Why Movies?

We can all agree that movies allow us to escape, but it’s often more than simple escapism. Movies can take us to places we’ve never been and inside the skins of people quite different from ourselves. They offer us a window into the wider world, broadening our perspectives and opening our eyes to new wonders

People primarily watch movies for the experiences they provide:

1. They want a break from the daily grind and to be placed in a different situation. Some want the plain escape to a mindless entertainment; others want emotional and mental stimulation.

2. A movie allows you to experience something that you cannot in your real life: for example, a way to fight back, a romance with a gorgeous partner, an adventure or trip, or being there in history.

3. For those two hours what is on screen seems real, and, as we absorb it, the art leads us to laugh, cry, learn, get scared, love, become aware, discover, be outraged, get confused, be disgusted, be touched, get sad, be distracted, be inspired, and many other Film viewers undergo what Samuel Taylor Coleridge called “the willing suspension of disbelief.” They accept what is on the screen on its own terms, giving themselves over for a brief time to the face value of the director’s depiction.

Movies help people fill some of their needs. The needs are individual in nature, and how the need is satisfied is individualistic. Some examples:
 Movies are a way to acquire knowledge, information, and ideas.

 Movies feed into the moods of the viewers. Often they may provide a vehicle for release. Other times, they push an emotional button that has been suppressed. Have you ever watched a movie and then felt guilty because you had not done something in your life? Some films are feel-good movies, but others are sad, heavy movies.

 In a similar vein, sometimes we discover the capacity for pleasure from taboo activities in scenes we would never admit to in any other environment or time.

 People use media to reassure their status, gain credibility, and stabilize. “Compared to that family, I am really okay.”

Watching a movie with family or friends adds to your life enjoyment. If your friends are going to the movies you may also go to be part of the community discussion. Watching a movie on your own will probably let you pay more attention to the art of the film, but will leave you without the social venue necessary to think it all through afterward.

As British film professor Patrick Phillips has pointed out, an integral part of our cinema visits is that we exit a movie wanting to talk and share impressions, sort out our reactions, and debate the film’s issues and what it all meant.