Weird Comfort Watching
So yesterday, I questioned whether people would rewatch the Hunger Games movie, since it had all that, you know, traumatic children death in it.
Then Fargo came on HBO and I was all like, “Oooh, let’s watch it again.”
Yes, I know, in the end it features a murderer stuffing another criminal into a woodchipper. But despite all the horror, Marge Gunderson still manages to retain her humanity, love, and good will, so when she settles into the bed with her husband and his three-cent stamp, it feels like a hug.
So I ask you: what’s your bizarre comfort watching, and why? Sure, anyone can watch Galaxy Quest or Tangled a zillion times – it’s all silly comedy that ends well. But what do you watch when you’re stressed that comforts you for reasons others might not understand?
The Professional.
Legends of the Fall.
Braveheart.
Sometimes watching tragedy and violence can be just as comforting as silly fluff. Worse things can happen than whatever is happening to me. Also, emotional catharsis through the characters’ journey relieves some of the pressures of the real world.
I always start with the first Lord of the Rings movie. It’s all happy fun times in The Shire, and not much happens for a while, and then it’s all slow going with the Ringwraiths showing up finally, but usually by that point me and my companions have nodded off on the sofa.
I also like getting drunk and watching the 1970’s version of The Wicker Man because I can sing along with all the songs.
Forbidden Planet when I’m studying. When I try to get back into the “I need to be living” (instead of studying/working/not living) moods, Auntie Mame.
Hahaha, oh Ferrett, I love when I get to talk about this: Jonny Quest (the original 1964 series) and Pirates of Darkwater.
Now, I don’t watch them because I like them. I actually sit on the couch and SCREAM AT THEM FOR HOW STUPID AND RACIST AND MISOGYNIST AND CLASSIST AND EVERYTHINGIST they are.
It feels so good 😀 I’m pretty slow to anger, but if I have a case of the nerves or something, loud, well-deserved vitriol and comically creative death threats toward people who can’t hear me is a fabulous therapy.
Fight Club
Rock’n’Rolla
True Romance
Natural Born Killers
All the gratuitous violence aside (which I actually enjoy watching as well, I’m a not-so-closet Tarantino fan) but in these movies the message I take is that through all the unbelievable violice, love endures. I find that somehow comforting.
Cast Away is oddly comforting to me. Disaster! Extreme Isolation! But then he figures it out (gosh, I hope that didn’t spoil it for anyone).
Oh! Oh! And Titanic. Yes. I watch a giant ship sinking due to the hubris of its designers, for comfort.