Movie Catharsis
Do movies have healing ability?
Apart from being entertaining, it is believed that movies can relieve individuals from mental suffering. Recently, therapists have adopted what is called Cinematherapy, which has been recommended to individuals on several occasions. Cinematherapy is based on the awareness that movies can influence the way individuals think, feel, and, ultimately, their mental status (Hampton, 2018). Generally, films reflect the current state of society with all the dynamics of the organization involved. Through these, individuals can relate scenes from the movie with their lives, and as many films have ‘happy’ endings, they believe that they too will have the same.
How do movies reflect “our national emotional state?”
Following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, many films were created reflecting on the happenings of those trying times in the U.S. While some chose to focus on the military response to the situation, others decided to focus on individuals and how the events affected individuals who were affected either directly or indirectly. Despite these differences, all these movies were focused on the emotional impact of 9/11 on the Americans in general (Liu, Lee, & Groves, 2016).
How are movies used to gauge our national attitudes?
In many instances, scriptwriters and even directors of movies are inspired by current happenings when coming up with movie scenes. These are geared towards bringing out the general attitudes of the general population towards current affairs. For example, in one of the episodes on Last Man Standing, a popular American Sitcom, the main character speaks about his feelings concerning decisions made by the White House during the Benghazi attack when the U.S. ambassador to Libya was killed in an attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in that country. He continues to criticize political policies under President Obama in other scenes of the show (Liu, Lee, & Groves, 2016).
What movie inspired catharsis for you?
As human beings, we all live with the fear at the back of our minds of one day having to lose a loved one, even though we may not be conscious about it at all times. This is the kind of catharsis that the movie Up inspired in me when I first watched it. We all live with the hope of finding the love of our lives, with whom we will spend the rest of our lives. However, as life would have it, we are bound to lose them(). However, there is the hope of happiness even after losing our significant others since life moves on.
References
Hampton, D. (2018). How watching movies can help your mental health [blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.thebestbrainpossible.com/movie-help-mental-health-therapy/
Liu, Y., Lee, B., & Groves, D. (2016). Movies: a Social Indicator of the Car Movement in the U.S. Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management, 4(1), 36-46.
Miyamoto, K. (2019). 19 Most Cathartic Movie Scenes. ScreenCraft. Retrieve from https://screencraft.org/2019/06/18/19-most-cathartic-movie-scenes/.