why we watch films
 

i'll start off by saying that I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the Entertainment forum, dont get anal on me please.****


What is it about watching a movie that has enthralled us for so many years? What is it about watching other's personal affairs unfold before our eyes, watching closely, being involved, but with an undetectible presence. Its as if we watch movies to fill that unavoidable, ultimately human longing to not be alone, taking on the role as a friend of the characters close enough to be into their most significant affairs, yet not even being there at all. It's a very lazy friendship, if you ask me.
When you get down to the matter at hand, our little fetish of watching films is no more than voyeurism.


***********wait for part 2 coming soon**********************

While there are certainly some theories around spectacle and voyeurism, etc. that can be tapped into with regards to viewing films, I feel it comes down to this question:

Why do we enjoy stories?

The answer is broader than simply why do we enjoy looking at films, there are pleasures involved in seeing (as opposed to just listening) but then we would be satisfied with simply watching random images or still photos (not that these don't offer pleasures in and of themselves, just that they aren't as popular a films).

It comes down to our love stories and narrative. Why do we love stories?

Escapism.


is what I would say, were it not less than 10 characters long.

I watch less than one film a year on average so I am not qualified to answer this question.

There is pleasure from watching the human experience. Films are entertaining, inspiring, and titilating.

Done correctly, they show the best and worst of humanity. I consider well done films as legitimate as literature in terms of value to society, influence, etc.

I don't think you have to identify with any characters in order to see the message in the film.

And how many would that be if you count pornos? :lol:

That's the sweetest and most considerate thing I've read in sometime

Humans are inherently curious. Just notice when there's an accident on the road, everyone has to stop and look (although there are those few who resist the urge, and btw we like those drivers!)..Humans have a natural thirst for..well..gossip (term used loosely of course).

Movies, too are a breath of fresh air from our usual routines, it provides us a safe way to feel different emotions that we may not have acces to daily...at no cost to us, other than our $9 a person...

Movies provide experiences we wouldn't have in our daily lives.

In the 3rd, world films are a form of escapism - hence the popularity of comedy, fantasy and adventure films.

But, in the 1st world, films have become a surrogate for life experience. In the absence of political or social instability we feel compelled to create and watch films that dramatize current/recent events - the problem is that we often walk away believing we actually learned something when the only thing we've experienced is emotional provocation.

I think that we watch films mainly for the stories they tell. That of course only pushes the answer back a step, leaving us with the question 'why do we like stories'.

For me, the answer is evolutionary. Story liking behaviour is adaptive for two reasons.

Stories often resemble gossip. This is backed up by looking at modern media; the difference between gossip/reality entertainment and fictional entertainment is quite blurred. So stories hitched an evolutionary ride on the back of the adaptiveness of gossip. Gossip is vital in tightly knit community, such as the ones we would have primarily evolved within, with its complex social relationships, where knowing who can be cooperated with is literally a matter of life or death. Who can be relied on. Who has been copulating with whom? Who has been failing to be reliable. Etc.
So gossip is adaptive and stories are 'fake' gossip.

A second adaptive quality of stories is they can act as a kind of 'simulation', so that one is more prepared for such a situation. What would one do if they fond themselves in situation 'X'? How would things turn out if said person did 'Y'? Notice the typical 'story arc':
Character wishes to achieve goal.
Goal cannot be immediatly attained because of obstacle (e.g. character flaw, other character, etc)
Character oversomes obstacle and achieves goal.

Perhaps stories are a 'training simulation' for real life? How to achieve said goal when faced with said obstacle.

Of course, these qualities are adaptive only in our evolutionary environment and the function they perform in our present environment is an open question. E.g. liking the taste of high calorie foods was at one stage adaptive (for obvious reasons), these days where food is abundant, these same qualities are not so helpful (again for obvious reasons).

(Post is a bit of a mess, sorry)

Roger Ebert was asked a similar question at his 2003 "Overlooked Film Festival".

QUESTION: Hello, Mr. Ebert. I'm afraid that my question is a serious one. We are living in a very scary world right now. We are at war with Iraq, North Korea has nuclear weapons, and there are secret terrorist organizations all over the world who's only goal is to destroy us and destroy our way of life. It would seem that the movies are only a trivial thing at a time like this, but I think that they can actually be much more important. I was wondering what role you think films play in today's world, and if you think films really can change things for the better. -- Michael Guerena, Los Angeles, CA (18 yrs. old)

EBERT: Movies are an empathy machine. Better than any other art form, they allow us the sensation of standing in somebody else's shoes. We are trapped in ourselves, in our own box of space and time, and to identity with movie characters is a way to get outside of that box. No one familiar with the recent Iranian cinema, for example, could take a monolithic "axis of evil" view of that country. Good movies are civilizing, thoughtful, humanizing. Bad movies of course are another matter.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/features/special/ebert/