Have you ever wished you could see a preview of how your life is going to be down the road, somewhere in the future? This is a question I have often pondered with much introspection over the past few years. For the longest time, it was something I really wanted, but that was until my recent movie going experiences changed my viewpoint.
For anyone that knows me, it is a well known fact that I head to the local multiplex at least once or twice a week to see the latest films that have been released. But there is one very disappointing trend happening lately that has started to ruin many of the films I go see and it has to do with those trailers that come out weeks, months, and sometimes even a year ahead of its release.
When I was a kid, I got very excited when I would see a 30 second preview of an upcoming movie that was only a few months away from being in the theater. Normally I might only catch that preview a few times and most of the best parts weren’t given away during it. Unfortunately, I can’t say that’s true anymore for the films of today. Many big budget movies have trailers for it now that are several minutes long in length and sometimes even up to ten minutes long when a portion of the film is shown during a special television show. While it may be exciting to see some of those really cool special effects, or those moments of gut busting humor during all those minutes of previews, there is a downside to it as well. It takes away from the excitement I might normally get from seeing them when I watch the entire film the first time.
I have already seen most of this summer’s tent pole movies up to this point and sadly, because of all the trailers I have seen ahead of time, many of them haven’t been as fun to go see because they spoiled most of the surprises. I didn’t laugh as much at the jokes during The Internship for this reason. I wasn’t scared as much with those zombie ant hills and zombie swarms in World War Z because of it. I wasn’t as excited about the big airplane takedown scene in The Fast and The Furious 6 due to it. And well, this list could go on with how I’ve felt about other movies such as White House Down, This Is The End, and others. Now, I’m leaving the theater feeling more let down then not because of these previews spoiling too much of the film’s fun. Also just as noticeable is that I am starting to skip a lot more films now which is not like it used to be for me. Previews show so much now that I often will not go see a film because too much of it has been revealed, thus making it unattractive to go see. A good example of this is with the movie The Purge. Many years ago, I might have gone to see this film by reading up on its description alone, but this year’s trailer depicted so much that I felt I had already seen the majority of what the movie was about, so I didn’t go see it at all.
If you’re wondering how all of this compares to the original question I posed about wishing to see a preview of one’s life in the future, it’s pretty simple. If any of us were given a several minute long preview of our coming life, there’s a good chance it might spoil any excitement we would experience when that future actually happens thus making life appear very boring as it occurs. And if that preview of our future showed too much, including things that might not be so alluring, there’s a good chance we’d probably do everything we could to change it, or avoid it altogether. Because of this, I came to the conclusion I’d rather not ever see any preview of my future life.
I hope at some point that the film industry might develop the same conclusion with previews and trailers as I have come to with not wanting to see parts of my own future. While that may never happen, I guess you can say that I’m glad at least that the technology hasn’t been created yet for me to see what’s coming down the road in my life. For now at least, I will continue to be able to enjoy a spoil free future when those wonderful things happen and also just as important, I won’t be trying to skip my attending any part of it either.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
