Why is watching adults play pretend in a movie or tv show not considered childish or immature while certain mediums like video games, comics, etc are considered immature by some people?
I gotta be honest and say that it feels a little cringe to watch a movie or tv for me now because the entire medium of film boils down to this.
>video games
The way I view it
Most games are gameplay-centered and feature little to no deep story to explore. Since games introduce a dimension of player interaction, game devs need to account for the fact they can't just roll with their idea/story, but rather roll with the idea in a way a player can be a part of (while being thoroughly entertained).
Of course there are narrative-driven "choice" games (like Telltale or Quantic Dream games), but generally its advised you sacrifice the story for better gameplay (generates better retention), and games come off as a lesser intellectual medium as a result of that. Games are also harder, much harder to make than movies, so there's not a lot of wiggle room for failure, and cult-classics are harder to emerge because of that.
There's also culture surrounding games, E-Sports and streamers, that taint the reputation even further.
>comics
In general, its a stereotype, since when you think of "comics" you think of DC and Marvel (dummyed capeshit), and not anything else, I'm not a comics fan myself, but I'm sure there are some noteworthy comics out there.