Within class on Tuesday we had a bit of argument about if TV
and movies could be an away of escapism. I would argue that escapism is a
completely logical reason why some people watch a particular show. Within my
own experiences I have on many occasions escaped from reality from problems I
have within my average day life. During finals week of last semester I would
watch an unhealthy amount of YouTube content to escape my, for a period of
time, my finals and to relax awhile.
An example of something here recently is on Monday, the day
before class, I had been presented 5 unexpected problems I had to face. I felt
overwhelmed and anxious. So since it was late at night and I could not contact
the appropriate companies and individuals I watched about two and half hours of
a YouTube series and then went to bed. The next morning, I proceeded to tackle
each of the problems I had been informed about the previous night. Even today,
Wednesday, I am still facing these issues slowly.
Now I am just one case out of millions of people within the
world. Luckily I have found two quick articles that argue this same point. Drew
Higgins a writer from The Carletonian
argues that people use bad TV shows to escape their own reality instead of
dealing with the problems right then and there. I feel that sometimes it is a
necessity to step away from a problem, take a break, and then re-approach the
problem with fresh eyes and within a calmer state of mind. Within the article
he states that “Bad television is the gold mine of
relaxation because it doesn’t waste time on trying to be good. Its only concern
is being captivating, and it therefore can take you to an entirely different
place on days when you don’t want to be inside your own head anymore”
(Higgins). He argues later that this is not entirely a good thing though
because we, the audience, can then use these bad TV shows as a way to not deal
with issues which can lead to an addiction of always turning to the TV as away
with dealing with our problems.
Another example that I found is when
hurricane Sandy impacted the east coast of the United States. Within New York,
many of its residences flooded to the theatre to escape the reality of dealing
with the damages caused by this hurricane. On moviefone.com stated that
“Disney’s “Wreck-it Ralph” opened strongly with $49.1 million and Robert
Zemeckis “Flight,” starring Denzel Washington, soared to $25 million debut.
Both movies, within the opening above expectations, capitalizing on East Coast
audiences looking for distraction amid the recovery from the storm” moviefone.
I would also state that most big name movies production companies like Disney
and Paramount have an expectation of what they would receive in the opening
weekend of a film. Both of these filmed “opened above expectation” which makes
me believe that people of the east coast used movie theatres as a way of
escaping their own problems. Even within the article they suggest that even
their basic plot of both stories also contributed to people attending these two
movies. ““Wrec-It Ralph”, a 3-D animated family film about a video game villain
who tries to break free of his role,” and within the film Flight Denzal Washington beats the odds against and successful
lands an out of control plane safely. Both films plots even show how the main
character beats the odds and manages to save the day.
I first thought of this particular
incident because it was also covered by a podcast I listened called Rooster Teeth Podcast. Within this
company they discuss both movie, TV, game, and media news in general. Even
within the podcast they also agreed that is attending movies is a good way that
people deal with issues within their own lives. I strongly argue against any
suggestion that escapism through TV, and movies is just a “cop out” term. It
may seem as a simple answer to a why people turn to the media as a way to
escape their real lives but I think there is a lot of support in favor of the reason
people turn to the media for escapism.
Sources:
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