Comedy Movies: Positive Psychological Effects

Comedy Movies: Positive Psychological Effects

Living in the 21st century has numerous challenges that are both psychologically and physically draining. To counter these challenges and help relieve stress, humans have created different forms of entertainment, among these being comedy movies. Comedy movies are characterized by humor, and we express this through laughter. Laugher is a symbol that indicates happiness, i.e., absence of stress, and feeling better about ourselves. Despite numerous movies out there, Comedy movies are my number one choice due to their direct impact on one’s health and mental state. The past few decades have seen movie directors incorporating comedy with other genres, but nothing else matters as long as laughter is involved.

Everyone craves laughter, whether at home or at work. It is documented that regular laughter is associated with increased dopamine levels in the system that eventually contribute to better growth and development and long and healthy lives. For these and other reasons, everyone is willing to pay that extra five or four backs, buy a lot of popcorn and sit in their preferred row at the center of the theatre to ensure they don’t miss any moment of comedy movies.

Comedy movies also make people feel relaxed, especially after stressful events or when they are extremely exhausted. Comedy film directors enhance this by using the three-phase humor model. The first phase of humor tends to have a situation set-up, the second an action or expectation set-up, and the last expression of opposite or unexpected ending. The final phase of a comedy movie stimulates the brain to release neurohormones (endorphins and dopamine) that induce laughter.

Curiosity is a common human aspect that is both a function and an emotion in the brain that arises on the release of dopamine. Comedy movies are developed in a way that new and interesting topics that induce curiosity are presented often. This results in an increased dopamine release as the person elevates their desire to know more about the unknown. In the long run, it becomes a habit within the context, making the brain continuously release more dopamine leaving the person in an exploratory mindset.

Other than the psychological impact of comedy movies, we also tend to get the concept of morality. However, most of the morals are usually useless and not necessarily applicable in our daily lives. A great example is in the movie ‘Me, Myself and Irene’, where the main character gets the love of his life, and they get married and live happily. However, as the movie progresses, the main character identifies another girl he considers important and non-separable from him and stops her from leaving despite being married to Irene. We learn from this movie that whenever we feel that we love someone dearly, we should never let them go without telling them or expressing our love to them. As much as this moral is relatable to us, it is not of great value in our daily life.

We can never overlook the aspect of instilling knowledge through comedy. Comedy provides humouristic content that educates us and broadens our thinking scope and instills an optimistic mindset. One terrific movie is ‘the Kid’ film by Charlie Chaplin that revolves around an adopted kid who works together with the Tramp in a loving yet financially constrained environment. It also demonstrates true love from strangers as well as motherly love that never ends. Comedy movies are more common among people aged 30 years and above. This is the age group with huge responsibilities and stressful moments in trying to ensure work-life balance. People in this class tend to focus on more instant and realistic entertainment, giving them that sense of happiness as they interact with their colleagues. What else should they ask for if not comedy movies?

The new methodology of combining genres in different films has gained immense popularity. This is done to ensure the expansion of the audience and increment of sales of different films. One unique genre mix is comedy and horror in one film. Who knew that people would ever laugh from seeing other people suffer in amusing ways at some point? As is known, both horror and comedy movies are developed on a similar structure, i.e., the execution of increasing tension, accurate timing, and an eventual big payoff. The payoff in comedy is usually laughter, while in horror movies, it is the increased tension, fear, jumping, or screaming. In horror-comedy, the two reactions are combined, and the films tend to be both physically and mentally involving. For some people, this combination is more entertaining and alluring. As a matter of fact, the horror-comedy genre is considered the most popular genre of the 21st century.

One might ask, ‘Wont the thrill and fear instilled on a person outdo the humour in the horror-comedy movie?