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I like movies. I'm a genuine movie-fan. I like them way better than anything T.V. has to offer, in the same light as why I'm more of a record/cassette tape/MP3 fan than a radio fan.

Now, we're not here to talk about whether movie stars are better than TV stars, or if the special effects in movies are better off than TV special effects, etc. We're going to talk about choices. With movies, you have a choice of what to watch, and not seemingly "force-fed" by the broadcast networks. I guess that's why I also like the internet as a primary source of entertainment, rather than T.V.--you get to choose. But then you say, "Hey, you don't like the show? Change the channel!" Yeah, but eventually, there will come a time, as you surf around looking for what you want to watch (and eventually not finding it) you'd get suckered into watching something you originally didn't want to watch, because that's how TV was designed, and that's why there is advertising on TV--to get you suckered into buying something.

So again, why do I like movies? I like them, because for me, they are symbols of choice.

Choice for me is very important and useful. For instance, it's by taking a glance at how other people choose the stuff they like, that you are able to determine whether you'd get along with that person or not. Take this Facebook application called Flixster. It basically asks you a set of questions about movies, and then it takes all this data and compares it with all your friends. You'd get a result like "Ok you can't go to the movies with this guy, because the movies he likes to watch, you will most probably hate, and vice versa"...I mean, I think that's really useful--you can actually avoid having a bad time by avoiding people who simply wouldn't understand your taste in things, such as your taste in movies.

After browsing the Movies and TV section of iStorya for over a year now, I've also realized that by examining how people react to movies they've seen (i.e. based on their posts) and what types of movies they watch, you can easily predict and conclude that you'd probably have a hard time dealing with this person in a forum discussion/conversation--often deteriorating into a heated argument and the like, and more often than not, this actually turns out to be true.

So now I still keep on browsing the Movies and TV section of iStorya and check on the movies people watch and how they react to them, then I take note of some reactions made by people and mark a certain person (i.e. BEEP...RED...this person likes this sort of movies that I hate to watch, and this is how he/she reacts to this and that) so I better avoid him/her or not respond to his/her posts, because based on how he/she reacts to this movie, he/she will never get my point during discussions and whatnot (i.e. we will have a difficult time talking on the same level about things), which is likely to lead into a worthless, pointless argument.

I know this sounds rather simplistic and even almost downright outrageous, but try it yourself. I'm not being mean--I'm trying to avoid arguments, and people I'd likely get into arguments with, so it's actually a good thing.

-RODION