A friend recently told me about how she had been made aware of the impact of the stimulus she surrounded herself with. For example, watching depressing movies and listening to sad music was predictably making her less happy. I took this idea with a grain of salt. I have understood how "angry music" has made me happy (without the need to go be angry first).
I have however noticed one element of this that seemed spot on on. There is a cruelty in some entertainment that I am very susceptible to. It leaves me feeling just awful when I see it. This I identified when watching an episode of Walking Dead. I am not a zombie fan at all, but do find myself fascinated by apocalyptic stories. There was an episode where an ordinarily brutal world turned just that much more cruel. I shut it off and just felt angry and bummed out. Why did THAT just have to happen?
That's when I started to get the aforementioned theory. It's not that all music and film affect us the same way, but when I found my personal emotional trap doors, I needed to listen to it. No more Walking Dead for me (which kinda sucks as I was enjoying till that point). I also know now that senseless cruelty is where I draw a line.
Sometimes it seems obvious, but knowing it still feels better.
I have however noticed one element of this that seemed spot on on. There is a cruelty in some entertainment that I am very susceptible to. It leaves me feeling just awful when I see it. This I identified when watching an episode of Walking Dead. I am not a zombie fan at all, but do find myself fascinated by apocalyptic stories. There was an episode where an ordinarily brutal world turned just that much more cruel. I shut it off and just felt angry and bummed out. Why did THAT just have to happen?
That's when I started to get the aforementioned theory. It's not that all music and film affect us the same way, but when I found my personal emotional trap doors, I needed to listen to it. No more Walking Dead for me (which kinda sucks as I was enjoying till that point). I also know now that senseless cruelty is where I draw a line.
Sometimes it seems obvious, but knowing it still feels better.
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