The first ever motion picture movie ever recorded in human history was Lous Le Prince’s Roundhay Garden Scene, a groundbreaking 2 second long video – well, groundbreaking for its time, 1888.
Despite mysteriously disappearing before his movies were shown to the masses- all of a sudden, something seemingly impossible, led to thousands of people rushing to their cameras and figuring out how to mimic this technological advancement.
According to statistica.com, as of May 2024, there have been over 8 million films and television series in total, with 13 genres and more than 90 sub-genres, which leads me to the question: Why do Humans Love Movies? With billions of dollars and millions of viewers (More than 1 000 000 people!) movies are well-loved around the world and almost every single person in the world has seen at least one, others even have favourites, so what makes movies so enjoyable?
From a scientific standpoint, our brains are actually wired to respond to any stimuli which activate any reward systems. So, to be more specific; movies engage the parts in our brain involved in visual/auditory processing to become extremely stimulated. This is where the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine to be released because of the emotional engagement we are constantly experiencing in a cinema, or while watching TV. But if I’m really looking at what makes a cinematic masterpiece: it comes down to storytelling. These cinematic experiences almost mirror our own lives, but also wildly different that anyone can experience many different lives through a lens. These lives can be fictional or not.
At the end of the day, it makes us feel less alone in our experiences and everyday lives, because audiences can readily resonate with characters’ loves, losses, hopes and struggles. The. Genre. Does. Not. Matter. But the story it tells does. If you take a look at many of the movies that have broken box office records or what are considered ‘old classics’, they all have one thing in common: they want us to watch it all over again. The story has us on the edge of our seats and creates a damn good experience!
So, the answer to my earlier question is quite simple – we watch movies to feel something! Movies are worlds we can explore and watch and question and love and hate and be shocked or laugh wholeheartedly. Movies not only bring what we dream to life, but are really just reflections of our reality. We can understand other people, connect with the characters. And isn’t that the most human thing of all?
