Film Buff
Because there is quite possibly something wrong with me, I set myself yearly goals in the same way businesses set KPIs. I aim to read 60 books, aim to watch 100 movies, and set goalposts like finishing shows in the language I'm learning. It honestly works a treat for my kind of brain. I REALLY need structure, so having a milestone I can realistically hit - and which requires commitment on an incremental scale to achieve - really makes me feel like I'm making progress towards something. I'm not quite sure what that 'something' is, however. The easiest 'something' is to be smarter and awesomer and more cultured. As I sit here and really really think about it I think there's also a sense of elitism that I enjoy. Yeah, I'll say it - I like being the smart guy in the room. I want to be the guy who you can talk to about anything and he'll have something smart to say. It ain't easy, but it's (not) honest work. I think I also envision myself as some sort of black box. Movies go in, something dubious happens, and then something comes out the other side; ideally this something coming out is a creative act, but sometimes it's just me sitting and pondering a fuckass film for ages.
I do, sadly, have a tendency to look down on people who go their lives without really experiencing the things that are usually labelled as 'culture'. Culture as in 'the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.' (Stole that definition from Google. Not my highest human intellectual achievement, I won't lie.) I guess I just don't understand why they aren't interested in it. On the other hand, I'm sure they would say - why aren't you interested in sport or partying or camping or stargazing? And I'd say, well shit, you got me there, we're all experiencing the world differently and isn't that beautiful? But on the inside I'd be thinking 'no!!!!!!! that's different!!!!!!' and Socrates would absolutely demolish me in a rational debate. Luckily he's dead and I'm not.
Does it make me a bit of an asshole to look down on people because they haven't watched seven samurai? Absolutely, no question. And I pretty prommy I keep these thoughts to myself (except here I guess) and I'm always only ever encouraging when people are starting to get into things I like. I just wish MORE people liked what I liked, and didn't make the assumption that it's all boring and stuffy and academic and there's nothing fun about thinking too hard. I want to watch a czech film from the 1960s and be able to talk about it with someone. I want to read a tome-like book about popular music culture from the perspective of the 1990s and have a friend consider my opinion and add on their own thoughts. It's not much fun sitting on the floor playing with my toys all by myself - I want someone down here with me...