In the '50s, audiences accepted a level of artifice that the audiences in 1966 would chuckle at. And the audiences of 1978 would chuckle at what the audience of 1966 said was okay, too. The trick is to try to be way ahead of that curve, so they're not chuckling at your movies 20 years down the line.
What I feel for the ball, what I enjoy, as a player and now as a coach, the satisfaction I feel when I see great players, is the same as in the school playground: seeing moves build, seeing understanding, passes flow, seeing it all fit together. That's what I admire and ultimately, that's what you learn at school.