OPINION: Do you need to watch bad movies?

Simple question. To properly enjoy whatever media hobby you take part in, whether it be movies, books, music or anything else, do you need to watch, read or listen to the bad ones?

It’s not an easy answer. Most people seek out media like movies to be entertained and have a good time. Putting money into something you know you will not enjoy is a ludicrous idea.

As I was watching “Borderlands” last weekend, by far the worst movie I’ve seen in theaters this year, I wondered about the idea. I fully expected the movie to flop, knew this months before its release after watching trailers with unfunny gags and a boring visual style. The whole affair looked like it was trying too hard.

Yet, call it optimism or call it stupidity, I still went to see it. I had the exact experience I was expecting, and left the theater unamused and feeling partially cheated, mad at my own audacity for having done this. “Borderlands” didn’t seem to be trying at all, the feeling of first-drafts and underdeveloped ideas permeating the runtime.

With limited time in our lives, watching a bad movie is a big chunk of time as well. When I make the trip into central Iowa to stop by a theater, I only have enough time in the day, and a limited amount of energy, before I have to drive home. Oftentimes, I don’t have the time to see every new movie in the theaters that week, no matter how much I want to.

I try to see all of the big five studios’ movies, it helps me keep a pulse on the industry. But sometimes, a new indie movie strikes my eye, and I have to make a decision whether to watch what I want to watch or choose what everyone else is watching.

I’ve avoided “It Ends With Us” so far, after the Jordan Creek theater’s power outage gave me a good excuse to skip it. I understand how a guy in his early ‘20s isn’t the demographic for a romance drama geared toward older women, and I think my opinion, most likely to be negative, doesn’t matter for a movie like that.

However, in the time since, “It Ends With Us” is currently serving that female audience demographic that has been alienated in the blockbuster male-centric rush, and this context is important to understand when reviewing this summer’s box office returns.

Financial and industry-wide importance aside, the small chance a potential stinker turns into a hidden gem still excites me as the last rope to cling to when heading to a movie I’m not convinced by.

M. Night Shyamalan’s movie “Trap,” surprised me. It’s a fairly competent thriller, mostly the first half before the movie pops and loses some of its hooks through trademark Shyamalan twists by the end. I entered the theater worried, but still found myself having a good time by the end, hooked by the movie’s unique energy.

This is apparently a dissent as professional reviews have not been kind to “Trap.” I find contrasting opinions fascinating, even if they aren’t enough to change my mind. If I payed attention to these reviews, I might not have seen “Trap.” Because of this, I rarely look up reviews before I watch a movie, so sometimes it feels like I’m gambling on a good time.

I’ve committed time and money into several movies I have not enjoyed throughout the summer. I felt disappointed with “A Quiet Place: Day One,” especially with the boring action sequences feeling like a retread of ideas from the first two movies. I did enjoy the movie’s sweet love letter to New York as a place, which felt worth the time at least.

I hated “Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1,″ a three hour bore of a movie as overstuffed as its mouthful of a title. Awful performances and a lacking spirit keeps the movie droning over each mind-numbing minute of disconnected stories. The promise of three additional movies in this four-chapter saga to waste my time helps me imagine myself dying in the theater while actors fumble their accents above me (although, with Warner Bros. removing the movies from their current release schedule, perhaps my soul could be saved).

I’ve been continuously disappointed and angered throughout moviegoing experiences, but I wouldn’t quit it for the world. For every lump of coal, there’s a gem, a reason to keep mining cynical studio releases for something sparkly and going the extra mile to haul up an indie movie no one else knows about. To a certain extent, the feeling of hating a movie is sometimes more enjoyable than blandly stomaching a middle-of-the-road franchise sequel.

In short, you don’t need to watch bad movies to enjoy the good ones, which should seem obvious. Entertainment deserves to be entertaining. But, gambling for sunken treasure in a sea of slop is some of the most fun I’ve ever had.