"If you need to google search the meaning of a movie after watching it, then it was a failure." Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Not necessarily. Sometimes it’s the movie that’s obtuse, but sometimes it’s the viewer. So it’s possible that if you need to Google search the meaning of a movie after watching it, then you are a failure (at interpreting movies).

I disagree, movies can have all kinds of meanings and intentions. What if the movie leaves you wanting to search for answers or think more. This makes it a failure? That’s silly.

My biggest gripe with that line of thinking is when I see a move in theater, what if I missed something or didn’t pick up on every little detail first viewing? Like @Irukandji said sometimes it is the viewer or maybe a combo of movie and viewer.

I really enjoy reading into background or lore of movie if I’ve enjoyed it, Pacific Rim is one that sparked my interest. Some of the comic book movies as well, since I don’t know all the characters in depth like Dr.Strange for example.

Or maybe the viewer is just dense.
But.
If the director is sending out notes explaining his movie beforehand, it is probably the movie’s fault.

It applies to people who expect movies to supply them with an easily-understood meaning.

Some people think the best films are the ones that leave them thinking long afterwards, and which don’t have one meaning that they could Google.

Of course, there are also just bad movies, and ones who have me wondering long afterwards why anyone would choose to make a film that seems so frustratingly dumb.

I’ve seen Mother. I really am unsure how to describe my feelings about it. The word that comes to mind is ‘Weird”, but it’s more than that and I enjoyed it, but yes, there were parts that I too felt were ludicrous and just went over-the-top.

I knew of the film’s allegorical nature but I didn’t research the film. I just wanted to watch it and see what ‘I’ got from the film, and I did pick up on the themes/motifs etc. I did leave the cinema going ‘what the?’ to a degree and I did read up on it more after watching.

It’s a clever film and I do think it’s pretty amazing, but I think if you need to hand people a leaflet explaining the film, perhaps you’ve gone too far. Especially when you’re giving these to film reviewers. Surely they should have an easier time ‘getting’ what he was aiming for? A general audience is more likely to be lost and they don’t have the flyer.

Oddly enough, I’ve actually heard some people say that they understood the allegory right away and that the film was too predictable

Perhaps if your acting like the movie is a test and the way you pass is understanding the moral, in this circumstance the answer would be a yes. But my personal opinion is that when people watch movies they should just chill and watch, if they don’t understand the movie ask a friend or as you were talking about looking it up to understand. Usually when I don’t understand a movie I end up not watching it again.