Wednesday, May 25, 2016

cinema = behavioral observation

Movies are all about behavioral observation. Gestures and vocalizations in response to environmental pressures, seeking to exercise autonomy through adaptive strategies. We humans have a narcissistic tendency to gloat in, and associate reward to having gained a new understanding behind, those gestures and vocalizations, in different environments. Observation is FUN. Cinema is a proof of that - we swarm to observe other creatures (preferably of our species) expressing themselves through gestures and vocalizations. Films grow old on us, or certain films seem outdated, because we have already observed same/similar humans producing the same response to the same/similar environmental pressures. There are some films which have a veneer of "new", by having people appear and talk different in visually different environments. The formula is out there.

Humans will keep watching humans doing the above, empathizing with them, and grow awareness, opinions, weltanschauung, which induces a "feeling good" feel-tone. When something leaves us in splits or tears or screams, the motto seems "Come in for therapy, come out therapized", and that the movie has served its purpose to induce a strong response - in the real world, a chance to cry, laugh or scream in abandon comes seldom, and we seek upon the combined efforts of the film crew to push us to that.

We watch humans because they can give closure to the expression of a thought. For this same reason, we don't watch animals much, because closures in expression and environmental interaction under influence are impossible to gauge. However, we do know that animals, alike humans, respond to environmental pressures  (or stress factors), and have their personal favorite stress factors. Animals try to put it out there, but we don't get it completely, unless we feel amused, and would like to continue in our observation, in building a framework beyond the human situations. Instead of cinema, sometimes I wish to watch animals channels like Discovery or Animal Planet because of the possibilities it offers on a thought plane, because of incomplete expressions (and not because death is a reminder that things end but nature exists).

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