How movies change us

We are changed by movies and television programs, as well as by other forms of popular entertainment, Walt Hickey shows in his 2023 book You Are What You Watch.

Sometimes the change is physical. Our blood really does curdle when we watch blood-curdling movies, he says. The composition of the air in theaters changes during exciting, suspenseful and funny scenes in films.

Changes can be different than what we might expect. Violent movies tend to reduce violent crime, not cause more of it, it has been found. For one thing, the young men who most enjoy these movies are spending their evenings watching them, rather than out in the streets and in bars getting into trouble. Plus, the violent scenes seem to satisfy their passion for violence at least temporarily.

What we see on screens also affects our interests. Fraternities and toga parties became more popular thanks to Animal House. Archery became more popular after Hunger Games.

Hickey gives us lots of graphs, charts and graphics of other kinds of graphics to make his book more interesting. Unfortunately he seems to have run out of prime content at about the halfway point. The second half of the book covers less pertinent topics such as a brief history of Hollywood movies and a brief history of professional wrestling.

One topic that Hickey might have covered, but doesn't, is how phones, texting and social media have changed human behavior. People don't seem to get together as much as they once did. Instead they stay home and communicate in impersonal ways. Young people tend to date strangers they find on online dating sites rather than people they work with or meet at social gatherings. Almost anyone now can potentially become a media star, whether on YouTube, OnlyFans or whatever. But perhaps all this is a book in itself.