A few film pet peeves

  1. Makeovers: AKA making people more sexually desirable and acting like it's a community service. Sometimes (rarely) it's an empowering moment, for an example of this we could consider 'Now Voyager'. Other times the motivations are superficial and ultimately degrading: "I'll teach you how to be popular"/"I'll teach you how to make boys like you!"/"I'll teach you how to get chicks". The incredibly common conformation to cliché beauty standards and values is infuriating.

  2. Romantic jump cuts: Right after a kiss for, or right after people sleep together, there is a convenient jump cut which deprives us of whatever happens afterwards. What happens after they kiss? What do they say? How do they leave? Isn't that important in terms of narrative, but it annoys me because I am curious.

  3. Stating the obvious: If I can figure it out, don't tell me. If I can form an understanding of a character's back story through one sentence of dialogue, one shot, one small detail of mise-en-scene, then don't you dare do anything more!

  4. Unjustified voice overs: Okay, this isn't always true BUT I do appreciate it a lot when there is a reason for a voice over. I just find it kind of clever! It can be discrete too; for example, in Y Tu Mama Tambien the voiceover is a "voice of God" narration; however, given that Tenoch mentions he wanted to be a writer I like to imagine that the narration comes from his future book. That's just a thought, I haven't looked into it. Bottom line, I like when there is a justification for voiceovers but I can forgive it if the narration is effective anyways.

  5. Unskillful breathing space: Sometimes, a dramatic pause is all we need. Sometimes, films could lose a good 30 minutes just by having tighter editing which cuts all of the space during dialogue where actors are just breathing. There should never be "dead space" on screen, if there is a pause it has to be full of intention. A meaningless pause is simply wasteful.

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