We have not yet finished unraveling the Halloween cobwebs from the storefronts, but the catalogs of television platforms are filled with new titles Christmas movies. It doesn’t matter if we don’t usually see stories like this. Christmas movies suddenly become almost a necessity to get through the days leading up to Christmas Eve. And, I must say, the following days. But why do we like them so much?
In fact, the plots of Christmas films can be very different, but the vast majority of them Romantic comedies. A young woman with a successful job returns to her town for Christmas, meets her teenage boyfriend, and discovers that they have never decided to break up. He leaves everything in the big city and opens a small business in the city to start a new life with it. Add to that a good dose of snow and maybe a few dramatic flashbacks, but not too many, and you’ve got the perfect Christmas movie formula.
Romantic comedies are a double-edged sword. Some may perpetuate certain toxic behavior. In fact, in Real loveQueen of Christmas movies, we have a good example of this with the character played by Andrew Lincoln, who, in love with his best friend’s girlfriend, obsessively records her during her wedding. Both this and the famous scene on the posters in which he proposes are shown as some of the most romantic scenes in cinema, despite the fact that if it happened in real life, we would know that it entails a lot of toxicity . But there are good things about romantic comedies. And, of course, this also applies to Christmas films.
The Importance of Familiarity in Christmas Movies
One of the attractions of Christmas movies is that while new movies are released every year, some, like the one mentioned above, Real loveor fun Alone at home, We usually see them year after year.
This corresponds to something very important known as the familiarity principle. surprises, with few exceptions, are pleasant because they activate the brain’s reward systems. In fact, keeping with the Christmas theme, this is the reason we love advent calendars so much. However, our brains also enjoy not having to process anything new.
Even if this is a story we’re seeing for the first time, all Christmas movies have a very similar structure, so They will be equally familiar to us.
The important role of nostalgia
In fact, the stories in Christmas movies are quite bizarre. Who has been in a situation where you fell back in love with your teenage crush at Christmas and everything ended well? However, they have everything to make us feel nostalgia.
Family dinners, carols, extremely exaggerated Christmas decorations… This makes them nostalgic. Even if we still have a Merry Christmas, this idea of Christmas often takes us back to holidays past. When, according to our preferences, everything was better. This, as Fielding University graduate school explained, makes us feel psychologically good.
Additionally, Christmas movies depict calm scenes that never involve the stress of the city. The characters live calmly, enjoy their family, eat sweets, go ice skating… All these are clichés with the help of which the prevailing calm prevails, which in a certain sense It takes a toll on us.
Ideal for viewing alone or with family
Wildschut and Sedikidesin their book The Psychology of Nostalgia point out that sharing a film can improve intimacy and social relationships. Add to that the fact that these are easy-to-watch films with a happy ending, and they have everything to create a pleasant atmosphere. That’s why it’s nice to watch Christmas movies with your whole family, partner or friends.
But, of course, there is nothing wrong with watching them alone. After all, this is the way self-treatment. Discover a relaxing story with no surprises that we know will end well.
In fact, happy endings and positive emotions in Christmas movies are very good for us. He explains this in statements Daily mail psychologist Pamela Rutledge. ” Happy endings“Emotions of joy, laughter and happy tears activate our reward nerve centers, changing our body chemistry and making us feel physically good, as well as lifting our mood.”
Those reward centers They are activated when we are exposed to stimuli such as sex or eating chocolate. The first preserves the appearance, and the second gives us energy. Both stimuli are evolutionarily beneficial, so our brain rewards us with a satisfying hit of dopamine, leaving us wanting more. The same thing happens with Christmas movies. So if we can only view them as fiction and ignore the toxic idea of love they sometimes represent, they are the perfect addition to these holidays.
Source: Hiper Textual
