Press Play, and Relax
With television and film award ceremonies starting to wrap up alongside the advent of new media dominating pop culture, it's clear that TV and film are still important aspects of the human experience. At the same time, a new season is settling in on campus with the spring semester in full effect. This period can bring a lot of stress for us as students looking to finish up the school year while staying on top of our to-do lists.
An often overlooked priority on that extensive list is taking the time to enjoy the spring season. Unfortunately, it can appear more logical to pursue productivity and reject certain activities that are deemed a “waste of time” such as turning on the TV and binging your favorite movie or TV show. But we at the Edge encourage students to find ways to relax and rejuvenate. So that means, grab the remote and turn on that six season Netflix series because enjoying a form of comfort media is a great way to ease stress and escape outside responsibilities.
The new phrase “locking in” has grown rampant throughout social media, especially targeted towards the age group of young adults. This heightened wave of productivity shuns personal time investment that doesn't involve arbitrary measures of self improvement. Building the best version of you is important but it shouldn't come at the cost of basic human enjoyment.
Joshua Baldwin, a media psychologist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Georgia led a study on the impacts of binge watching and found evidence for some positive benefits.
“Humans are storytelling creatures,” said Baldwin. “One of the functions of narratives is the ability to satisfy motivations for things like connecting with other people, feeling autonomous and confident, and even security and safety. Stories have characters that fulfill these roles, and we can satisfy those needs through them.”
What's the last movie or series you sat down and watched for hours? Was it all at once or in multiple chunks piece by piece? Do you remember when you watched it? Did you binge it with someone else? Can you vividly remember how you felt throughout the experience? These questions are important because they contextualize the point made by Baldwin. As humans, we have a desire to connect with others and experience emotions outside of ourselves. Watching characters and plotlines develop over the course of a piece of media and allows us to re-experience them as many times as we’d like.
Series such as Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Suits, Friends, the Office, and other classics have created spaces for connection amongst viewers and opened necessary discussions about certain characters and issues present within the shows. These shared experiences create lasting memories and can build a critical sense of community.
Regardless of how you prefer to unwind over the next couple of months, it's important to remember that any time spent for personal relaxation is never a waste of time.
Do you have a favorite television show or movie that's a guilty pleasure of yours? Let us know at @theedgemag!