3 Reasons I Thought I Was a Ben-Hur Hater Before I Even Watched It

And why I was wrong.

I recently embarked on a low-stakes, couch-friendly challenge to watch or re-watch all 100 of the AFI Greatest American Movies of All Time in reverse order. And it almost didn’t happen when I saw that #100 was Ben-Hur (1959).

My only memory from watching it one time nearly 20 years ago was that there was a chariot race in it. The plot, themes and even the supposed gay subtext were completely forgotten, although that alone didn’t mean I hadn’t liked it. My brain proudly subscribes to the “it’s all about the journey” theory of movies: Watching them brings joy, remembering them wastes energy. So forgetting is a twisted form of self care, not a film critique.

There were three “real” reasons I was confident I would hate the first film I had to watch on this personal odyssey that literally no one asked me to take and that nobody cares if I complete. And it turns out I was wrong about all of them.

#1: It’s way too long, and I’m busy (watching other things).

The run time is three hours and 42 minutes, which includes an overture at the beginning and an intermission at a time when most movies have the good manners to be wrapping up.

It doesn’t matter that I can (and do) easily watch four consecutive hours of almost any show on my Netflix list, or even two or more normal-length movies in a row. I have devoted much of the past 3 decades to…