I woke up around 3am early this morning with the believe that am going to have a glorious day, due to my active waking(woke up ready to do anything), as usual I wrote some blog post, my daily dairy to be specific, which I finished around 5am, observe my morning devotion. By the time I am through with my devotion, it was around 6am in the morning. My head feels empty(not blank, but in a mood to take in), I just feel like reading, I am sure I could understand whatever I had read that, but then this idea pop up in my mind, “Let me quickly watch the movie(a series) which I had downloaded the previous day”. Then I give in to that lazy monkey in my brain. I watched the movie and it was refreshing for an early Friday morning without lecture, but what I noticed was that, after I had finished watching the movie, my head was just heavy, like am overloaded, with pulse(not stuff). I could not feel comfortable that I had to rest so I could relief myself of the brain stress. But that’s not the only effect it has on me, From that moment my day was disorganized, my brain was unsettled, could not gain anything from then on.
Imagine, if I had read that time, am feeling the urge to do so, I will have taken read for much longer time than I will have hoped for, and in the process gain greatly. And certainly have a fulfilled day. But the little decision I made to watch the movie did not only steal my time, it also rob me of knowledge.

Which brought me to this article, watching movies or uneducated shows slow down student in their academic endeavors. An adage one’s said “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. But to my knowledge movie watching should not be one of the ways of playing or catching fun for student. Movie watching, I can say is also a form of work, as it creates a graphic memory in the brain, the brain is active processing the information it receive from the organ of vision(eye). Playing should be in form of exercise, games and things that do not require the stressing of the brain, things that can be respond to without much thinking.

In my experience, I realize that movie watchers are emotionally attach to the movies they watch, after a movie, the mind of the viewer still thinks about the movie, the characters, how they could have change the whole event if they had taken one step or decision and it can be on fantasizing about them, hoping its possible to be like them. A good example is the superhero movies, despite the fact that its fictional, it doesn’t stop their mind from hoping its real, especially children. I could remember when I was young, after watching the Spider Man movie, I want to be like the spider man, I could remember catching different types of spiders, hoping they could bite me and I become like spider man. A times I which I could be werewolf or Vampire, because I love watch Vampire-Werewolf Movies. I have that thought because I feed my self with them, and when my brain is less busy, I could fantasize about them. I could fantasize with them because that’s what I feed my eyes. And Most times I think about movies after watching, I could feel depressed for days, due to the way some movies end, and I know the same thing runs in the mind of every movie lovers.

Students, especially college student should disregard the pleasure of movies, even for fun. A student thinking only of his/her academics will have a greater chance in making impact and breaking new ground in his/her field of study. Not so surprise there are not so many research works and innovations in our generation today, both in Nigeria and the world at large. The past centuries have greater numbers of researchers and innovators compare to this century, and most of the people leading research and innovation in this century are those who are educated before the advancement of technology and few from this century, but the few are mostly those who have no interest in movies. I have been privileged to meet one and try to deduce their general thinking. While you are watching movies, they are brainstorming an idea and while you are thinking about the movie you watched, they are taking step towards their idea, and that’s how a real Student should think. The reason why movie lover will always lag behind, no matter how brilliant they are.

I may have been bias in my saying, but I believe reading novel is more preferable to Movie watching. Someone ones said to me when I was in my SS2 class “Readers are Leaders, but Committed Readers are Greater Leaders”. Instead of watching that movie, preferably watch those that will educate you, open your eyes to new ideas, or expand your knowledge in your field of study(you are an engineering student, what videos(tutorials preferably) that will expand your level of knowledge, a medical student? Watch videos that will expand you knowledge, open you to new ideas and innovation, and expose you to latest happenings in your field, same applies to all other fields). This century has not produce researchers not because there are no more area to explore, but because we limit our abilities, our full attention is not devoted to our study and our thinking is within the letters they(Scholars) left for us.

Many great Scholars have come and gone, but they left a legacy, they left a name, most of them have their work named after them, People like Isaac Newton, Adolf kreb and a host of others. Movie will not in any way expand your knowledge, put your strength in you study, not just to pass, but to be knowledgeable and see yourself uncovering great things those great Scholars have no knowledge of.


With love from Afolabi Samson

Awesome! But, some movies are great.

Have you seen 3 idiots? Silicon Valley? Man! These are the one I'm talking about.

lekropasky:
Awesome! But, some movies are great.

Have you seen 3 idiots? Silicon Valley? Man! These are the one I'm talking about.

That's the power of movies. They entice you to make you think you are gaining, in the end, you think the same way the characters are thinking. I watched the social network sometimes ago, and my tuaght was, this is wao, i want to be like that. Imagine you thinking on your career. U will be surprised by how ideas are flowing in your head

I believe there is partial truth to dat.... Though watching movies bring up fantasy and laziness, but everybody process things differently, an anatomy of a person may actually preffer movies to novel(like me, because i just see it as reading another mans fantasy)....... I just believe yu just gat to balance everything up and priorities ur daily event.

Nharthan:
I believe there is partial truth to dat.... Though watching movies bring up fantasy and laziness, but everybody process things differently, an anatomy of a person may actually preffer movies to novel(like me, because i just see it as reading another mans fantasy)....... I just believe yu just gat to balance everything up and priorities ur daily event.

I actually made it clear that its better to watch educated videos. Watching anatomy video lesson is also studying, because you will surely gain from it compared to watching medical movies like doctor stranger

Buh sometimes, u need a break from d education and academic stuff. Watching anatomical is just as same as reading, just dat its visuoauditory and reading is visual. And dat is no definiton of fun.. Cos what u do for fun id what u to for relaxation. Watching anatomic video will just not relax yu but push u for more stuffs