bit3m3

I was trying to figure out if anyone’s studied why people like angsty stories and hurt/comfort type of fiction so much (it’s me, I’m people).

It seems to come down to

We feel the same intensity of sadness when talking about a tragic story from our own life as when watching a tragic piece of media, but we feel way more anxiety along with it when relating our own story. So it’s a way to feel sadness without as much anxiety. https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-we-like-sad-stories-5224078

Catharsis (access, release, and process feelings with less personal risk/stress)

Endorphin release (pretty big endorphin release with sad/tragic media! Even increases pain tolerance afterwards. Maybe I am just self medicating my chronic pain) https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/21/watching-a-sad-films-boosts-endorphin-levels-in-your-brain-psychologists-say

Identification with characters for identity exploration and building resilience (didnt quite say resilience but i think that’s what the trait identification study’s extrapolation comes down to as well) https://www.verywellmind.com/the-effect-of-stories-on-your-brain-5118221

Increased appreciation for one’s own life/relationships (less common)

And also, fandom is therapeutic and relational: https://www.vox.com/22297792/fandom-escape-grief-psychology-complicated-lynn-zubernis-interview

It also occurred to me that this hits a lot of Judith Herman’s stages in her trauma recovery model!

1a. Healing relationship: Visceral identification leads to a sense of relationship with characters and vicarious experience of their relationships.

1b. Safety and stabilization: The alibi of fiction creates some safety, as does a more controlled environment in which to expose yourself to the contents of fiction (content warnings and expectation management of tags etc helps with this too).

2. Remembrance and mourning: Stories with trauma/angst exploration, whether or not there’s comfort/recovery involved, can be an aspect of rememberance and mourning especially if they resonate / reflect one’s own traumas (which are often relational), allowing mourning-by-proxy which again creates some safe distance to make it more bearable/less intense, especially since it doesnt have the anxiety level of engaging directly with your own trauma story so it’s less likely to lead to dissociation (impossible to process while dissociated).

3a. Reconnection with community: Maybe the least applicable, though I’d argue that fandom holds some of this.

Ahsoka is very acrobatic, which I always assumed was just part of her species, but so many of her stunts were obviously assisted by the force.

Anakin seemed to be very good at instinctual snap decisions.

Yoda could connect with the force on a very deep, truly spiritual level.

Luke was better at, for lack of a better term, letting the force guide him. Reading the cues it gave him, following whether it made logical sense or not.

Leia was basically an empath. Excellent at reading people, and knowing when to meet, exceed, or defy people’s expectations.

I wish I remembered Mace Windu’s moments more, but I feel like he was a particularly good duelist/saber wielder?

It’s also hard for me to pin down Obi-Wan since there’s so much of him in the saga. Same for Kanan’s thing, but because I’ve seen less of him, and to be fair his training was cut short by 66.

went on refugee missions when she was single digits old

lost the people she saved

entered the youth legislative system and became queen at 14 post which her planet came under seige

at 14, she came face to face with the harshest realities of the galaxy, and learned the hollowness of the republic governing it

grew up on a mid-rim world which was ignored by the senate when it was being threatened by the trade federation, and yet—

against all odds, she made alliances at 14 years old that saved her planet, inspiring loyalty through her actions to the point that her planet wanted to change the constitution to extend her reign. but she denied because at a young age, she recognised that popular rule is not democracy

she worked relentlessly in a system that was increasingly failing the galaxy, worked for the people, and opposed acts that would lead to war, to the point she became a threat inviting multiple assassination attempts; she lived everyday knowing she could die

was one of the creators of the rebellion and led the delegation of 2000

refused to join her husband—by then darth vader—on the darkside even after loving him fiercely.

she is the archetype representing democracy and liberty in the star wars saga, one that the galaxy lost but who was restored through the actions of her children.

compare this to another character, obi-wan, who:

grew up on the republic capital where anything and everything was accessible

grew up in an order supported directly by the government

learned under the tutelage of a wise master, and learned his first loss at the age of 25