In the past, I never found watching films to be profoundly thought-provoking. However, the whole process of watching a movie revealed by Barthes allows me to realize that the status of watching movie is like part of me is in the film, and the rest is in the audience, perhaps thinking critically. I now understand why I feel emptiness after watching movies – because I suddenly awoke from hours of dreams depicted by films and was anaesthetized even before entering the cinema.
As soon as Barthes begins to tell story, we’re drawn into his words. The metaphors and imagination make me feel like I’m watching a movie, lying in a dark cube, watching subtitles roll and soundtracks melt. It was the first time I realized how important the ambience is when watching a film. This is completely different from watching TV at home, where you may be distracted by noise, sunlight, or your phone. There are hidden rules in movie theatres that include tranquillity, darkness, and atmosphere that helps people immerse themselves in the film. They are like a slowly spreading net, a slowly rising sea, and the morning sun gradually flooding earth with sunshine, revealing all little by little.
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It is awesome that you have realized how theater space plays a great significance in promoting the film-watching experience. Also invoking your personal experience vividly demonstrates the hypnosis brought by theater. I would suggest you dig your reflection deeper based on the title “Leaving the Movie Theater”, especially the term “leave.” Also, I am wondering how and why you situate yourselves and dispose the situation of “two bodies” during watching films in the theater.