Y: “I didn’t see the first one. Like everyone, I enjoy the physical experience of laughter, but I expect that if I laugh at all during this particular movie, it will be ‘uncomfortable situation’ or ‘shocking moment’ tension-releasing laughter, or at best ‘aren’t we all having a nice time together in front of this huge image and amidst these loud noises.’ I seriously doubt that I will experience the transportive joy of ‘in spite of myself,’ ‘my stomach hurts,’ ‘I can’t breathe,’ ‘this is better than an orgasm’ laughter. In fact, the incidence of that kind of laughter post-adolescence is disappointingly low. Do you ever think about that? Do you worry that the best kind of laughter vanishes as our lives contain fewer and fewer novel experiences?”
X: “Uh… ”
Y: “Exactly. So why would I want to pay $12 to hollowly go through the motions?”
Personally, I expect less than transportive joy from $12. “Aren’t we all having a nice time together in front of this huge image and amidst these loud noises” strikes me as a fair return on $12, better than a good meal.
I’m fairly used to people providing explanations, albeit sometimes rough ones, of the stylistic elements that evoked particular emotional responses in them, but then, most of my acquaintances have an at least passing familiarity with tvtropes.
Given that I can find things that are “black out ‘cause I can’t breathe ’cause I’m laughing”-level funny on the internet, for free, on a regular basis, without even looking much, I think you might need to adjust your judgements regarding how much things should cost in this area.
I spend a lot of time on the internet looking at funny stuff for free, and I no longer easily find things that invoke that kind of response in me online. In fact, the last time I saw anything online that literally made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe was in 2007, and that was with company.
Even as a strong introvert, I find that a lot of humor value relies on the social aspect of having someone to share it with, so I will occasionally spend money to go watch a movie in the presence of others and share the experience with them.
As for catpennies, you can use the same penny on as many cats as you can find; the limiting factor isn’t pennies, but novelty. Similarly, out of all my purchases I tend to get the most enjoyment per dollar out of video games, and I refrain from buying new ones as often as I could afford to because I suspect that if I bought them more often the enjoyment of playing a new video game would be decreased.
Personally, I expect less than transportive joy from $12. “Aren’t we all having a nice time together in front of this huge image and amidst these loud noises” strikes me as a fair return on $12, better than a good meal.
I’m fairly used to people providing explanations, albeit sometimes rough ones, of the stylistic elements that evoked particular emotional responses in them, but then, most of my acquaintances have an at least passing familiarity with tvtropes.
Given that I can find things that are “black out ‘cause I can’t breathe ’cause I’m laughing”-level funny on the internet, for free, on a regular basis, without even looking much, I think you might need to adjust your judgements regarding how much things should cost in this area.
See also.
I spend a lot of time on the internet looking at funny stuff for free, and I no longer easily find things that invoke that kind of response in me online. In fact, the last time I saw anything online that literally made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe was in 2007, and that was with company.
Even as a strong introvert, I find that a lot of humor value relies on the social aspect of having someone to share it with, so I will occasionally spend money to go watch a movie in the presence of others and share the experience with them.
As for catpennies, you can use the same penny on as many cats as you can find; the limiting factor isn’t pennies, but novelty. Similarly, out of all my purchases I tend to get the most enjoyment per dollar out of video games, and I refrain from buying new ones as often as I could afford to because I suspect that if I bought them more often the enjoyment of playing a new video game would be decreased.