[_____V_____]

Aren't we, as the willing and paying public, consciously promoting escapist entertainment for a couple hours in the films we watch? Or does a part of us, unknowingly or unwillingly, look for realism in the silver screen?

The thought stuck in my head all day and when I came home, I looked through some sites but still can't find a satisfying answer for this question. Maybe some of you might be more helping/illuminating than the countless references Google keeps throwing up.

What is cinema exactly?

Escapist entertainment? Stark realism?

Aren't we paying to watch something for one and half hours to escape reality and feel lighter? Better? More cheerful? Forgetting the hassles of day-to-day life? Don't we cheer for Schwarzenegger when he pulls out a gun and plenty of outlandish one-liners to dispose off the bad guys?

Or realism in cinema is more engrossing? Does it make people more depressed because they can relate to what's happening on the screen? A Truffaut or Bunuel makes us contemplative? Stuff like The Wrestler or Gran Torino or Million Dollar Baby, even Schindler's List...is that cinema?

Which side of the scale is more heavier - entertainment, or realism?

No poll for this one. I just need to find an answer.