This might be a really weird opinion..
No, it definitely is.
Every movie that I consider to be one of my favorites, I have seen less than three times. Some of them just once. I don’t think of movies like I do music. Or perhaps I don’t want to make the same mistake with movies that I do with songs I fall in love with.
Whenever I hear a song I like, really like, for the first time it almost always goes the same way. I find out the name of the song, thank you Shazam, and then listen to it whenever and wherever I can. While studying, working out, on public transit, doing work around the house, and literally any other excuse I can find.
In other words: hide the aux cord when Griffin finds his new “favorite” song or you will suffer the consequences.
Unfortunately, after indulging in a song over a period of a few weeks, maybe a month at most, I am completely burnt out and intent on not hearing that song again for the foreseeable future. Too much of a good thing I suppose. It’s quite disappointing when something you were so in love with just days before, no longer evokes the same feelings or excitement. The process may be gradual in theory but it never feels like it. Just one day I will wake up, decide I have had enough and then move on to the next thing. I have wrecked a lot of great songs by doing this, too many to count here.
So that’s why about three years ago I decided to never fall into that trap when it comes to the films and television. If a movie is able to capture my attention, I don’t fight it. I allow it to reel me in and I immerse myself fully in the world playing out on screen. Afterwards, I enjoy spirited discussions and analysis about all the aspects of the film. Plot, theme, devices, tropes, foreshadowing, allusion, score, and characters. I love getting nerdy about a film and stacking it up against other great works.
Then… I don’t watch that movie again for a LONG time. It could be months, at the earliest, but more likely than not it will be a matter of years before I willingly watch a movie for the second time.
Why?
It comes back to a principle of mine. I am a big believer in keeping the magic of the past alive but never trying to go backwards in order to evoke it. Over time I have learned that when you try to recreate a moment, you are only setting yourself up for disappointment. That moment existed because of how all the “stars” aligned to make it what it was. The people, place, day, circumstances; they won’t come together in that exact way ever again, therefore that moment can never be created exactly as it was. If you don’t realize this, and attempt to recreate the past anyway, you can actually hurt the magic of the original moment in question. That’s nothing to be lamented. The future can be as bright as you choose to make it so focus on creating new memories and new special moments as opposed to chasing old ones. Simply put: BE CAREFUL WITH NOSTALGIA.
So when it comes to my movies and television: I want my lasting memory of them to be like the first time for as long as I can. Rewatching a movie doesn’t make me love it more. The anticipation, the anxiety, the curiosity, it’s all gone now and with it, any excitement I could ever get. If I love a film, I want it to stay frozen in time for me.
Some movies, people say get better the second time you see them because you pick up on things that you didn’t at first. To this I say that part of my enjoyment was not having the benefit of hindsight and an overly analytical perspective. I don’t want to go back, I want to enjoy the “a ha!” moment .
My weird way of keeping the magic of a movie alive.
P.S. here are some of my favorite movies along with the number of times I have seen each of them. As you will see, I am not one to watch my favourite movies all the time.
Apocalypse Now – twice
Blade Runner – twice
Shutter Island – once
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood – twice
The Sting – once
The Machinist – once
The Hateful Eight – once
Ad Astra – once
The Deer Hunter – twice
Fight Club – twice
The Revenant – twice