In preparation for today’s episode, I decided to do a little research about the psychology of film, and in the process, I learned a few things.

For instance, did you know that film and psychology have been connected since the late nineteenth century? With research labs studying the mechanics of perception and how our visual recall works, and producers like Samuel Goldwyn working to lure the psychologist Sigmund Freud in to help determine the subtext of his films. He actually offered Freud one hundred grand to secure a meeting with Freud in Vienna in 1925. And then Hugo Munsterberg posited that film actually allowed the inner working of the mind to become visible, thus shifting our way of thinking about thinking.

Other academics like Gordon Allport have even gone so far as to indicate that cinema is a standardized daydream, which is kind of horrifying when we consider the implications against mass consumption. In the world of marketing, there is a very real fear of being led towards a product decision without conscious consideration and there is evidence that many marketers employ tactics to get such a response, so why wouldn’t a two hour video create a far stronger impression then a 30 second commercial?

But maybe that’s actually a good thing. In fact, I really do believe it to be the case.

It is the role of the critic to give the viewer the tools to think differently about art, and it is the role of the artist to give meaning to life. So by all accounts, films that affect us should be considered to be instrumental in shaping our world views and when we feel something during a movie, but are unsure of what it means, a critic can help to deconstruct that film for us, which in turn allows us to better understand ourselves and others.

There are many examples of stories out there which have parents, groups, and government campaigning against film, television, games and other art forms, because of the suggestive nature of that content, and in some cases, blaming the content for how children behave. Again, I agree that there is a lot of evidence that suggests such an outcome, but what if we exposed children, youth, and even adults in need of rehabilitation towards content which depicts a more empathetic worldview? Say Sling Blade, K-PAX, Moonrise Kingdom or the very recent films Get Out and Hostiles, the later of which I did a review on last week!

Maybe in those cases, we can learn something about the world and be less inclined towards hatred. Which is what Chris and I set out to do in coming up with a list of ten movies we collectively agree are incredibly impactful, and how each of those films personally effected us.

I think you’ll get special interest from the films Manchester By The Sea and The VVitch, as we focused on them in case studies from our lives. This is episode thirty seven of Cross Talk – movies which had a profound psychological effect.

theories Summarized

Were you surprised to learn how we each felt about these choices? I wasn’t especially taken back to discover how Chris feels about Manchester By The Sea, it is a very dark film, and Casey Affleck deserves all the awards he got for playing a depressed man. But I bet you weren’t expecting me to open up about The VVitch the way I did, now were you?

Sharing is caring creative cuties, hopefully you’ve got some examples that we’ve never even considered. And we’d love to hear from you, so please comment below with your picks, and if you’re up to it, please share a little bit about why these movies have left a mark.

Until next time, please like and share the content! And subscribe to the mailing list if you haven’t yet. I’ll be sharing some insights on a new Leon Bridges album!

Tim!