I’d elicit stunned reactions, but within minutes the conversation would move to some other facet of cultural importance that I’d have the knowledge to contribute to. And if any of the movies came on TV while I was hanging out with friends in my dorm or apartment, I’d decide it was time to catch up on my reading or watch Netflix episodes of some other show that effectively held my attention.

And that’s something of a victory in the digital age, when my social-media feeds are constantly demanding that I watch this movie or listen to that song, lest I miss out on what everyone is talking about (e.g., the current hype surrounding the new “Star Wars”). Alas, my curiosity has never proved strong enough to sit down and spend hours committed to these franchises with the potential of hours and hours of subsequent obsession.

Actually, I’ve spent so much time not watching “Star Wars,” “Harry Potter,” and “The Lord of the Rings” that I decided to calculate the hours I’ve saved. Between the eight “Harry Potter” movies, three “Lord of the Rings” movies and three “Hobbit” films, plus the seven “Star Wars” episodes that have premiered to date, I’ve saved 56 hours. That’s more than two days. And if you consider that most fans have watched these movies at least twice, that’s 112 hours saved.