Written story produced by Elise Holbrook. Podcast episode produced in collaboration with Drue Stinnett.
Are you the type of viewer who gets very emotionally invested in the TV shows you watch? Do you feel like you know the characters you hold close to your heart?
I get super involved in any show I decide to watch. If it doesn’t genuinely make me feel some kind of emotion, I don’t see a point in watching it. I want my shows to take me through an emotional journey, from the beginning of the episode to the end. I want to feel what the characters feel, be concerned for what may happen next, and genuinely care about what happens to the characters on my screen.
And while that emotional connection seems weird to think about, it is actually more widely felt than you might think. People often find themselves crying over a beloved character dying or celebrating a characters victory. Finding something to get invested in is easier than ever because of options for cable services and streaming platforms such as Netflix or Hulu.
While that kind of investment in fiction may appear to be unhealthy (as my dad would say, “you do know that isn’t real, right?”), it turns out that emotional connection may actually be pretty normal. According to Amanda McMillan in an article for Time Magazine, psychologists call the relationships we form with fictional characters “parasocial.” In other words, we have a one-directional relationship with these individuals in which we know a lot of things about them, but they know nothing about us. Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Oklahoma, quoted in the article, explains that our brains don’t actually distinguish between relationships being fictional or real, so those parasocial relationships can actually have real benefits, including boosts to self-esteem, decreased loneliness, and a feeling of belonging.
However, McMillan does mention that there is less research on the consequences that can occur when parasocial relationships end or become damaged. Think about your favorite character – now think about something bad that has happened to them. How did that make you feel? Did it have a deep emotional effect on you? Or, when a character dies or is otherwise removed from a show, how does that make you feel? For some people, like myself, it could feel like you’re losing someone close to you. It feels like there’s a hole that can’t be filled because that character is no longer around. In some ways, it feels much like losing someone you know in real life.
In an article for the Motion Picture Association of America, Rachel Nuwer explains that according to social psychologists, empathy allows people to experience someone else’s feelings, which can lead to sympathy, our ability to understand that another person is experiencing something which makes us want to help. So, as long as a director gives someone enough perspective on a character so that we can imagine their emotions and perceive their experience, we can let go of the fact that they are fictional, allowing us to connect with them. And, even if we cannot relate to their exact circumstances, we can still connect with them as long as that story-telling and emotional perspective is present.
It turns out that the emotional connection we create with fictional people is actually wired into us. What your parent might call you mindlessly watching a television show, is actually a process in which you watch and relate to fictional people and their fictional experiences. You are actually becoming invested and involved in what you are watching.
I encourage you to take a moment and reflect on your relationship with your favorite shows and characters. What about them do you connect with, and how invested do you get? And, listen in to the She Rambles Podcast as my friend Drue and I discuss the connections we have with our favorite shows. What makes a show special to us? And why do we find ourselves getting so invested in these characters anyways?
