Classic Movies: "They're just too slow."

In 2017 we have the ability to throw a quick video onto our Instagram or Snapchat account, an get instant feedback. We can watch dozens of "comedy" or "horror" skits in a matter of hours thanks to this new bite size format as well. YouTube videos present a rapid form of presentation, as does traditional television.

"If the Alien doesn't show up within the first 10 minutes I am out of here."

An example that recently happened to me several months ago with my 17 year old sister. We had already watched Prometheus, and she wanted to see all of the other Alien movies in preparation for the newest film. After finishing Alien (The original film), she sat there silently.

"What did you think?" I asked.

"Why was it so slow? Why did it take so long for the Alien to show up? Why couldn't you see it clearly for most of the movie?"

And to her credit those were valid questions. For the nearly two hour film, the titular Alien only appeared on screen for under four minutes. But back in 1979 this had audiences freaking out and paranoid throughout the whole film.

But with todays jump scares, fifteen second videos, and instant gratification; these classic films are just too "slow".

Kids today simply do not have the patience for Alien, Blade Runner, not to mention a behemoth like Laurence of Arabia. Of course those classic movies spent time building suspense and characters, so that the audience was invested in realistic situations. A criticism on modern cinema is in fact that films today lack any sort of character development. Or that the killer/villain/suspense is lacking. All of this is done so that the audience is not "bored" with their film, of course this does lead to a bland uneventful movie. But hey, at least there were a hundred explosions to keep your interest.