A reader of the conservative Libertas film blog makes a great observation:

I want to have movies to see, to enjoy, nay, to adore. I am a movie fan. But now, every movie I watch, I wait for it. You know what I mean by it. I mean that moment which had nothing to do with the plot where the movie makers express contempt for everything I hold dear. I mean the moment when they puke on me.

No matter how much I enjoy the film, nowadays I only enjoy it with half my attention, because I am on my guard for the sucker-punch that always, always comes.

I watch my beloved movies with the attitude of a battered wife, waiting to see when the man I love will suddenly lash out and give me a black eye. The rest of the evening with him is just fine.

So you go do your study, and tell me how many other members of the audience there are who feel as I do. Am I really the only one? I doubt it.

I've long felt exactly the same way, and it's great to the see the point made so articulately. The inevitable Hollywood sucker punch is why I've found myself going to the movies less and less each year, and usually only when a film has been vetted by like-minded blog readers and critics; unlike Charlie Brown, there are only so many times I'll endure having the football yanked away at the last second before I want quit the game. And these days, between blogging, DIY video and DIY music, there's plenty of other games to play, some of which are even sucker punch free.