Mind-enticing films

Over and over again films succeed in enticing us. We follow a story line enthusiastically and when given more thought, it is actually almost the same as in the film we have seen the week before. What is it about films that entice our minds?

According to the Professor of Psychology Markku Ojanen, the most important psychical mechanisms that entice us in films are identifying with them and the charm of novelty. Professor Ojanen, the head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Tampere, has for a long time followed research concerning the psychology of films, and confesses being a film-enthusiast.

"You can, for example, identify with films by recognising your own experiences or feelings, or something that is familiar to yourself in a film. I have identified strongly with The New Land; a film based on a novel by Moberg, where in the beginning of the film Max von Zydow ploughs an awful, rocky field. I am a farmer's son and that brings to my mind my own fields. Correspondingly, being a 196 cm tall farmer's son, there is no way I could identify with Woody Allen, a neurotic 150 cm tall New Yorker," Ojanen says.

Another way of identifying is identifying with an ideal person, like with a heroic character in a film. "The best example of this kind of an identification is the Robin Hood character. Who would not want to be a hero just like him?"

Identifying with an ideal person provides us with the value of the ideal person for a little while, whereas identifying with something that is close to us provides us with a rewarding feeling of togetherness. When a film touches us, the experiences of identifying exist usually also there in the background.

Support or challenge to our view of the world

Watching a film may strengthen our own view of the world.

"We are constantly building up the story that we use to make sense of life. The films that we have close experiences with strengthen our own story. These kinds of films are important to us. If we want to believe there to be justice in the world, the happy ending of a film, which is usually also justified, strengthens our view of the world," Ojanen says.

A film may also make a viewer question or reflect on different things

"Art's purpose is to challenge us. Many artists think that the world is a cruel place and that should be shown to people. Even reviewers criticise films that have happy endings. Still, I think that deep down they wish to have more happy endings. We need those happy endings to endure our everyday lives."

What gets us then to watch those less happy films? Films that are realistic and cynical, films about misery or crime? According to Ojanen, this could be explained by inquisitiveness and the charm of novelty that are natural to us.

"Although misery is a part of life, the lives of the people watching the films are usually not really that awful. When we watch films, we are amazed by the things that break the norms of the good life."

Automatic pleasure

The charm of novelty includes the desire for excitement and surprise.

"We fulfil our daily basic needs and social needs, but we also have spiritual needs. We feel good when a need arises and then quickly eases off, which happens when we are watching a film. A film may set free powerful emotions. The consequence is the same that occurs in a human body in extreme sports: the body becomes excited and the energy level rises. When this excitement eases off, we feel relieved. This happens, for example, when we are watching a thriller," Ojanen explains.

In addition to giving us pleasure in forms of excitement and relief, films give us direct pleasure. People are built up in a way that when something makes us cry or touches us, the emotions automatically become positive. The emotions are even stronger, if the film experience is shared with another person. People from different cultures find different things amusing and touching.

We are often so compelled by a movie that we do not make conscious decisions while watching it, although it is possible to watch a film consciously, or "watch it clinically", as Ojanen describes it, when watching is guided by intelligence. We can then, for example, concentrate on the pictorial narration of a film.

"Although our personalities affect the way we watch films, the psychical processes in the background are general to all humans. We are also at the mercy of our culture. Most people like those things that have become idols in our culture. Still, sometimes films do cross cultural boundaries," Ojanen says.

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