Finishing things

I think I should relax my expectations that acclaimed works will pay off by the end, when I'm a third of the way through and it's not working. I like finishing things, I like closing off experiences, I like having fewer fully-processed experiences than many poorly-rounded experiences. So I prefer to finish something over start another thing. Less clutter in my head, more rounded ideas; more depth, less breadth.

But this breaks down when finishing the experience takes a long time. I'm several episodes into Squid Game, yet finishing the season alone, not to mention tackling the 2nd and 3rd, is daunting when I'm not getting everything I wanted out of it. I'm definitely CURIOUS how it all goes... which apparently was enough to canonize GoT for me... and I don't dislike the series at all, but it's just not quite hitting. I think I have to abandon it, understanding if it doesn't hit now, it probably won't hit, however great the ending could be.

The thing is, the greatness of an ending leans on the greatness of the rising action. If I'm not into the rising action, the ending probably can't pay off, however intrinsically good. You can't really take it intrinsically.

So I need to be more willing to abandon things despite my curiosity and despite rave reviews. Mass audiences and critics are just wrong sometimes, and other times they just don't match my taste.

I can be a little gentler with movies though. Those don't take long to finish, and if I hadn't finished Aguirre, I may always wonder.