The private and public entertainment forms and the psychological mechanisms involved in entertainment
Entertainment can take many forms. It could be private/personal or general and public. Playing with friends is one form of entertainment. Watching a movie with others is another form of entertainment. There are differences between private and public entertainment. Personal entertainment is based on our individual experiences and our worldviews.
Interactive entertainment is less common in general entertainment. This seems to be a contradiction since all forms of entertainment, private and public, are more interactive. While this situation is changing, television programs are increasing audience participation. However, interaction patterns between entertainers in public entertainment scenarios remain within certain limits.
Entertainment transports us to another world, and fulfills our desire for fantasy and escape from the real world. This holds true especially for entertainment that is more accessible or provided by media, such as films, theatres, music, and other forms of creative arts. The theatre and films transport us into a fantasy world and keep our attention, so that we feel like we are part of it. Entertainment can also come in the form gossip, magazine articles and celebrity culture. The psychology of entertainment may also explain our obsession with celebrity culture.
Celebrities seem to offer a whole new world of fantasies. For some, knowing the movements of celebrities can bring great satisfaction. It could almost feel like you are part of a fantasy world. Fantasies can be used to overcome frustrations and provide a way to escape the realities of everyday life. Entertainment helps us move past real emotions and stressful moments. We can also participate in fantasies that are soothing. As spectators, we are able to still be involved in the fantasies in a tacit or passive way.
Participating in any film, book or creative art is like relaxing on a reclining seat that allows you to relax while the technology soothes your muscles. Entertainment is a form of entertainment that we almost participate in passively. Although we might be alert and awake while watching a movie, entertainment gives the illusion of non-participation because we are not allowed to become voluntarily involved in the scene. Entertainment could include any form of enjoyment, but entertainment can also be painful. For example, when we feel emotionally attached to characters while watching a movie, we might cry.
Entertainment can trigger emotions such as sadness, joy, anxiety, fear, and even anger. However, viewers are not required to do any physical activity. Entertainment’s main draw is its active-passive nature. It allows us to be active (in terms emotion) as well as passive (in terms physical or voluntary mental involvement). Like films, entertainment is subtly influential. However, this influence seems to be more effective than any aggressive form of influence. While we see entertainment as a form of pleasure, work is seen as a duty. While work requires participation and decision-making, it also requires emotional involvement.
But why are entertainment and work seen as heavy, while relaxation is seen as something that can be done? Unpredictability is the answer. Entertainment is not predictable. In many cases, we don’t know what to expect from a film or a music video. Unpredictability is what draws us in because we can’t predict the emotional reactions that will be evoked by this mental adventure. Entertainment is often a form mental and emotional adventure. If we know the story of a movie, the emotional familiarity is what drives us to see it. If a videogame gives us a pleasure or elicits aggression or competitiveness, then we return to the same emotions that made it exciting or pleasurable. These forms of entertainment can easily become addictive if they are too long.
The distinction between entertainment and work is important. While entertainment involves some responsibility, it is not the same as entertainment. However, entertainment is often associated with emotion and not problem solving.
Although we are rational creatures, emotions seem to still rule our lives. Emotions still drive us to do things that might be unrational. People’s lives are influenced by entertainment, which is primarily empathetic and not reason-provoking. The stages of appreciation for entertainment can change from being interested to becoming emotionally involved and then addiction. Celebrity culture is the direct result of these last stages of entertainment appreciation.
Celebrities are often viewed as celebrities because of their emotional connection with them. While there is a possibility of a lack of separating reality and fantasy, fans of celebrities tend to be more interested in the personalities of the celebrities or the traits that they display than in the celebrity themselves. Celebrities seem to transport people to a constant fantasy world, and people are known to discuss everything about celebrities, from their hairstyles to their cars. However, this type of culture could be explained by an individual’s need to escape reality and connect with others in a fantasy universe. This would make fantasy a valuable subject in the study of fantasy.
Entertainment studies can reveal many psychological aspects of active-passive participation in mental or emotional adventure.
1. Identification – This is the key to entertainment’s value. Viewers are often able to identify with actors or characters in films. As children grow up, they are able to imitate movie stars.
2. Fantasy – Entertainment is a way to escape the reality of the real world by feeding on people’s need for fantasy. People could become addicted to entertainment as a way to escape reality anxiety.
3. Projection – People can project their emotions onto a painting or song, and may get pleasure from it.
4. Regression – Entertainment can often bring back memories or parts of one’s past and sometimes even bring out their childish side. Video games can bring back memories of childhood for older adults, and this could lead to a return to their childhood addiction.
5. Sublimation – Entertainment can also be a sublimation of our impulsive wants. This is especially true when entertainment is combined with the interpretation of art
6. Displacement – Individuals can escape reality in passive and non-participative entertainment and resent their emotions to people or characters in movies. A teenager may fall for a movie character who has similarities to his dream girl, or he may fall in love a teenage boy who is in love with a girl he can’t attain.