Like LateReg said, I also watch everything. I used to look at the MCU with contempt, until I finally gave it a shot - mostly because my girlfriend wanted to see Thor: Ragnarok, and because my best friend had been accusing me for years of being a film snob and elitist. Now, a few years later, I can admit of having watched all of the MCU, and very much looking forward to the upcoming films and series. Yes, it is not quite Tarkovsky, Bergman, Lynch, von Trier etc., etc., but as LateReg said, it is its own thing - and I personally can find amusement and joy in them, and even some things to make me feel and think.
Then again, I'm a fan of arthouse cinema, classics etc., so the MCU makes up for only a small portion of the things I watch. I also could not care less what the masses watch. I would love for the people like David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, David Cronenberg, John Waters and others to get as much money for making their films as they wish, but in terms of caring what the general masses prefer and actually watch, I don't really care.
What could maybe be considered ironic is that the only film I'm planning to see in the theaters in the upcoming months is Black Widow (the latest entry in the MCU franchise), but that is precisely because I feel that that kind of film is best seen on a big screen with great sound and other technical aspects. It is also the type of film to be seen in company, with friends, so that is why the theater will be the best place to see it.
Generally, however, I consider film as an art form to be as intimate medium as literature - films are meant to be seen in private, all by yourself. That is why the things I really care about I watch alone, at home, with no distractions. Where I live we have two great theaters that mostly play classics and art films, but I rarely go, because why would I when all of that I could easily watch at home, alone, and... well... for free.
mtwentz, the thing you said about mostly artists loving Twin Peaks... Well, I am the only Twin Peaks fanatic in my circle that I know of, and I'm a writer, so there seems to be something to it!
I also have a friend who is writing poetry and who recently finished the original series, and was blown away by it, so I'm eagerly awaiting his reactions to Fire Walk with Me and The Return! But I also know a few people who enjoyed the entirety of Twin Peaks, and have no artistic aspirations whatsoever.And about the writing process in general: people are different, so to each their own. I, for one, would never try to write on a daily basis. It just doesn't feel right to me. (But I have heard such theories a few times, and admit they may work for other people.) I tend to work on a novel for years, and take big breaks between writing sessions. For example, I haven't been working on my new novel since March 11, and I won't be until September or October. It is partially because I don't have too much to say, and everything I write has to be very important to me - I plan to publish circa 5 novels in my lifetime - and partially because I believe that big gaps between writing sessions help you put your work into perspective after some time has passed and you have grown as a person - and we do grow almost on a daily basis.
Finally, mtwentz, if you have the desire, I encourage you to write. Just start and who knows where it might take you!
Jonah, do not be discouraged, and don't give up! These things take time. I have found the publisher for my first novel and published it relatively easily - I just had to borrow money to pay for the publishing myself - but after that, it has been mostly disappointment. I did not even get bad reviews, I just experienced a general lack of critical reaction to my book, almost as if it never existed. But that won't stop me from publishing the second one in two or three years
