How many of you sit down and watch a movie like Titanic with the intention of making yourself feel better? I do but that's only because there's a naked chick and the band goes down with the ship. It's not everyday you see people so dedicated to their instruments. Researchers have found that people generally tend to feel happier after watching movies with tragic endings because it points out all the positive things in your life. After all, you didn't board a ship that crashed into an iceberg today did you? Bitching about your job doesn't seem as important when you realize you're not drowning in icy cold waters.

I think this just goes to show how terrible people actually are. One of the few times they feel better about themselves is when everybody else's lives go to shit. Everybody wants to complain about how the news only shows sad and terrible stories. Well if they only showed stories that made you feel warm inside you would stop caring about the news, because nobody wants to hear about people who are better than them. You think I want to read about a group who rescued thousands of animals and gave them to loving homes? Not in the least, I want to read about the guy who robbed a gas station while he was drunk, then passed out in the street and pissed himself. It's always nice to see somebody who's worse off than me.

TL;DR Sad movies make you happier because you realize your life isn't as terrible as you make it out to be.

Smiling Through the Tears: Study Shows How Tearjerkers Make People Happier [ScienceDaily]

Posted by Atkins under Science