Too Many Movies

I keep a list of movies and TV shows that I would like to see. I also keep a list of books I would like to read (or listen to). Others may keep lists of podcasts, songs, museums to visit, etc.

My rate of consumption is less than my rate of adding content to these lists. This was not always the case. When I was a teenager, fewer movies, TV shows, and books were being released. More to the point, I was not aware of the vastness of the space containing all existing books, movies, and TV shows.

Granted, I have no desire to see everything that’s produced. I never have.

Still, I remember a time when these lists would shrink. I remember feeling like it was possible to consume everything that I cared about. This is no longer the case. It hasn’t been for some time.

One of the reasons is that my rate of consumption has gone down. As a teenager and into my twenties, I saw tons of movies and still found the time to read tons of books! While my rate of consumption is still too high compared to what I would like, it’s probably never going to be what it once was.

Another reason is that the total amount of available content is growing. More people can create quality content today than when I was growing up, and there are simply more people living in the world now. When I was a kid the world population was under four billion. Now, it’s over eight billion.

The inescapable conclusion is that I need to focus more on prioritizing what I watch and read. Everyone does.

This crucial process says something important about who we are. Our choice of what to consume is governed by our taste. What we choose to pay attention to matters. It’s about what we love and who we want to be. So, we must be careful not to let others make too many of these choices for us.

Another conclusion is that most people are not consuming the same content as me. The media we choose to consume today segments the population. Moreso than in the past, we are living in different worlds.

Our thoughts, not to mention our discussions with family and friends, depend to a degree on the content we consume. The art that we create doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

There are too many good movies and books out there. Choosing what to watch and read is becoming more important to me.

Let’s all be intentional about how we prioritize the content we consume.