The Guardians

Back in film school I was brainwashed into believing that there were some types of media, and some types of narratives, that were inherently worse than others. Blockbuster movies, or whatever we now classify super hero movies as (since this particular niche got very popular in the past decade), were bad. Independent or director movies, on the other hand, were art. Reality shows were trash; TV dramas were gold. And so it goes.For a few cringe-worth semesters - you know, the type of memory that makes you physically flinch whenever you recall it - I turned into the dreadful film student type. Watching Goddard, reading Eisenstein, stating "romantic comedies are the death of cinematography". I felt like someone who learned the truth, and everyone else was blinded by a curtain of lies.What snapped me out of it was studying - and producing - live TV. The level of craft involved in bringing a live TV show together is such that I immediately regret ever thinking that my poorly executed short movies were in any way superior to, say, a variety show. And ever since I've been trying to keep my mind open and diversify the stories I consume.This is what I now view as gatekeeping, ways to limit and ultimately exclude people from certain circles; only these narrative styles are worthy, only those stories are good. A YA (young adult) writer? You shall not pass. You make casual games? You don't even tell stories. Guardians of whatever that is. Good storytelling? The honor of the craft?Don't get me wrong, there is so much low quality entertainment out there. Just like in every other field that the human audacity led us into, you will always be able to find the trash and the gold mixed together somewhere in there. But learning how to filter them is an acquired ability. Above all else, there is always something to be learned from bad storytelling. What went wrong? How would you fix it, if you could?What made the last Star Wars movie trash? Was it really trash? Was it objectively wrong or that is a personal opinion? Wasn't it entertaining, in the end? I ask all that while sipping my wine and hitting play on yet another trashy Netflix series. I'm studying, I say to myself. It's for science. Even if only to pledge never to make these same mistakes.-Maíra