日本語 Japanese Ask Questions Thread 6

If you have a question about the language, ask it and fellow 4channers might see it and answer it for you.

Japanese - Ask questions thread
http://dis.4chan.org/read/lang/1174719097/1-40

日語 Japanese Ask Questions Thread2 質問
http://dis.4chan.org/read/lang/1206158123/1-40

日本語 Japanese Ask Questions Thread 3
http://dis.4chan.org/read/lang/1267485093/1-40

日本語 Japanese Ask Questions Thread 4
http://dis.4chan.org/read/lang/1302350850/1-40

日本語 Japanese Ask Questions Thread 5
http://dis.4chan.org/read/lang/1330050873/1-40

'見える　means "something or someone is spontaneously visible"; 見られる, on the other hand, means that the subject of the sentence can see something or someone actively rather than passively.'

Could someone help me elucidate the difference here? I don't understand why looking at the sea is considered 'spontaneously visible', and a movie is 'actively rather than passively'. Is it due to the dynamic change in the movie, due to the fact that you had to move to a different place to see the movie, etc? I can't figure it out.