Lights, sounds, and colors act like magic wands to our senses. We are immediately drawn to them, react to them, and are captured by them. Through the use of these tools, art, and particularly film, have a mesmerizing effect on human beings. It is no wonder then that the visual arts have been used for centuries as a tool for attaining power over the masses and capturing the mind of the crowd, by eliciting and instilling strong emotions.
Whilst one hopes when making films the emotions elicited are those that produce laughter, tears, and empathy that can inspire more thought and reflection in the minds of viewers, this is very often not the case. Instead, the adrenaline rushes, thrills, and bursts of excitement procured by modern films tend to numb the mind and evoke a state of vacuousness. Art and film are tools that refine consciousness and drive it forward. Therefore, the minute one suspends the potential for analytical thinking and deep emotional engagement, one invalidates the true purpose of the arts and permits them to become another aspect of oppressive, capitalist apparatus.
Critics such as Jonathan Beller have argued forcefully that filmgoers function as “visual laborers,” working mainly for the benefit of the corporate interests of the capitalist states in which we live, which use “entertainment” as their cloak. The reason this apparatus needs to be deconstructed however goes beyond the political and penetrates the personal - modern films directly affect our cognitive faculties.
Evidence of the detrimental impact of social media platforms on mental health has been mounting for some years now, highlighting how the structure of algorithms is created to generate more clicks and scrolling, thereby making users lose a sense of time. From this phenomenon phrases such as “aimless scrolling” and “doom scrolling” were. Fast paced action films have a similar effect; they utilize the same constant, short-term thrills to “keep you on the edge of your seat.”
An early blockbuster franchise film that used these techniques was Jan de Bont’s Speed (1994). The film weaponizes every cinematic element from the narrative, to the mise-en-scene, to the editing, to the soundtrack to elicit such a strong sense of thrill that is so overwhelming it blurs viewers' other cognitive capacities.
Much like in all other films in this category, such as Die Hard, The Fast & The Furious, their sequels, and all of the Marvel films, the element of restless, pressing time is the overarching theme. For instance, there is usually a strict time frame where a mission must be completed on which many innocent lives depend, relying only on the skills of one or more superhuman individuals. Moreover, such films are dominated by fight scenes or car chases rather than conversation or compelling narrative arcs.
The reason I used Speed as an example is because it is a great representation of visual laboring. The film, which was set in the 1990’s, represents on multiple fronts the beginnings of a fast-paced, technologically driven world. The entire film is set on a bus that must stay above a certain speed or else it will explode. The storyline consists of a relentless series of obstacles the bus must avoid if it is not to fall below that speed. (This is to leave aside the undertones of nationalists propaganda and insensitive depictions of race and gender).
The viewer of Speed is subconsciously laboring to internalize the film's ideological content as it is introduced at too great a speed to be understood through genuine thought. These aspects simply invade one's consciousness unbidden, as there simply is not the time for the contemplation required to accept these ideas in a legitimate way. In the editing, the unrelenting visual spectacle, and sudden, loud noises, one’s brain is automatically propelled into a state of fight or flight. Through the functioning of mirroring neurons as we watch, we begin mimicking the responses of the characters and learn that there is no time to think, question, analyze, or feel, there is only time to act. Indeed, Hollywood films have often valorised, often explicitly, those who do over those who think.
Films, much like social media today, have the capacity to reduce the attention span of a viewing public. Meanwhile, a culture of consumerism and extreme individualism is imposed all around us. Bewilderingly, we are compelled to see ourselves as individuals while being impelled to think and act as a herd. Meaningful human life is driven by true, thought-out individual decisions, not mass produced ones. And so, whether intentional or not, I believe if film narratives reduce viewers' cognitive abilities we must pause, question this, and try to change it. Art should inspire life, not mindlessness, not catatonia.
