Goddamn, yes, this has been my approach to media/art for a long time. Back in the days of network tv (yeah, yeah, I's old) you just tuned into whatever was on, at whichever point it was on. 20 minutes into a movie, 50 minutes in, maybe it was the third in a series, who even knew? You turned it on and just started watching, because that's what was on. And holy shit did we all fall in love with so many movies and shows via this method. Often because they came across as vastly more intriguing than they actually were. What did that line mean? Who was that specific character? When I would finally watch the whole movie all the way through, most of these gripping moments turned out to have been boringly setup in the parts I missed, nothing mysterious about it at all.
This was true for shows, too - what episode was this? What season? You didn't freaking know, you just tuned in and experienced it.
As a lifelong comic book reader this was something I was groomed for - Fantastic Four issue #242 is on the spinner rack at the grocery store? Well, that's what you were reading. God knows if you'd ever tumble upon #243 a month later or any of the ones before it.
I'm always baffled when people "complain" that they have to watch every Marvel Cinematic everything just to follow the uber-plot. Like they might not realize one character who shows up in one scene was actually introduced in some other tv show or movie. My god, who cares. It doesn't actually keep you from understanding the essentials, or even most of the minutiae.
To this day, I never binge watch anything. I watch most movies in 2-3 sittings. And sometimes, I still love fast forwarding 20 minutes in first, just to see how it plays. Keep the mystery of storytelling alive! And don't make it a job, ffs.
I feel like the James Joyce in order thing comes from when people who start with Finnegans Wake or whatever are like "You can't convince me this dude writes regular, meaningful prose" so it's like, "Look, if you start from Dubliners and go from there you will very clearly see the development from canny regular prose to uncanny experimental art." So it just became a way to do it logistically.
Some of your points remind me of this great line from a rom-com script a friend of mine wrote, where a guy always watches only the beginning and end of When Harry Met Sally because "I don't like the scenes where they argue."
I do love your idea of starting a person with Matrix Resurrections to indulge in the disorientation of it.
And Breaking Bad is a great point too. First (linear) watch thru you're like "Oh no we're watching Walt lose his soul!" Second watch thru you're like "Holy fuck this guy was cracked from the beginning." The actual murders start much earlier than it feels. So you can skip the first watch effect if you start at the end.
One thing I was glad to give up in cinephilia ages ago was the feeling like I "need" to see anything in particular. This goes for canonical classics ("You haven't seen Glengarry Glen Ross??!"), event franchise releases ("Yeah but how do you know you won't like it if you don't watch it?"), or awards season slurry ("But what was your opinion on The Green Book?").
I learned from writing reviews in college that sometimes you get "coverage brain" where you not only feel you have to keep up with the most significant whatever focus (so like recent releases, recent indie releases, briefly I got paid for Japanese movies reviews and felt like I needed to cover every mentionable jedaigeki), but you also feel like you have to perceive the movie in a particularly critical or insightful way. And whereas that can help you to some degree learn how to think of your own taste and values, after a certain point it makes watching a movie a procedure rather than an experience, and for a lot of types of movies that kills the value.
Genuinely speaking, if I was still reviewing movies like I did on IMDb all those years ago, I probably would have hated I Saw the TV Glow. It is NOT plotted well. But it's my favorite movie of the year, because its universe reflects people I once knew. Coverage brain would have killed that for me.
What a wonderful comment Dane - and thank you so much for sharing your insights and experience. Coverage brain is a fantastic way to put it. I've experienced it, I've felt it and similar to you - I've given up on it because it depresses me. I don't write reviews anymore because it feels like a race and like you're always not watching enough. For what it's worth, I've loved I Saw The TV Glow too but because it made feel a lot of things - from a technical standpoint however, as you mentioned, it's uneven. But who cares! It's still cinema! And I couldn't stop thinking about it for days!
I like the way you celebrate individual taste and freedom in how we engage with stories and break down social norms in this regard. This was a wonderful read; thank you for sharing.
Sorkin’s The Newsroom: I accidentally started at Season 2, Episode 1. I thought I was diving into Season 1, but nope. At first, I was a little confused—like, “Wait, what’s going on?”—but I stuck with it. And pretty quickly, I was hooked. I couldn’t believe how bold the series was—it skipped all the slow, backstory-heavy buildup— this series had the guts to just jump right in, like I already knew who, what, where, and why.
I was enthralled. Boom, boom, boom—episode after episode, I flew through the season. Then, when I got to the end, I realized my mistake.
So what did I do? Naturally, I went back to Season 1. And here’s the thing: had I started with Season 1, I don’t think I would’ve felt the same way. I probably would’ve been entertained—mildly—but I might’ve also been kind of bored. Starting at full speed with Season 2, though? That’s what made me fall in love with it.
It reminds me of The Diplomat. I liked Season 1. It was good. But Season 2? Oh man. That’s when it really took off for me. But then again, season two features Allison Janney so it was already stacked against season one from the start. She kicks ass.
This is a great post/article! I especially agree with what you wrote for Point 5, since I think variety makes a better meal than just the same thing. Yes, eat some salad, but also have dessert!
Also, to Points 1 and 2, I’m curious how backwards or spliced viewing orders for shows might affect how certain characters are viewed. Any plans to update us on your bf’s backward Harry Potter watch?
Francesco I just saw your comment here, I'm so sorry! The biggest thing for my boyfriend was Snape's character development. Knowing he was a good guy all along gave him a different level of respect for how robustly his character was mapped out and acted out. He also mentioned it revealed a lot about the writing and how planned everything must have been in JK's head to pull this off. He hated giving her credit lol but it's interesting to think of how you get to appreciate the craft of plot development when you watch things backwards
Haha, no worries on missing the comment! As for Snape, that's a cool observation. I suppose separation of art from artist is in play while crediting Rowling for a well-planned character arc, but for the film-version, definitely give the props to Alan Rickman for knowing how to portray him in a way that makes watching it out of order still work. (I believe he knew where Snape's story was going, but could be wrong on that).
I don’t know if you saw it, but I put a comment somewhere about seeing if you’d be interested in being a guest on my upcoming podcast. No pressure, but I think you’d be a perfect guest. The podcast will cover different topics, but I’d like to have a fair amount of film content, and I have some other good writers on film lined up to blather about movies.
Phenomenal article. So well said. I am all in for tearing down walls and feasting on cinema of all flavors. Film snobs and slobs must all come to the table.
Oh my god, this is so weird because my boyfriend rewatched Harry Potter backwards over December. 😂😂 The rebellion has begun (insert the Hunger Games sound here)
Goddamn, yes, this has been my approach to media/art for a long time. Back in the days of network tv (yeah, yeah, I's old) you just tuned into whatever was on, at whichever point it was on. 20 minutes into a movie, 50 minutes in, maybe it was the third in a series, who even knew? You turned it on and just started watching, because that's what was on. And holy shit did we all fall in love with so many movies and shows via this method. Often because they came across as vastly more intriguing than they actually were. What did that line mean? Who was that specific character? When I would finally watch the whole movie all the way through, most of these gripping moments turned out to have been boringly setup in the parts I missed, nothing mysterious about it at all.
This was true for shows, too - what episode was this? What season? You didn't freaking know, you just tuned in and experienced it.
As a lifelong comic book reader this was something I was groomed for - Fantastic Four issue #242 is on the spinner rack at the grocery store? Well, that's what you were reading. God knows if you'd ever tumble upon #243 a month later or any of the ones before it.
I'm always baffled when people "complain" that they have to watch every Marvel Cinematic everything just to follow the uber-plot. Like they might not realize one character who shows up in one scene was actually introduced in some other tv show or movie. My god, who cares. It doesn't actually keep you from understanding the essentials, or even most of the minutiae.
To this day, I never binge watch anything. I watch most movies in 2-3 sittings. And sometimes, I still love fast forwarding 20 minutes in first, just to see how it plays. Keep the mystery of storytelling alive! And don't make it a job, ffs.
Dave!! What a phenomenal comment - thanks so much for sharing your experience 💖💖
I feel like the James Joyce in order thing comes from when people who start with Finnegans Wake or whatever are like "You can't convince me this dude writes regular, meaningful prose" so it's like, "Look, if you start from Dubliners and go from there you will very clearly see the development from canny regular prose to uncanny experimental art." So it just became a way to do it logistically.
Some of your points remind me of this great line from a rom-com script a friend of mine wrote, where a guy always watches only the beginning and end of When Harry Met Sally because "I don't like the scenes where they argue."
I do love your idea of starting a person with Matrix Resurrections to indulge in the disorientation of it.
And Breaking Bad is a great point too. First (linear) watch thru you're like "Oh no we're watching Walt lose his soul!" Second watch thru you're like "Holy fuck this guy was cracked from the beginning." The actual murders start much earlier than it feels. So you can skip the first watch effect if you start at the end.
One thing I was glad to give up in cinephilia ages ago was the feeling like I "need" to see anything in particular. This goes for canonical classics ("You haven't seen Glengarry Glen Ross??!"), event franchise releases ("Yeah but how do you know you won't like it if you don't watch it?"), or awards season slurry ("But what was your opinion on The Green Book?").
I learned from writing reviews in college that sometimes you get "coverage brain" where you not only feel you have to keep up with the most significant whatever focus (so like recent releases, recent indie releases, briefly I got paid for Japanese movies reviews and felt like I needed to cover every mentionable jedaigeki), but you also feel like you have to perceive the movie in a particularly critical or insightful way. And whereas that can help you to some degree learn how to think of your own taste and values, after a certain point it makes watching a movie a procedure rather than an experience, and for a lot of types of movies that kills the value.
Genuinely speaking, if I was still reviewing movies like I did on IMDb all those years ago, I probably would have hated I Saw the TV Glow. It is NOT plotted well. But it's my favorite movie of the year, because its universe reflects people I once knew. Coverage brain would have killed that for me.
What a wonderful comment Dane - and thank you so much for sharing your insights and experience. Coverage brain is a fantastic way to put it. I've experienced it, I've felt it and similar to you - I've given up on it because it depresses me. I don't write reviews anymore because it feels like a race and like you're always not watching enough. For what it's worth, I've loved I Saw The TV Glow too but because it made feel a lot of things - from a technical standpoint however, as you mentioned, it's uneven. But who cares! It's still cinema! And I couldn't stop thinking about it for days!
Thanks again for stopping by 💖
I like the way you celebrate individual taste and freedom in how we engage with stories and break down social norms in this regard. This was a wonderful read; thank you for sharing.
It's a liberating feeling. Thank you for your comment ☺️
Sorkin’s The Newsroom: I accidentally started at Season 2, Episode 1. I thought I was diving into Season 1, but nope. At first, I was a little confused—like, “Wait, what’s going on?”—but I stuck with it. And pretty quickly, I was hooked. I couldn’t believe how bold the series was—it skipped all the slow, backstory-heavy buildup— this series had the guts to just jump right in, like I already knew who, what, where, and why.
I was enthralled. Boom, boom, boom—episode after episode, I flew through the season. Then, when I got to the end, I realized my mistake.
So what did I do? Naturally, I went back to Season 1. And here’s the thing: had I started with Season 1, I don’t think I would’ve felt the same way. I probably would’ve been entertained—mildly—but I might’ve also been kind of bored. Starting at full speed with Season 2, though? That’s what made me fall in love with it.
It reminds me of The Diplomat. I liked Season 1. It was good. But Season 2? Oh man. That’s when it really took off for me. But then again, season two features Allison Janney so it was already stacked against season one from the start. She kicks ass.
Loved season 2 of both of these shows so much!
This is a great post/article! I especially agree with what you wrote for Point 5, since I think variety makes a better meal than just the same thing. Yes, eat some salad, but also have dessert!
Also, to Points 1 and 2, I’m curious how backwards or spliced viewing orders for shows might affect how certain characters are viewed. Any plans to update us on your bf’s backward Harry Potter watch?
Francesco I just saw your comment here, I'm so sorry! The biggest thing for my boyfriend was Snape's character development. Knowing he was a good guy all along gave him a different level of respect for how robustly his character was mapped out and acted out. He also mentioned it revealed a lot about the writing and how planned everything must have been in JK's head to pull this off. He hated giving her credit lol but it's interesting to think of how you get to appreciate the craft of plot development when you watch things backwards
Haha, no worries on missing the comment! As for Snape, that's a cool observation. I suppose separation of art from artist is in play while crediting Rowling for a well-planned character arc, but for the film-version, definitely give the props to Alan Rickman for knowing how to portray him in a way that makes watching it out of order still work. (I believe he knew where Snape's story was going, but could be wrong on that).
Aargh. This is so good.
Thank you so much, Karl 😌❤️
I don’t know if you saw it, but I put a comment somewhere about seeing if you’d be interested in being a guest on my upcoming podcast. No pressure, but I think you’d be a perfect guest. The podcast will cover different topics, but I’d like to have a fair amount of film content, and I have some other good writers on film lined up to blather about movies.
Hi! I also have a podcast so this could be a good collab. Feel free to DM me with what you're thinking
Phenomenal article. So well said. I am all in for tearing down walls and feasting on cinema of all flavors. Film snobs and slobs must all come to the table.
2025 new year resolution, let's do it 🥹❤️
I loved this, the writing and points made phenomenal.
Appreciate your comment, Jeff. Means the world to me!
Oh my god, this is so weird because my boyfriend rewatched Harry Potter backwards over December. 😂😂 The rebellion has begun (insert the Hunger Games sound here)
OH MY GOD. Michael...have we started a movement? 😂💓
I think we have...and I love this for us. 😂😂💓
can i write a comment here or do i need to log in¿
damn..
💖
Oh yeah, I'm just tapping into the comments ending stream and the boyfriend appears, 🥰. The irony. Who does? 😘