Why are books, movies and TV shows written this way?

[Ruth n Jersey]

I never was much of a reader while I was growing up but now I'm making up for lost time. I do love biography's. Now I'm reading some good fiction as well. I notice in the newer books they seem to use a lot of flashbacks and in movies also. I've heard about The Bird Box being a good movie. I'm not much on science fiction but decided to listen to the audio version. I'm not sure about the book yet, I haven't finished it, but it is holding my interest. Every other chapter is a flashback though. Is there a reason why they do this? Even TV shows are made this way.

The hubby won't even finish a show or movie if there are to many flashbacks. There must be a reason.

 

[Victor]

Flashbacks in movies are shown to reveal what happened in the past, obviously, or to remind the audience of
a startling or important experience of a character. The character's past is important to the movie or else they think
the shocking orviolent episode adds interest or excitement. Audiences have short attention spans. Yes, sometimes flashbacks are confusing

In a novel, the author has the same reasons. As an author, I don't want to begin the novel in the past
because it might be boring or unnecessary to the plot. So a short flashback is needed. Some books over do it
intentionally,--this is their style. Authors deliberately alternate chapters between the past and present. Some readers
enjoy this style. In the older times, it was not done much. A big reason is to maintain reader's interest. In my novel, the past is shown
in part one, and in the second part is the present. That's another way to write it.Is it preferable to flashbacks?

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

Thank you Victor, I would much rather read a book using your style of writing. I guess people today need the extra help of flashbacks. Just like everything else everybody is in a rush even when reading a book or watching a TV show or movie. They don't have time to pay attention. I notice a lot of "filler" sentences and paragraphs repeating the same thing but in a different way. I'm leaning toward enjoying the older books than those of today.

 

[ClassicRockr]

Unfortunately, when a movie, in the beginning, keeps showing flashbacks of certain characters, the movie can become mixed up, as in "am I seeing a flashback now or is this present day?" The last movie we rented/watched, Widows, done the "flashback" thing and it started to get confusing and annoying. The flashbacks finally stopped and we were able to completely watch the movie, but for a few minutes, we were set to shut it down and take back to Red Box.

 

[MarkinPhx]

Just my opinion but the TV show Lost mastered the flashback trick.I just finished watching Homecoming on Prime and they did a pretty good job also. I have watched many movies and TV shows though that made it confusing to follow. Books make it even more difficult most of the time.