We’ve all been there, haven’t we?
You see them any and everywhere, whether at a party, a concert, the lecture hall or loitering on a sidewalk somewhere, cigarette in hand. Somehow, they are unavoidable: the infamous “film bro.”
This article is a recounting of a brief interaction I had with one such individual, and the realizations I had post-encounter.
For anonymity’s sake, I will say the location was at a Halloween celebration, with someone dressed as Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman from the cult classic movie “American Psycho.” I initially wanted to refrain from even revealing the costume, but come on.
A man dressed as Patrick Bateman? For Halloween? Groundbreaking.
Making small talk while waiting in line with a friend, I commented on his costume (my mistake). He in turn tried to guess my costume and failed, referring to a critics’ favorite out currently. This soon devolved into a one-sided conversation about Rotten Tomato scores of several movies showing now.
Curiously, I asked if he only watched movies based on their Rotten Tomato scores, to which he quickly denied, yet continued on about said scores and other such film bro psychobabble. I stood there in baffled, slightly annoyed silence as he rambled on. The conversation mercifully died off and that was that.
Now, I’m all for having open minds, sharing interests and hearing what others have to say. But there is just something about film bros that makes this accepting attitude turn rotten.
And this sentiment is not intentionally malicious or even mine alone; film bros have become common ground for poking fun at on the internet. It’s through these memes I first learned about the presence of this personality type, before meeting them for myself every now and then.
Each time I encounter a film bro in the wild, I am shocked. How can one fit a joking stereotype to a T, to the point of being quite irritating? Is it a bit? Self-awareness that stretches so far it comes full circle and becomes ironic?
I’m hesitant to give them so much credit.
A disclaimer: I have nothing against the enjoyment of movies, in fact, I’m a frequent enjoyer of them myself. I also have nothing against discussing movies or taking more of an invested interest in them than the average individual would.
The problem I perceive comes in the form of the condescension and superiority inherent to a stereotypical film bro’s personality.
Of course we should be critical about the media we watch, but not overly-so, to the point of dismissing any movie that’s not certifiably Oscar-worthy. Or to a point that sucks the enjoyment right out of what we watch.
While some movies are certainly objectively better than others, for all film bros tout having superior opinions, I marvel at how much their opinions are influenced by others. A famed critic’s opinions are valid, and Rotten Tomato scores are definitely good indicators of how well a movie is made, but these are factors to consider, not god-given truths.
There’s nuance to the world of film that film bros themselves seem to neglect, a neglect that in itself is quite ironic coming from people who base their entire personalities around understanding film on a deeper level than us plebs supposedly ever could.
To the film bros of the world, close that Rotten Tomatoes tab for a second and just watch the movie.