyway. It’s just that instead of slopfest scripted movies it was daytime soap operas, trash TV shows like Maury Povich or Judge Judy,...
Wow. Those last two are a complete disaster if true. Imagine investing millions of dollars into creating a product in a visual medium, with the express intention of making possible for it to be passively consumed.
To be fair that’s what people mostly had on TV in the past anyway. It’s just that instead of slopfest scripted movies it was daytime soap operas, trash TV shows like Maury Povich or Judge Judy, home shopping network, cooking shows, or (most destructively for society) 24-hour cable news. All of those are basically designed for “background viewing” to have while you’re doing other things. Netflix is just getting in on it with reality TV and scripted slop (scrop?) instead.
There’s even some “prestige” stuff that’s meant mainly for background viewing. Like Ken Burn’s “Civil War” docuseries is 12 hours long! I don’t think people were watching it that closely. A lot of those nature series, like “Blue Planet” are similar. Obviously, we can choose our slop. I think we probably should opt for things like “March of the Penguins” or that Norwegian slow TV instead. But on the ladder of offensive and bad-for-you crap people can be tuning into, I think a trashy procedural movie is probably preferable to having Fox News filling your head with outrage bait all day.
Now the bigger problem we have is a lot of people are getting outrage bait in their eyeballs from the TV and the phone AT THE SAME TIME. No mind can withstand such an onslaught.
Yeah. Let's not pretend that the past was some artistic golden age that the smartphone has killed. Pre-smartphone daytime TV was filled to the brim with pure crap that'd play in the background of...
To be fair that’s what people mostly had on TV in the past anyway. It’s just that instead of slopfest scripted movies it was daytime soap operas, trash TV shows like Maury Povich or Judge Judy, home shopping network, cooking shows, or (most destructively for society) 24-hour cable news.
Yeah. Let's not pretend that the past was some artistic golden age that the smartphone has killed. Pre-smartphone daytime TV was filled to the brim with pure crap that'd play in the background of gyms, laundromats, and barbershops.
Let's not forget the Jerry Springer Show and other 'smackdown' tabloid talk shows that dominated the early 2000s and debased our culture for money.
True. We remember the good stuff from decades ago but not all the utter crap that was airing in between. For every Sopranos, there’s 10-20 Jersey Shores.
True. We remember the good stuff from decades ago but not all the utter crap that was airing in between. For every Sopranos, there’s 10-20 Jersey Shores.
Long format documentaries are nice. I definitely grew up watching them when they were available on PBS. Pretty sure I watched the Ken Burns Jazz one too at some point. I don't do background TV...
Long format documentaries are nice. I definitely grew up watching them when they were available on PBS. Pretty sure I watched the Ken Burns Jazz one too at some point.
I don't do background TV stuff, and I find it distracting and annoying when other people do. Growing up, you turned the TV on to watch the show(s) you were going to watch, then turned it back off when you were done.
There are absolutely things that you can put on in the background and not lose as much. Most films require more attention than that, but I don't think I'm missing anything big if a reality TV show...
There are absolutely things that you can put on in the background and not lose as much. Most films require more attention than that, but I don't think I'm missing anything big if a reality TV show is on in the background. A lot of people use Twitch streams this way (often called "second screen content"). Not everything is made to require the viewer's full attention or needs to be made that way -- there's only a problem when funding sources like Netflix pressure creators to make films worse in order for htem to be better background content.
I just always assumed that a lot of this is due to Netflix creating as many shows and movies as possible cutting corners wherever. Where one of the corners I assumed was less experienced writes,...
I just always assumed that a lot of this is due to Netflix creating as many shows and movies as possible cutting corners wherever. Where one of the corners I assumed was less experienced writes, as a lot of the "character blatantly telling you what they are doing and why" is something you also see when people first start writing stories.
This sort of thing being intentional sucks even more. Because it means that some shows and movies actually could have been freaking better instead of this low effort bullshit.
If I don't enjoy a show or movie, I turn it off, running it in the background just seems useless to me.
I feel like I was early to realizing this was a bad habit. I remember waiting a week between DVDs of a TV series set on ye olde non-streaming Netflix, and I realized if I didn't close my laptop...
I feel like I was early to realizing this was a bad habit. I remember waiting a week between DVDs of a TV series set on ye olde non-streaming Netflix, and I realized if I didn't close my laptop and set it aside I'd miss half of an episode...and what's the point, then?
I can do #1 with ease. #2 I can do, but that’s only because I almost exclusively watch shows and movies on my M1 Mac Mini, so I just immediately pull up Wikipedia to research all of those details....
In particular, one tongue-in-cheek Instagram post that challenges users to sit through an entire film or movie, like in the good old days, seems to capture the zeitgeist in five steps.
Watch an entire film without looking at your phone once. I mean, the whole time.
Once the film is finished, don’t pick up your phone.
After the film, read nothing online about plot holes, production, characters, box office takings, actor personal lives. Nothing.
Look at no reviews of the film, professional or otherwise.
Just go straight to bed. Do not google the film. I dare you.
I can do #1 with ease. #2 I can do, but that’s only because I almost exclusively watch shows and movies on my M1 Mac Mini, so I just immediately pull up Wikipedia to research all of those details. lol I don’t think that I could resist the urge.
On the other hand though, I have been watching movies and shows less and less over the years, especially the latter. It’s too time-consuming, and I’d rather invest that time into walking through classic singleplayer games that I have yet to experience. I get more satisfaction out of that.
I don't understand the point of the challenge, honestly. The first bullet makes sense to me and seems like a challenge that can improve you. But the rest just seem like variations on not enjoying...
I don't understand the point of the challenge, honestly. The first bullet makes sense to me and seems like a challenge that can improve you. But the rest just seem like variations on not enjoying a film socially once it's over.
Edit: ironically, I spent more time reflecting on it and realized that the point of the challenge is to spend more time reflecting.
It feels like two challenges rolled into one. #1 and #2 are “on-topic”; focus on the media itself, don’t overstimulate, and give yourself time to wind down instead of immediately more stimulation....
It feels like two challenges rolled into one.
#1 and #2 are “on-topic”; focus on the media itself, don’t overstimulate, and give yourself time to wind down instead of immediately more stimulation.
#3-5 seem more targeted at reflecting on the experience and forming your own opinions. I’ve lost track of the number of times someone really enjoyed a thing we watched, soon went online and saw people tearing it apart - every nit big and small - and came away disliking it. I guess there’a a tie in to the first half of the challenge in terms of breaking the continued stimulation without pause.
The challenge is easier to do if you watch the movie with at least one other person. Or pretend like you’re in a theater (of the olde times because I have seen people use their phones in theaters...
The challenge is easier to do if you watch the movie with at least one other person. Or pretend like you’re in a theater (of the olde times because I have seen people use their phones in theaters too………..).
A friend of mine and I try to resist the urge to use our phones instead of our memories to figure something out:
“Is the voice of that character the guy from…the show ?”
“Do you want to look it up or continue guessing ?”
And then after some time, we decide if we want to look it up. Sometimes it will be days lol. Then finally, “omg it’s so and so from this show.”
It motivates me to retrain my brain both to retrieve information, but also “delay”the gratification, so to speak. Prolong is probably more accurate, because i enjoy figuring it out as much as the answer itself. Usually.
This is probably a noise comment, but I’d love to know how far back the desire for “background” noise goes, especially given our current “understanding” that people can’t multitask efficiently. I...
This is probably a noise comment, but I’d love to know how far back the desire for “background” noise goes, especially given our current “understanding” that people can’t multitask efficiently.
I think we are learning a lot about the brain in boredom or “idle” states. I.e. that the brain is never really resting.
Lastly, yes, it’s one thing to put things on in the background, but a whole other beast for producers to make things with the intent of it going on in the background…what a time we live in. I feel that the incessant recaps and reminders of what just happened is partially to blame for this phenomenon—that you will be spoonfed and told everything, you don’t need to remember anything or do any thinking. I assume the recaps are due to ad breaks (frequency and duration), but also lack of good or usable material, so it’s also filler.
I for one cannot stand background anything. There's very specific times I like having some music playing in the background (like when I'm cooking, cleaning, biking, or playing a relaxing game) but...
I for one cannot stand background anything. There's very specific times I like having some music playing in the background (like when I'm cooking, cleaning, biking, or playing a relaxing game) but having shows and movies and music playing is too much for me.
Which puts me at odds with the rest of my family since they have the TV on always, despite barely paying any attention. I don't get it. It drives me crazy.
I am the same. I am just way too distractible. I find it almost impossible to work while listening to music, for example. I can do mindless chores while listening to music, but I can't listen to a...
I am the same. I am just way too distractible. I find it almost impossible to work while listening to music, for example. I can do mindless chores while listening to music, but I can't listen to a podcast because I end up doing the chore very badly and still have no idea what the podcaster is saying. So I spend the great majority of my day in silence until I'm ready to fully focus on something I want to listen to.
I never look at my phone while watching a show — or while doing any activity really. I constantly misplace my phone, and often accidentally go all day without it, because I can't split my attention like seemingly everyone else can: if it's out of sight, it's out of mind.
Inversely, my partner has ADHD and almost requires multiple levels of stimulation to focus on anything because their brain will invent distractions otherwise.
Inversely, my partner has ADHD and almost requires multiple levels of stimulation to focus on anything because their brain will invent distractions otherwise.
I think it's very likely that I do (based on family history and other factors, like extreme hyperfocus and finding it easier to sleep if I take a caffeine pill before bed), but I have not been...
I think it's very likely that I do (based on family history and other factors, like extreme hyperfocus and finding it easier to sleep if I take a caffeine pill before bed), but I have not been diagnosed. I've made several false starts, but I just don't have what it takes to get through the arduous process of getting assessed.
From Police Squad! (1982) Wiki, they explain why such an excellent show was cancelled after only 6 episodes, despite it being obviously well written enough to spin off the Naked Gun movies series....
From Police Squad! (1982) Wiki, they explain why such an excellent show was cancelled after only 6 episodes, despite it being obviously well written enough to spin off the Naked Gun movies series.
Police Squad! was canceled because viewers had to pay close attention to the show in order to get much of the humor: "the viewer had to watch it in order to appreciate it".
While this isn't totally new, I do think we're experiencing a new low if screenwriters are told to make stuff specifically for the background.
I admit I am sometimes guilty of that. It depends on whether it is something I have watched before or if I am only half-liking what I am watching. Going to a cinema is a great way to force myself...
I admit I am sometimes guilty of that. It depends on whether it is something I have watched before or if I am only half-liking what I am watching. Going to a cinema is a great way to force myself complete attention, and the effect can go both ways. It can elevate a good movie but also make a mediocre movie even more tiresome to sit through.
The impact to have shows and movies be made with this in mind are made is more concerning, as it would likely just increase that bad habit. And I think it has moved in that direction for years now, though now it seems to be more obvious and a direct demand from the producers. I think the constant need for foreshadowing and exposition have gone too far for quite a while and especially many tv shows have had a tendency to really stretch and pad their episodes, so only one thing seems to happen in a single episode. This trend made me basically give up on watching series and I only watch movies now, as I rarely felt the extra running time to tell a story added that much in the end. It was just longer.
As for the challenge of not even looking up reviews or analysis is something I need to think about, as it conflicts with how I generally approach my film hobby. I enjoy reading other peoples opinions and analysis after I have seen something. Getting other perspectives can be very eye opening. Though I guess it could wait till the next day.
This issue is the cause of so much strife between me and my wife and kids (well, the one kid who still has an attention span capable of sitting in one place for a couple hours at a time, at...
This issue is the cause of so much strife between me and my wife and kids (well, the one kid who still has an attention span capable of sitting in one place for a couple hours at a time, at least). I've mostly given up on my wife, who seems no longer capable of watching something on TV without also playing games on her iPad, but I've been trying so hard to make my kid understand what a terrible habit it is and how he'll be missing out on the true joy of appreciating a film if he's dividing his attention like that. I think it's a losing battle though, since he's got the "but mom does it" card to play.
Another source of strife is my wife will say she wants to watch some movie or show with me, which normally I would be ecstatic about, but then I'll see the little "Netflix Original" logo next to the title and my body goes into full on rejection mode because I've been burned so many times (feels like it's always either bland trash that will last a hundred seasons, or something actually worth watching that will either get canceled and leave you irritated or lose its budget and morph into the bland trash variety).
The worst part is the frequent “Wait, what just happened?”, “Who’s that?”, and other questions with very clear answers if they just paid attention that disrupt your focus and immersion.
The worst part is the frequent “Wait, what just happened?”, “Who’s that?”, and other questions with very clear answers if they just paid attention that disrupt your focus and immersion.
I wish I could help you with the first bit. My wife and kids are the same, they'll throw on a show and spend the entire time looking at their phones. How does one enjoy anything that way??
I wish I could help you with the first bit. My wife and kids are the same, they'll throw on a show and spend the entire time looking at their phones. How does one enjoy anything that way??
This is the reason I literally put my phone somewhere out of sight when I sit down to watch a movie, TV show, or even play a video game. I've tried just putting it out of reach, which stopped me...
This is the reason I literally put my phone somewhere out of sight when I sit down to watch a movie, TV show, or even play a video game.
I've tried just putting it out of reach, which stopped me from using it, but there was still that sting every time I looked at it and wanted to grab it for that quick dopamine fix. Moving my phone literally out of sight actually allows me to forget about it long enough to truly focus on the much more fulfilling media in front of me.
My friends and family have just had to get used to the fact that I probably won't respond to messages from them for a few hours, especially on weekends.
I've taken to doing the same. I can always keep my watch on if I really want text messages. Your comment about people knowing you might not respond right away to messages brings up a related...
I've taken to doing the same. I can always keep my watch on if I really want text messages.
Your comment about people knowing you might not respond right away to messages brings up a related issue: We are always expected to be available 24/7 via our phones (be it calling, messaging, whatever).
That means we never really get time for ourselves. I find that leaving my phone in the other room while I watch a movie gives me some time where no one is bugging me for something (or even just using mental energy to respond to a message). It's a great way to decompress.
Agreed! It's fun and more stimulating to gauge the interaction since you must depend on body language, mannerisms and other features vs English shows. However, if possible, I watch all media with...
Agreed! It's fun and more stimulating to gauge the interaction since you must depend on body language, mannerisms and other features vs English shows. However, if possible, I watch all media with subtitles since it's easier to process.
The rise of second screen content is really disheartening to me. I'm watching TV to enjoy a story, not to make 6:00 turn into 10:00 faster. It sucks that series with great potential get chopped up...
The rise of second screen content is really disheartening to me. I'm watching TV to enjoy a story, not to make 6:00 turn into 10:00 faster. It sucks that series with great potential get chopped up and mutilated to account for the fact that viewers aren't viewing. (cough Avatar cough)
The challenge wasn’t just commentary on our fleeting attention spans caused by extensive smartphone and social media use. It was, more specifically, was about our instinctive habit of satisfying our craving for multiple layers of stimulation at once – which has been exacerbated by an online culture of churn that prioritises quantity over quality.
I was ready to disagree with this, because I felt like picking up my phone to read discussions immediately after finishing a show or movie was separate from the viewing experience, but I have to acknowledge that the period after watching the show is part of watching the show. I never really digest the media I watch anymore; I immediately take to the internet to read discussions to help shape my opinions.
As much as I believe I'm unsusceptible to having my opinions meaningfully changed by reading someone else's, I'm going to start giving it a few days before reading about a show I've just finished. Other people's reviews will still be there when I check, and it'll give me time to put my feelings into words independent of what other people have written.
A couple of things from anecdotal experience. First, I seem to like TV more than movies and can't figure out why. I don't think it's an attention issue, but two things come to mind. TV episodes,...
A couple of things from anecdotal experience. First, I seem to like TV more than movies and can't figure out why. I don't think it's an attention issue, but two things come to mind. TV episodes, and therefore series, are easier to break up into chunks, especially when you have more going on in life. It's easier to watch 20-45 minute episodes (not counting commercials due to the high seas) than a 90-180 minute movie. Leaving a movie hanging partway, even briefly, leaves me frustrated and ruins the experience.
The second is that the flow of a series seems to give more of a roller coaster ride, especially with more 'premium' ones, such as HBO vs network television. Maybe it's because there are a bunch of different dopamine hits versus one movie building up or following a longer, more linear plot.
From step 3 onwards, I admit that's where I draw the line and like to look up actors/directors. What other work have they done? Where do I know that face from? Also, thankfully, due to sailing the high seas, almost all of my choices are not due to AI slop but other users discussing shows and their current experiences. I find that to be something of a relief as well.
As for shows going on in the background? Those are mainly shows that I've seen long before and half-forgotten or shows, in my view, don't require the depth of full attention. Friends, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Drew Carey? Easy enough to follow the plot and laugh at the jokes all while folding laundry or some other mundane task, but trying to read a book or mindlessly scroll on my phone simultaneously? Nope.
Finally, not just with TV or movies, as I age, I get a sense of FOMO and that 'there's never enough time' for anything. So, I do try to multitask as much as possible, regardless of the activities I'm participating in, whether they be hobbies or chores.
I cannot do it. I have to pay attention to be able to have any hope of keeping up with plot anyway. Actually, in an offtopic bit… My wife is in the process of probably having her ADHD diganosis...
I cannot do it. I have to pay attention to be able to have any hope of keeping up with plot anyway.
Actually, in an offtopic bit… My wife is in the process of probably having her ADHD diganosis updated to AuDHD, and I think that there's a chance I'm on that path as well.
Very rarely I feel like I can keep up with a show, know everything that's going on, even sense things that are coming up - catching the story beats and making valid predictions. But also some significant part of the time, I find myself completely bewildered by peoples' actions and plot points. I still find the shows entertaining (most of the time), but I just have absolutely no idea why people are doing things that they're doing.
So there's just no way - most of the time - that I could do anything else but closely watch a show or movie. Also because I have auditory issues thanks to ADHD and so tend to prefer subtitles on to make sure I'm understanding it all.
(Although that said, for foreign language stuff, I highly prefer subtitles over subs so I can hear the original line readings with their emotions).
To be fair, a whole lot of shows are very poorly written and characters do things that advance the plot or heighten the drama rather than what real human beings do in that position.
To be fair, a whole lot of shows are very poorly written and characters do things that advance the plot or heighten the drama rather than what real human beings do in that position.
I think looking up an actor is reasonable at home. But aside from that neither my partner or I claim to "watch" something with our phone out. Sure if I'm watching something she is less interested...
I think looking up an actor is reasonable at home. But aside from that neither my partner or I claim to "watch" something with our phone out. Sure if I'm watching something she is less interested in she might be on her phone or if I'm not very interested in her show I might be on my steam deck.
We also don't do background TV at all. Heck I'm very happy that in our new home there is one TV and it isn't in the main living space. So putting something on TV is a very intentional decision to be in a particular room. Our living room is simple and I hope to set up a decent stereo for listening to music when we cook, clean, and host.
Wow. Those last two are a complete disaster if true. Imagine investing millions of dollars into creating a product in a visual medium, with the express intention of making possible for it to be passively consumed.
So, this was intentional after all.
I have an American friend who consumes several hours worth of TV shows almost every day. I have asked her how she makes the time, and she told me that she just lets the shows “play in the background”. I have discussed this with her a few times, and she doesn’t understand why it confuses me so much that she does this. I mean, how does she ever even remember what happened in the show when all she knows is what she “heard”? So much of the visual story telling medium through film is about “seeing” scenes with no or minimal sounds. But again, she couldn’t comprehend why this bothered me so much.
I think the only shows I could ever put on aw "background shows" are ones that I've watched before several times and already know what's going to happen.
Having a new show be shown in the background makes me think "why not listen to a podcast/audiobook/audio drama/old school radio drama" instead.
I'll do documentaries about history where you didn't need visuals...
But to think about watching GoT in the background...
I'm a sucker for documentaries, so I tried to put them on as a background thing for a little while and then end up rewatching 3 hours of Modern Marvels. Turns out I can't do that for background stuff.
I think if there was one show we would do that with in my house, it would be Friends since my wife and I watched that together a couple of times.
This.
To be fair that’s what people mostly had on TV in the past anyway. It’s just that instead of slopfest scripted movies it was daytime soap operas, trash TV shows like Maury Povich or Judge Judy, home shopping network, cooking shows, or (most destructively for society) 24-hour cable news. All of those are basically designed for “background viewing” to have while you’re doing other things. Netflix is just getting in on it with reality TV and scripted slop (scrop?) instead.
There’s even some “prestige” stuff that’s meant mainly for background viewing. Like Ken Burn’s “Civil War” docuseries is 12 hours long! I don’t think people were watching it that closely. A lot of those nature series, like “Blue Planet” are similar. Obviously, we can choose our slop. I think we probably should opt for things like “March of the Penguins” or that Norwegian slow TV instead. But on the ladder of offensive and bad-for-you crap people can be tuning into, I think a trashy procedural movie is probably preferable to having Fox News filling your head with outrage bait all day.
Now the bigger problem we have is a lot of people are getting outrage bait in their eyeballs from the TV and the phone AT THE SAME TIME. No mind can withstand such an onslaught.
Yeah. Let's not pretend that the past was some artistic golden age that the smartphone has killed. Pre-smartphone daytime TV was filled to the brim with pure crap that'd play in the background of gyms, laundromats, and barbershops.
Let's not forget the Jerry Springer Show and other 'smackdown' tabloid talk shows that dominated the early 2000s and debased our culture for money.
True. We remember the good stuff from decades ago but not all the utter crap that was airing in between. For every Sopranos, there’s 10-20 Jersey Shores.
Long format documentaries are nice. I definitely grew up watching them when they were available on PBS. Pretty sure I watched the Ken Burns Jazz one too at some point.
I don't do background TV stuff, and I find it distracting and annoying when other people do. Growing up, you turned the TV on to watch the show(s) you were going to watch, then turned it back off when you were done.
There are absolutely things that you can put on in the background and not lose as much. Most films require more attention than that, but I don't think I'm missing anything big if a reality TV show is on in the background. A lot of people use Twitch streams this way (often called "second screen content"). Not everything is made to require the viewer's full attention or needs to be made that way -- there's only a problem when funding sources like Netflix pressure creators to make films worse in order for htem to be better background content.
I just always assumed that a lot of this is due to Netflix creating as many shows and movies as possible cutting corners wherever. Where one of the corners I assumed was less experienced writes, as a lot of the "character blatantly telling you what they are doing and why" is something you also see when people first start writing stories.
This sort of thing being intentional sucks even more. Because it means that some shows and movies actually could have been freaking better instead of this low effort bullshit.
If I don't enjoy a show or movie, I turn it off, running it in the background just seems useless to me.
I feel like I was early to realizing this was a bad habit. I remember waiting a week between DVDs of a TV series set on ye olde non-streaming Netflix, and I realized if I didn't close my laptop and set it aside I'd miss half of an episode...and what's the point, then?
I can do #1 with ease. #2 I can do, but that’s only because I almost exclusively watch shows and movies on my M1 Mac Mini, so I just immediately pull up Wikipedia to research all of those details. lol I don’t think that I could resist the urge.
On the other hand though, I have been watching movies and shows less and less over the years, especially the latter. It’s too time-consuming, and I’d rather invest that time into walking through classic singleplayer games that I have yet to experience. I get more satisfaction out of that.
I don't understand the point of the challenge, honestly. The first bullet makes sense to me and seems like a challenge that can improve you. But the rest just seem like variations on not enjoying a film socially once it's over.
Edit: ironically, I spent more time reflecting on it and realized that the point of the challenge is to spend more time reflecting.
It feels like two challenges rolled into one.
#1 and #2 are “on-topic”; focus on the media itself, don’t overstimulate, and give yourself time to wind down instead of immediately more stimulation.
#3-5 seem more targeted at reflecting on the experience and forming your own opinions. I’ve lost track of the number of times someone really enjoyed a thing we watched, soon went online and saw people tearing it apart - every nit big and small - and came away disliking it. I guess there’a a tie in to the first half of the challenge in terms of breaking the continued stimulation without pause.
The challenge is easier to do if you watch the movie with at least one other person. Or pretend like you’re in a theater (of the olde times because I have seen people use their phones in theaters too………..).
A friend of mine and I try to resist the urge to use our phones instead of our memories to figure something out:
“Is the voice of that character the guy from…the show ?”
“Do you want to look it up or continue guessing ?”
And then after some time, we decide if we want to look it up. Sometimes it will be days lol. Then finally, “omg it’s so and so from this show.”
It motivates me to retrain my brain both to retrieve information, but also “delay”the gratification, so to speak. Prolong is probably more accurate, because i enjoy figuring it out as much as the answer itself. Usually.
This is probably a noise comment, but I’d love to know how far back the desire for “background” noise goes, especially given our current “understanding” that people can’t multitask efficiently.
I think we are learning a lot about the brain in boredom or “idle” states. I.e. that the brain is never really resting.
Lastly, yes, it’s one thing to put things on in the background, but a whole other beast for producers to make things with the intent of it going on in the background…what a time we live in. I feel that the incessant recaps and reminders of what just happened is partially to blame for this phenomenon—that you will be spoonfed and told everything, you don’t need to remember anything or do any thinking. I assume the recaps are due to ad breaks (frequency and duration), but also lack of good or usable material, so it’s also filler.
I for one cannot stand background anything. There's very specific times I like having some music playing in the background (like when I'm cooking, cleaning, biking, or playing a relaxing game) but having shows and movies and music playing is too much for me.
Which puts me at odds with the rest of my family since they have the TV on always, despite barely paying any attention. I don't get it. It drives me crazy.
I am the same. I am just way too distractible. I find it almost impossible to work while listening to music, for example. I can do mindless chores while listening to music, but I can't listen to a podcast because I end up doing the chore very badly and still have no idea what the podcaster is saying. So I spend the great majority of my day in silence until I'm ready to fully focus on something I want to listen to.
I never look at my phone while watching a show — or while doing any activity really. I constantly misplace my phone, and often accidentally go all day without it, because I can't split my attention like seemingly everyone else can: if it's out of sight, it's out of mind.
Honest question - do you also have ADHD? I do, and your experiences mirror mine - except for misplacing my phone.
Inversely, my partner has ADHD and almost requires multiple levels of stimulation to focus on anything because their brain will invent distractions otherwise.
I think it's very likely that I do (based on family history and other factors, like extreme hyperfocus and finding it easier to sleep if I take a caffeine pill before bed), but I have not been diagnosed. I've made several false starts, but I just don't have what it takes to get through the arduous process of getting assessed.
From Police Squad! (1982) Wiki, they explain why such an excellent show was cancelled after only 6 episodes, despite it being obviously well written enough to spin off the Naked Gun movies series.
While this isn't totally new, I do think we're experiencing a new low if screenwriters are told to make stuff specifically for the background.
I admit I am sometimes guilty of that. It depends on whether it is something I have watched before or if I am only half-liking what I am watching. Going to a cinema is a great way to force myself complete attention, and the effect can go both ways. It can elevate a good movie but also make a mediocre movie even more tiresome to sit through.
The impact to have shows and movies be made with this in mind are made is more concerning, as it would likely just increase that bad habit. And I think it has moved in that direction for years now, though now it seems to be more obvious and a direct demand from the producers. I think the constant need for foreshadowing and exposition have gone too far for quite a while and especially many tv shows have had a tendency to really stretch and pad their episodes, so only one thing seems to happen in a single episode. This trend made me basically give up on watching series and I only watch movies now, as I rarely felt the extra running time to tell a story added that much in the end. It was just longer.
As for the challenge of not even looking up reviews or analysis is something I need to think about, as it conflicts with how I generally approach my film hobby. I enjoy reading other peoples opinions and analysis after I have seen something. Getting other perspectives can be very eye opening. Though I guess it could wait till the next day.
This issue is the cause of so much strife between me and my wife and kids (well, the one kid who still has an attention span capable of sitting in one place for a couple hours at a time, at least). I've mostly given up on my wife, who seems no longer capable of watching something on TV without also playing games on her iPad, but I've been trying so hard to make my kid understand what a terrible habit it is and how he'll be missing out on the true joy of appreciating a film if he's dividing his attention like that. I think it's a losing battle though, since he's got the "but mom does it" card to play.
Another source of strife is my wife will say she wants to watch some movie or show with me, which normally I would be ecstatic about, but then I'll see the little "Netflix Original" logo next to the title and my body goes into full on rejection mode because I've been burned so many times (feels like it's always either bland trash that will last a hundred seasons, or something actually worth watching that will either get canceled and leave you irritated or lose its budget and morph into the bland trash variety).
The worst part is the frequent “Wait, what just happened?”, “Who’s that?”, and other questions with very clear answers if they just paid attention that disrupt your focus and immersion.
I wish I could help you with the first bit. My wife and kids are the same, they'll throw on a show and spend the entire time looking at their phones. How does one enjoy anything that way??
This is the reason I literally put my phone somewhere out of sight when I sit down to watch a movie, TV show, or even play a video game.
I've tried just putting it out of reach, which stopped me from using it, but there was still that sting every time I looked at it and wanted to grab it for that quick dopamine fix. Moving my phone literally out of sight actually allows me to forget about it long enough to truly focus on the much more fulfilling media in front of me.
My friends and family have just had to get used to the fact that I probably won't respond to messages from them for a few hours, especially on weekends.
I've taken to doing the same. I can always keep my watch on if I really want text messages.
Your comment about people knowing you might not respond right away to messages brings up a related issue: We are always expected to be available 24/7 via our phones (be it calling, messaging, whatever).
That means we never really get time for ourselves. I find that leaving my phone in the other room while I watch a movie gives me some time where no one is bugging me for something (or even just using mental energy to respond to a message). It's a great way to decompress.
One reason I loved watching squid game with my spouse is that we both had to put our phones down and pay attention to the subtitles.
Agreed! It's fun and more stimulating to gauge the interaction since you must depend on body language, mannerisms and other features vs English shows. However, if possible, I watch all media with subtitles since it's easier to process.
The rise of second screen content is really disheartening to me. I'm watching TV to enjoy a story, not to make 6:00 turn into 10:00 faster. It sucks that series with great potential get chopped up and mutilated to account for the fact that viewers aren't viewing. (cough Avatar cough)
I was ready to disagree with this, because I felt like picking up my phone to read discussions immediately after finishing a show or movie was separate from the viewing experience, but I have to acknowledge that the period after watching the show is part of watching the show. I never really digest the media I watch anymore; I immediately take to the internet to read discussions to help shape my opinions.
As much as I believe I'm unsusceptible to having my opinions meaningfully changed by reading someone else's, I'm going to start giving it a few days before reading about a show I've just finished. Other people's reviews will still be there when I check, and it'll give me time to put my feelings into words independent of what other people have written.
A couple of things from anecdotal experience. First, I seem to like TV more than movies and can't figure out why. I don't think it's an attention issue, but two things come to mind. TV episodes, and therefore series, are easier to break up into chunks, especially when you have more going on in life. It's easier to watch 20-45 minute episodes (not counting commercials due to the high seas) than a 90-180 minute movie. Leaving a movie hanging partway, even briefly, leaves me frustrated and ruins the experience.
The second is that the flow of a series seems to give more of a roller coaster ride, especially with more 'premium' ones, such as HBO vs network television. Maybe it's because there are a bunch of different dopamine hits versus one movie building up or following a longer, more linear plot.
From step 3 onwards, I admit that's where I draw the line and like to look up actors/directors. What other work have they done? Where do I know that face from? Also, thankfully, due to sailing the high seas, almost all of my choices are not due to AI slop but other users discussing shows and their current experiences. I find that to be something of a relief as well.
As for shows going on in the background? Those are mainly shows that I've seen long before and half-forgotten or shows, in my view, don't require the depth of full attention. Friends, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Drew Carey? Easy enough to follow the plot and laugh at the jokes all while folding laundry or some other mundane task, but trying to read a book or mindlessly scroll on my phone simultaneously? Nope.
Finally, not just with TV or movies, as I age, I get a sense of FOMO and that 'there's never enough time' for anything. So, I do try to multitask as much as possible, regardless of the activities I'm participating in, whether they be hobbies or chores.
I cannot do it. I have to pay attention to be able to have any hope of keeping up with plot anyway.
Actually, in an offtopic bit… My wife is in the process of probably having her ADHD diganosis updated to AuDHD, and I think that there's a chance I'm on that path as well.
Very rarely I feel like I can keep up with a show, know everything that's going on, even sense things that are coming up - catching the story beats and making valid predictions. But also some significant part of the time, I find myself completely bewildered by peoples' actions and plot points. I still find the shows entertaining (most of the time), but I just have absolutely no idea why people are doing things that they're doing.
So there's just no way - most of the time - that I could do anything else but closely watch a show or movie. Also because I have auditory issues thanks to ADHD and so tend to prefer subtitles on to make sure I'm understanding it all.
(Although that said, for foreign language stuff, I highly prefer subtitles over subs so I can hear the original line readings with their emotions).
To be fair, a whole lot of shows are very poorly written and characters do things that advance the plot or heighten the drama rather than what real human beings do in that position.
I think looking up an actor is reasonable at home. But aside from that neither my partner or I claim to "watch" something with our phone out. Sure if I'm watching something she is less interested in she might be on her phone or if I'm not very interested in her show I might be on my steam deck.
We also don't do background TV at all. Heck I'm very happy that in our new home there is one TV and it isn't in the main living space. So putting something on TV is a very intentional decision to be in a particular room. Our living room is simple and I hope to set up a decent stereo for listening to music when we cook, clean, and host.