Logan Paul is right. As a sentence, it’s right up there on the pantheon of things I never thought I’d write, somewhere between “I think Keir Starmer’s doing a good job” and “My favourite meal is lead paint”. And yet, here we are. On his podcast this week, the YouTube star turned boxer made a candid admission: he had walked out of the cinema midway through Christopher Nolan’s nuclear biopic Oppenheimer. “It’s talking, just talking, talking,” Paul complained.
Now, if you leave aside the question of exactly what film it was that Paul believed he was buying a ticket for – the life of theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer was not brimming with car chases and bank heists, you’ll be surprised to hear – the fact is, he was entitled to his walkout. More than entitled: Paul dared to do what we all should more often. For many people, the notion of bailing on a film is unthinkable. It’s a white flag. A capitulation. An acknowledgement that you couldn’t hack it. You’ve paid to be there, after all, and even the most shoddily constructed movie deserves a fair shake. “What if it picks up?” “There’s only an hour left.” “What have I got to lose?” These are the thoughts rattling around most people’s heads when they’re sat in the throes of a crappy film, glued to the seat by some mix of inertia, etiquette and sunk-cost stubbornness. But Paul, psychological gladiator that he is, managed to drown them out.
