Movies and Television: Who Has Time?

I don’t see movies anymore. Who has time? I sure don’t. After I get home from the office, my time in the evening is best spent doing research and writing for my upcoming books, or in composing new music, or other creative pursuits. Weekends are taken up with my parish music ministry. So the very idea of spending two precious hours alone in a dark theater with Hollywood’s latest high decibel effects-laden bombast is, quite frankly, unappealing to me. 

There was a time when I looked forward to the latest superhero or science-fiction movie, but the genre has become worn out, at least for me. Surely, there must be another way to tell a story without the protagonist needing to wear a mask or wreaking havoc in the skies above a densely populated metropolis while dressed in armor or cape and tights. 

Don’t get me wrong. I grew up with comic books. Every Saturday, I raced on my bike to the local Thrifty drug store to peruse the comic book rack for the latest offerings from DC and Marvel. My favorites in the late 1960s were Jack Kirby’s New Gods  series plus Neal Adams’ Green Lantern-Green Arrow  series and his work on Deadman and Batman. Live action portrayals of comic books were limited to television with the Adventures of Superman  in the 1950s, Batman (Adam West) in the 1960s, and Wonder Woman, and The Incredible Hulk  in the 1970s. That was it! There was also Captain Marvel (SHAZAM) and a cheesy Spider-Man  series but my point is that live action superhero portrayals were rare and, therefore, much appreciated.

Fast forward to the 21^st  century. There’s a new superhero movie almost every month! So, of course, the genre will become tired and worn. But I also stopped going to the movies because I’m hearing-impaired. Even with digital hearing aids and modern state-of-the-art theatrical sound systems, I still miss much of the dialogue in a movie house. Can you understand my reluctance to go to the movies these days? 

Having said that, there’s a major Avengers movie out right now. I missed the last one, and I also didn’t see Black Panther  and Captain Marvel  for the reasons stated above. In fact, this serialized movie-by-movie storytelling is the reason I don’t watch television anymore. Again, who has time to keep up with the storylines of a weekly television series – let alone the serialized MCU? 

But in order to stay in the loop with office and online conversations, I guess I have no choice but to see Avengers: Endgame. Sigh. It’s three hours long. Three hours of my life that I will never get back. 

Important Sidebar: Avengers: Endgame  raked in $1.2 BILLION worldwide on its opening weekend. ONE POINT TWO BILLION DOLLARS! Who is pocketing this excessive intake? Think about it. Worldwide poverty could be eliminated by these movies! (Yeah, I’m opening myself up to Judas criticism, but I am only posing the question!)