Dear LPG

I thought that I was the only person who watched films more than once, well al lot more than once actually, but it appears that a lot more people than I first thought indulge in this habit. Many will not admit to it but the sales of boxed sets and really old films tell a different story

My particular favourite is Robocop, a story about a policeman who is shot and left for dead but nearly all his body is replace with cybernetic substitute parts, except for the more personal aspects of his mind, leaving him an invincible good guy who overcomes evil for the most part.   It is interesting that the film has been remade recently but, for me, the original 1987 version is the one to watch.  As films go it is quite violent and when I watch it there are two scenes that I always skip.  I either spend that 10 minutes washing up, or going to the loo, or use the fast forward button on the remote, but my DVD version has been used and used.  I think that there is something else to be gleaned from the story or characters each time I watch it and there is the added advantage that if I have any of those ‘nod-off moments’ while watching I am not going to be terrorised by the scene that confronts me when I wake up again.  To me there are no really bad aspects of revisiting old films.

When taking a look on the internet I was surprised to find out that a lot of people have adopted this habit and many of them are older.   I was surprised that there has been a lot of research on the subject with a multitude of resulting facts which reveal that we do it for many reasons.

While we are watching it is often the case that we subconsciously find ourselves remembering our lives and situations as they were when we first watched the movie. We often chose a film with a positive ending and a moral we applaud and some sort of feel good factor.  Sometimes that film will help us to move on with a situation which is inhibiting us in some way, or help us to solve a problem.  It is a fact that while watching what is happening around you can really lose significance, which is a good thing if watching the film is allowing you to get through a time when you are having to wait for test results all be they academic or medical.

We all know about the fear of the unknown and an old film represents familiarity because we know what is going to happen and the best thing is that it is a really positive way to pass the time. 

   DK, Bromley

LPG found some information

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