Whether you're showing off your Fellini photogram collection or proudly taking a duckface selfie in front of the Entourage poster, we all think of our taste (or lack thereof) in movies as a part of our identity. That said, how much you enjoy any given film could have less to do with your unique, fascinating personality and more with your physiology, and how humans have developed over time. In other words: It's evolution, dummy.
Like it or not (and regardless of what Rotten Tomatoes says), your perception of a movie is forever tethered to the hunk of meat and hair that is your body. This influences your movie-watching habits in ways you probably never considered. For example ...
6
Airplane Movies Likely Make You Cry Because Flying Is A Goddamn Nightmare
Onzeg/iStock/Getty Images
Airplanes: the cinemas of the sky. A plane is the ideal setting in which to view movies you couldn't be bothered to drag your ass out of the house and buy a ticket for. When you're stuck in a cramped seat tens of thousands of feet above the earth's surface, the fact that a mall security officer's last name rhymes with "fart" suddenly doesn't sound like such a bad premise for a feature-length motion picture.
But a lot of people seem to find that watching movies on airplanes make them more emotional. You could be a cynically-minded fuck, but for some reason, on a plane, Cheaper By The Dozen 2 has the Barbara Walters-esque power to reduce you to a blubbering mess. Believe it or not, this has become such an issue that Virgin Atlantic began issuing "emotional health warnings" before movies with potentially tear-inducing content:
Virgin Atlantic
"If you're still not weeping, inquire about our alcohol prices."
A survey by Virgin found that 55 percent of their customers experienced "heightened emotions" while flying, and 41 percent of men had even covered their faces with blankets like arrested businessmen to avoid being seen openly weeping at some bullshit movie. So why the hell does this happen? We're not sure, but there are some interesting theories. One possible explanation stems from a 2000 study, which explains that crying in adults "seems to occur in situations where action [as in, getting up and doing something] makes no sense." Feeling grief is a good example. Being in a plane, forcibly immobile, and having ceded all control of your life over to the pilot, is another.
ramzihachicho/iStock/Getty Images
That kid on the other row isn't being a little shit.
He's overwhelmed by that sudden surrender of control.