Some do it out of fanaticism, others out of tradition, and there are those who have found it a safe place to retreat to when they don’t know what else to watch. But even though it may seem otherwise to outsiders, for everyone in general, revisiting old movies and series is equally beneficial.
It doesn’t matter if it’s with Lord of the Rings, old Disney movies, or those small clips that capture the best moments of The Office on social media where I can’t help but stop my endless scroll every time I come across them. Science has explained why we not only can’t resist that temptation, but also why, in a way, it is beneficial for our health.
The benefits of going back to your favorite series
The key to it all, as noted by the Ergonomics professor at the University of Australia, Anjum Naweed, lies in that combination of factors that encompasses feelings such as sadness, joy, and belonging, commonly referred to as nostalgia. If the fiction of cinema and television invites us to disconnect and transport ourselves to another place, the science of nostalgia magnifies that experience.
Neuroscience ties that nostalgic feeling to the reactivation of emotions and experiences already overcome, which causes a dopamine rush. Supported by the security of facing something you like, but above all already know, that nostalgic review of your favorite movie or series opposes the uncertainty of facing something new, or even that of your daily life.
With the impact of that first viewing tying itself to past experiences that you can consider equally positive, like when you discovered that movie in your adolescence or binge-watched that series with your partner, revisiting it makes your brain, consciously or unconsciously, return to those connections to strengthen them as important.
Just as what happened during the pandemic, when the main streaming platforms saw a spike in views of old series, that mix of happiness and longing became for many a way to fight against stress, through something as simple as revisiting by pressing the remote control button, managed to make the situation much more bearable.
Image | Filmheadreview at Midjourney
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