The Emotional Effects of Movies
“Movies have had more influence on us than science.”
Peter Cawdron
As a kid, the best part of my week was having a birthday sleepover at a friend's house, eating chips and watching silly horror movies. The films were more cheesy than scary, but when I saw 'Jaws,' it freaked me out and made me think of a shark while swimming at the lake. 🤦🏼♀️
Which leads me to this month’s topic.
Last week, I was driving through the countryside, enjoying the wildflowers when vivid scenes from disturbing movie trailers suddenly came to mind.
‘Why was I visualizing and experiencing anxiety from images I’d only glimpsed?’
Movies are stored in our subconscious mind and can influence our ability to make clear and peaceful decisions.
Thinking deeply revealed a mix of sad, violent, and upsetting scenes from movies I had seen which affected me more than I realized.
Killers, psychopaths, cheaters, dysfunction, big spiders that like to eat people, abused dogs, nasty and futile comment exchanges and strobe-like clips that trigger frenzy.
Some days, these memories stay hidden and don't bother me. But when life gets stressful, random images trigger anxiety – filling me with indecision.
The destructive images have weighed on my mind more than I realized and science has proven that it’s not all in my imagination.
The National Institutes of Health says, ‘Viewing violence in the media affected the functions of the orbitofrontal cortex, including decision-making. This means that exposure to media violence decreases the activity of the orbitofrontal cortex, and as a result, decision-making is weakened.’
I also discovered Neurocinematics and the effects of movies on the psyche.
Here’s what Mirage News says about how films influence the brain.
“A key finding in neurocinematics is the concept of "inter-subject correlation" (ISC), referring to the synchronization of neural activity across different individuals when watching the same film. High ISC implies that the film is guiding the viewers' attention and eliciting similar cognitive and emotional responses, while low ISC suggests that viewers' minds are wandering or interpreting the film differently.
An essential aspect of this is the role of mirror neurons. These are neurons that fire both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing the same action. Mirror neurons are thought to play a crucial role in empathy and understanding others' actions and emotions, making them vital in the context of film viewing.”
Mirror neurons are thought to play a crucial role in empathy and understanding others' actions and emotions, making them vital in the context of film viewing.”
Empathic, sensitive people connect deeply with the characters, feeling their struggles, and carry the film's emotional impact long after it ends.
I’m starting to see how our mental health benefits from a consistent stream of encouraging and uplifting content. Whereas disturbing media feeds inertia, anxiety and depression.
By being mindful of what we’re feeding our minds, and doubling down on compassionate thinking habits, we’re promoting follow-through in our daily lives.
We’re better equipped to deal with reality and make sound decisions when our minds aren’t filled with residual fear from movies.
With the rise of social media usage and access to movies, images, and news 24/7 at our fingertips, we’re being bombarded by images.
Are they contributing to mental, emotional and spiritual well-being or degrading it and filling us with luke-warm paralyzing fear?
(Read my blog about the monk’s story about fear and the impacts of living in fear.)
Video Update, ‘Ruth’ gets accepted to Yale University.