New Eyes, Disconnection

The way I watch TV and films has changed again. It happened before and I never quite recovered that time. When I attended those first two writing courses a few years back I learned things. I got better in my own writing and for a time at least I found my voice. The way I saw other people's work began to change too. I saw more and less. I felt more able to criticise and to understand why certain things had been done certain ways. The problem is that knowing these things gives me distance from the medium. I'm less immersed and that means I enjoy things less.

So yeah. It's happened again. Except this time it's worse. I've only been doing the MA for one term and I'm already picking holes in things. I can't help but feel that in learning these things I've irreversibly disconnected myself from something I used to enjoy. Worse I don't think I've a right to be passing this kind of judgement on things that have been deemed worthy enough for filming or publication.

Oh sure I'm protected a little if the book or movie is excellent or if it's a series I'm already heavily invested in. But for the most part there's just this sense of disconnection. Maybe all this means is that my standards have been raised, which I guess may not be such a bad thing. We shall see...