When expertise overshadows pleasure of a media text

Having expertise in a media is a great feeling. Why? First of all, I think everybody who loves something, and desires to become an expert on it, desires to know more than the next expert, and hopes that if he or she were asked a question about the particular media, that he could answer it. Having an expertise in a certain media text is fulfilling then not only because the media text itself is a source of enjoyment, but the knowledge of that particular media text is fulfilling in itself. Of course, it may be embarrassing to know certain facts, but deep down inside I think most of us still like the fact that we know them.

Being an expert can even go as far as researching a media text far more than enjoying the media text. You could watch films about the history of films and be obsessed with the history of film without actually consuming THAT much film. Of course, in the beginning, when your fascination with film history is sparked, it would have to be from watching a good amount of older films that span through different decades. But after the initial introduction, the expertise in the subject could outway the enjoyment of the subject. For some reason, I know (or at least did know a few years ago) what film got best picture from about 1962 -up. For some reason the dates in my Accademy Awards Handbook got cemented in my head obviously because I was fascinated with what got Best Picture when at a certain time in my life. I haven't seen all the movies for best picture from 1962-up but I know the dates for them, which might be somewhat of an example of what I'm talking about.