For the first time, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics have studied what makes people like romantic movies, Medical Express reported.
Critics usually dismiss them as sentimental and without intellectual input. But their popularity among the audience, which is looking for them precisely because they make them feel good, is great.
About 450 people from Germany, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland took part in the first film genre study of its kind. They cited romantic comedies as films with extremely high potential for improving emotional state. Typical in this regard are “Really Love”, “Pretty Woman”, “Amelie” and the French comedy “The Untouchables”. The results provide guidance on the content and formal characteristics of the films, which audiences say feel particularly comfortable watching.
“In addition to elements such as humor and classic happy endings, romantic films that make us feel good also have some recurring plot threads and images,” explains study leader Keivan Sarhos. “They often feature outsiders who are looking for true love, who need to prove themselves and fight hardships, and who eventually find their place in the community.”
Another feature is the dramatic moments, which usually have a strong emotional impact on viewers. At the same time, the plot often develops in a fairy-tale setting, which is typical of the genre and contributes a lot to the expected light that the films bring. The mixture of all these elements can be considered key to the movies that make us feel good.
The results of the study were published in the journal Projections.
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