Expectations

In anticipation of this weekend’s Oscar telecast, I thought I might talk a little more about movies. Well, this topic isn’t actually ABOUT movies, but it does pertain to movies (as well as other things in life). The topic is expectations.

I have high expectations for many things in my life. I expect my kids to grow up to be astronauts. I expect to receive a large raise every year. I expect every trip to Atlantic City to end with me driving home in a limousine. Ok, only one of those things is a real expectation (and I’m not saying which one).  What I have stopped doing is having unusually high expectations with regards to art (specifically, performance art such as music and movies).

I have come to the conclusion that having high expectations does nothing for me. If you think about it, in most cases it is detrimental. There are basically 3 outcomes after seeing a movie. It exceeds, meets, or doesn’t meet your expectations.  When you have high expectations for a movie, it lessens the probability that it will even meet your expectations. Think about the last movie for which you had high expectations prior to seeing it. If you expected that movie to be a 5 (out of 5) star movie, but it only got 4 stars in your eyes, then you are essentially disappointed. Now, if you had gone into seeing that movie expecting a 2.5 star movie, you would have been pleasantly surprised at the 4 stars you eventually gave it.

Since it’s not a good idea to have unusually LOW expectations, the best way to avoid being disappointed is to have no expectations whatsoever. It sounds like an easy concept, but it is tougher than you think. I mean, if you think about it, when you go to a movie, you are going into it expecting to be entertained in some way. But by clearing your mind of any expectations you may have, you will most certainly be entertained. And even if you don’t like the movie, you will have some kind of positive reaction to the art on the screen.

This technique (of having no expectations) has worked well for me, but I must admit that it is not for everybody. And in today’s world, it is very difficult to accomplish. With all of the information that is available to us, such as movie websites and comprehensive movie review sites, we are made aware of movies well before they are even made. Plus, it’s nice to know whether a movie is getting preliminary good or bad reviews so that we can avoid going to a stinker. Maybe it is time we trust our own judgments. Don’t worry about what Rotten Tomatoes is giving the flick. Don’t read up on the latest movie in anticipation of seeing it. Maybe even try going into a movie completely blind (just show up to a movie theater and pick a movie you never heard of). OK, that might be silly, but give this “no expectations” thing a try. I think you will find that you will actually enjoy the experience – even if you don’t enjoy the movie.

Go Inception!