Are movies really damaging our brain and affecting our mental abilities?

[bluedragon]

I asked a similar question before but thought I'd bring it up again, maybe more people would be interested in discussing this time.

Is watching movies (regardless of the quality) harmful for our brains and does it lead to poor concentration and memory?

I came across a few articles that suggested TV (and movies) may be the most harmful of all "drugs", similar to the effects of heroine. Some suggested that the content doesn't matter at all, it's the moving images, the camera motions and the fact that, when we watch, our body remains still while we experience a lot of action through the eyes of the characters/moving camera etc, that messes up our brain.

I am planning to make a 30-day trial and see if by giving up movies, I can get such positive results as this information would lead to believe.

Did anyone have similar experiences?

[Aleksander Krstic]

Nope but that info about being still+ experiencing lots of action is just scary.

[bluedragon]

Originally Posted by Aleksander Krstic

Nope but that info about being still+ experiencing lots of action is just scary.

I don't know how that sounded , what I meant is that we'd normally have to move around in order to interact with people. At the very least, we need to move our head in order to look around a room, while in the movie, you stare at a fixed screen, while the camera gives you the illusion of real life. It zooms in and out, it pans left and right etc.

[Rose of Cairo]

Hi Dan,

I don't know if it harms our brain and all that, but I know that I personally feel much better when I don't watch any movies for an extended period of time.

Could be because I'm a highly sensitive person and that movies just represent an input overload for me though. So I don't know. I just feel much more centered in myself and with greater clarity of mind when I avoid exposure to movies.

I can imagine that all those images, sounds, emotional situations etc. are very confusing for our brains indeed, especially because we absorb them passively.

[PhoenixFlames]

I don't watch TV at all. To keep updated with the news or happenings in the world I read Independent Media Blogs and Uncensored News.

As far as keeping updated Culturally I tend to go out into the real world- talk and interact with real people and gerneally try and be social.

However I do view the odd movie as a treat. Usually it will have to be a classic though and/or have cult status or be a big budget blockbuster affair to merit a £7 ticket.

I think the answer is obvious about what damage TV can do to you be it physical or psychological.

The first being the "coach potato" lifestyle. You're sitting in front the TV zombiefied for 6 hours a night, shovling Potato Chips, Ice Cream and/or Popcorn (without realising how much you've eaten) along with a Glass of Wine or Beer.
Obesity is a growing problem (Literally) people don't get any exercise and they wonder why they look so out of shape.

Family Interaction is missed out so no quality family time to encourage or raise ones kids.

The second is misrepresentation of the harsh realities of real life and over simplified fantasies found in the way things are portrayed in movies.
Be it Chick Flicks that send out the wrong message to women about what relationships should be about or "Coming of Age" Comedies/Dramas like American Pie or The OC that give boys the impression that girls go for Shy, Unconfident, Whiny, Jealous, Needy, Insecure men.

It has also been proven that TV is bad for a good nights sleep and that we shouldn't watch it an later than 2 hours before we go to bed.
The reason for this is say we are watching a loud Action Movie or Horror Movie, our adrenaline is stimulated by this and (although we have only been sitting still) our hear rates and eyes are focused.

I could go on but yeah cut out the TV altogether.

[James81]

All I know is that watching TV made Henry DeTamble time travel.

[bluedragon]

I don't watch TV, only hand-picked movies and series. They do make me feel like less available for social interaction - for example, if I was in the middle of watching an episode and someone called me and said "let's go to the club, right now", I would be kind of hesitant. I would need a few minutes to get back into action-mode. But what I wanna know is if it really affects the brain long-term (not just while you are watching). Cause many things can get us all involved, like writing a blog post that you are struggling to finish, or reading a captivating book, but those things don't represent a health risk, as movies supposedly do.

[scorpio1980]

I don't watch tv, but I love movies. It hasn't ever affected me in a negative way.

[cylon]

I recently did a "mini trial" of no moving images at all, including the internet, for about nine days. On the ninth day I turned that magic box on and watched a DVD.

Passive watching of tv shows, where the content is chosen for me (meaning, the broadcaster decides when the program airs, commercial breaks, interruptions of "breaking news stories"----no I don't have tivo), doesn't feel good to me except in small doses. I rarely, rarely watch TV unless I'm at someone's house (and even then I'd prefer to just listen to music and talk), or at a sports bar where I'm watching a game on tv.

Watching DVDs though, is extremely relaxing and enjoyable for me because it's something I want to watch, when I want to watch it, and no one has the power to interrupt it with something I'd rather not see. I enjoy experiencing those human dramas and emotions with the characters.

This is no different than the ancient art of watching plays, except you're not really with other people, unless you're in a movie theater. When you're in a theater sharing that experience, and you can see the reaction on the faces on the other people watching, it becomes a social experience and is quite enjoyable too.

I think what is really potentially damaging is this, the internet. I've had problems with web addiction and am trying to find the middle ground right now-- I find it affects the way I act and see the world in a much more significant way than a movie that lasts a specific amount of time would. With the internet, the "movie" of clicking different web pages, having chats online, youtube videos, whatever it is, never ends until you decide that "story" is over.

I've seen people on here say the same thing, that they can't turn the computer off, that it just sucks them in and makes them completely lethargic... much more than the negative experiences of a passive movie watching experience.

Maybe a different angle on what you were asking.

[bluedragon]

Originally Posted by cylon

This is no different than the ancient art of watching plays

But here is the thing: with plays, you were watching people interact just as in real life. You had to move your head from left to right to see the people. In a movie, the camera pans (and even zooms) for you. And in a play, the actors cannot jump from one scene to the other in a split second, while in the movies, they constantly show you what happens in 10 different places at once, and they zoom on each character's face, and on small details such as a lighter or a cigar, or they show fast moving scenes where you see everything in "first-person" mode, just as if YOU were the one running and fighting, when you are actually sitting completely still and staring at a screen. That's what is allegedly confusing to the brain.

Any psychologists or neurologists on this forum to enlighten us?

[Lioness]

Originally Posted by bluedragon

they show fast moving scenes where you see everything in "first-person" mode, just as if YOU were the one running and fighting, when you are actually sitting completely still and staring at a screen. That's what is allegedly confusing to the brain.

I'm no expert, but from what I've read/heard,these fast-moving video images are bad for the developing child's brain and viewing should be kept to a minimum for young kids.

As for adults, I agree with Cylon:

Passive watching of tv shows, where the content is chosen for me (meaning, the broadcaster decides when the program airs, commercial breaks, interruptions of "breaking news stories"----no I don't have tivo), doesn't feel good to me except in small doses.

I think TV watching has shortened my attention span, and made me spoiled; craving instant entertainment all the time. The commercials make me irritable and I find myself constantly switching channels. It's frustrating and ultimately unsatisfying. And as someone on this site remarked, a lot of TV is dumb anyway. Watching too much, you can feel brain cells shrinking!

I think uninterrupted movies/DVDs where I am the "Decider" are much better for the mind. But movie-watching, even documentaries, can be addictive also. The question becomes, what else are you doing in your life - are you in balance? So far, no internet addiction. At least on the internet, you are somewhat interactive and hopefully, gaining knowledge.

[FazK]

I absolutely agree with you. There is no way that watching TV / Movies CANNOT have an effect on your psychology. The thing is that TV is such a part of everybody's lies that there is practically zero chance of them giving it up. The people that make these shows put a huge amount of effort into making you addicted to them, trust me

I mean can you imagine giving up your favorite shows most people couldn't. I myself only watch 1-2 hours a day and am sure that it would have an immensely positive effect if i gave it up.

[bluedragon]

I can imagine giving them up if they are damaging to the brain, but that's what I'm trying to find out.

I don't really know where to look - medical studies? I don't know if there is a way to get my hands on them. Online medical journals? Look for magazines that address the topic? And how do I know which studies to trust ? I

[Fossey]

I'm not sure if they're damaging per se - i think it very much depends on the content. Films like The Secret, Waking Life, What the Beep do we Know...must be good for the psyche, surely? Just as movies with a negative connotation could be bad. I personally think that watching or listening to the news has a very negative affect on how we think as a nation and beyond...if we had good news reports I think it would have the opposite effect!

I don't own a TV so like many here I pick carefully what I'd like to see. I spend most of my daze staring at a PC so the last thing I want at night is to stare at another screen! Reality rules...

suzanne

[bluedragon]

In any case, I got my desk full of good books to read - the memory book, blink, steve's book, books on qigong - some of them have arrived from Amazon just in time for my decision to cut movie watching for a while. I'll give it a try. I also have a lot of audio podcasts to listen to, and of course things to do that I need to expand on. I won't have much trouble "filling the hours" That's one thing about me - I never got bored once in maybe 7 years now. The only question is choosing the best possible activity at all times. Right now, movies seem like the worse activity, because they make me all passive and unfocused and unwilling to go. And I wanna feel ready to go. I want - if someone calls me at 2 o'clock in the morning and invites me to a club, I wanna grab my wallet and snap out the door. If someone asks me to go to the seaside tomorrow, I wanna be ready to say yes (or no) according to my schedule, without having to first draw myself out of the movie I was watching.

[andrew112]

I always find that I feel really foggy and unhealthy whenever I watch tv or a movie or even use the computer; then I just have a big glass of water and, for some reason, I feel much better, as if the water is "detoxifying" my body of the damage that the television or computer just caused.

[ginkgo]

Exercise is good for the brain and eating junk food (like candy bars and soft drinks) is bad for the brain. So if you exercise while watching a movie at home, that is good for the brain. Eating junk food while watching a movie is bad for your brain and may make you fat.

Does being on a forum make you violent? It would depend on the forum. So the movie that you watch can affect you. I feel that watching the Oscar winning movie, Gandhi, is good for the brain.

[andrew112]

Originally Posted by ginkgo

Exercise is good for the brain and eating junk food (like candy bars and soft drinks) is bad for the brain. So if you exercise while watching a movie at home, that is good for the brain. Eating junk food while watching a movie is bad for your brain and may make you fat.

Does being on a forum make you violent? It would depend on the forum. So the movie that you watch can affect you. I feel that watching the Oscar winning movie, Gandhi, is good for the brain.

Watching online lectures in an intellectual discipline can also be good for the brain, but studying on one's own out of a real (physical) textbook is probably even better for the brain; or even going to a real lecture instead of watching one online.

[chrisrushton]

it's like anything really. watching the odd film or tv show is fine and can be very entertaining.

tv is just another escape medium in my opinion. if you can't get what you want for real you can turn to tv and its all there with no effort. eg when i had my broken leg i watched a lot of 2 and a half men

[ginkgo]

Originally Posted by andrew112

Watching online lectures in an intellectual discipline can also be good for the brain, but studying on one's own out of a real (physical) textbook is probably even better for the brain; or even going to a real lecture instead of watching one online.

Any teacher will tell you that watching an hour documentary on PBS is much better than an hour lecture. That would not apply to math. Showing numbers in a screen or on a blackboard are no different.

First the hour documentary costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to make. Teachers do not get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per hour. If it is on archeology, they can show you lots of videos of the actual digs and artifacts that they found there in many places all over the world.

In one documentary they showed the cliff in Europe where they found all these fossils and they shipped tons (literally) of these fossils to a woman in America. She then spent 5 years going over these fossils and learned that whales were originally wolf-like animals that hunted on the beach.

Gandhi is a move not a documentary but it cost millions of dollars to make and thousands of hours of work. Also millions of people who read the bible went to see Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ and many of them cried.

The reason that Mel Gibson was so upset and said bad things about Jews when arrested (note- I am Jewish) was because Jews originally owned all the movie production companies and still have most of the control of them. The reason that Jews got into that business was because there was no competition from Christians. At that time Jews had trouble competing with Christians.

Some swimming pools would have signs saying "No Jews, blacks or dogs allowed. Now the Jewish comedians made a big deal about how the Jews were mentioned first like they are worse than blacks and dogs. There is a movie that shows this but I forget which one.

[Lioness]

Originally Posted by bluedragon

I can imagine giving them up if they are damaging to the brain, but that's what I'm trying to find out.

I don't really know where to look - medical studies? I don't know if there is a way to get my hands on them. Online medical journals? Look for magazines that address the topic? And how do I know which studies to trust ? I

Try Google/Yahoo/Ask.com. Plenty of articles and blogs will come up under TV Brain Damage, Television Effects on Brain, etc. You will probably find links to whatever scientific studies have been done on the subject. You can google the people/organizations who have done the studies and see what their credentials are.

To see if TV could be damaging to YOUR brain, you might try one of Steve's 30 day trials and go without TV for a month and see what effect it has on you personally.

[bluedragon]

Originally Posted by Lioness

Try Google/Yahoo/Ask.com. Plenty of articles and blogs will come up under TV Brain Damage, Television Effects on Brain, etc. You will probably find links to whatever scientific studies have been done on the subject. You can google the people/organizations who have done the studies and see what their credentials are.

I keep finding basically the same thing in every article. And most articles talk about TV and good quality movies together, while I am not interested in the effect of TV adds or news or stuff like that, cause I don't watch it, I am only interested in the negative effects of watching dynamic action on a screen, regardless of the content.

Originally Posted by Lioness

To see if TV could be damaging to YOUR brain, you might try one of Steve's 30 day trials and go without TV for a month and see what effect it has on you personally.

That's what I'm doing. Starting today

Originally Posted by ginkgo

Exercise is good for the brain and eating junk food (like candy bars and soft drinks) is bad for the brain. So if you exercise while watching a movie at home, that is good for the brain. Eating junk food while watching a movie is bad for your brain and may make you fat.

Does being on a forum make you violent? It would depend on the forum. So the movie that you watch can affect you. I feel that watching the Oscar winning movie, Gandhi, is good for the brain.

You are drawing the attention to common sense, while I am clear on that topic. Of course the content of the movie does matter (weather it's an multiple Oscar-winning movie, or a series like Battlestar Galactica that was even featured at the United Nations for its powerful message regarding human rights, humanity, war and politics), but many of the articles I've read suggest that regardless of the content, movies are damaging per se, because of the way they stimulate your brain passively. The brain of the viewer enters a state just as if he was drugged or sleeping, or like staring at a blank wall.

Watching a conference or a speech is totally different, cause you just see the stage and one man speaking. That's no different from watching one person on stage in real life. Now if the camera kept focusing on the movement of his hands, and then on his left eyebrow, and then on the audience, and then showed you a rotating eagle-eye view of the entire location, etc - then (setting aside the educational value), it would have the same negative effects as a movie. Do you agree?

Sometimes I wanted to re-live the great scenes from certain series episodes, but I already knew everything that happens by heart, so I just put the movie on and wondered around the house, listening to the audio / exercising / etc. I got 85% of the enjoyment without even watching the screen. That, of course, is just like reading a book (or listening to an audio book). Your imagination is at work.

[bluedragon]

So far the trial is going well. I realize I had gotten very used to that instant entertainment, and now that I don't watch them, I am more attuned to the way my life is unfolding, and where I am now.

I feel that I am ready to leave at any moment to go meet anybody or do anything at a moment's notice, which was not the case when I would be watching some interesting movie.

I began to read some interesting books such as Blink, and I gone through many chapters of "the Memory Book" by Harry Loraine, as well as a few pages from a Sherlock Holmes novel (something I've always wanted to do).

I think it will be easier for me to go to bed early if I end my evenings reading. If I go out and arrive home very late, I will probably go straight to bed instead of wasting more time fumbling around the computer.

This trial, combined with the fact that I'm also doing a trial of eating no sweets, and not drinking coffee in the morning, and doing at least 2 tai chi's and a small meditation each day, makes me feel very efficient and productive, and the void created by removing those counter-productive habits leaves room for creativity and freedom of expression of different kinds.

[Mogget]

I gave up TV three years ago - don't watch it at all now, and long since stopped missing it (in fact if I catch a bit, say while waiting at the doctors office I find it horrible now) - though it has made me realise how much of people's conversation is about TV... good grief.

We do watch a movie every couple of weeks or so... but I don't buy into this concept of sitting stock still while you watch - maybe I fidget a lot but my head/eyes and even body move just as much during a movie as they do during a play or watching some other event like a gig...

[Mogget]

Originally Posted by bluedragon

The brain of the viewer enters a state just as if he was drugged or sleeping, or like staring at a blank wall.

So would this mean that passive trance states are generally considered damaging? is sleep considered damaging to your brain? staring at walls?

I'm honestly asking as I would imagine that a fair few people on these boards would spend a good deal of time in altered states, trance, meditation etc.. I personally spend loads of time day dreaming, which can involve staring blankly at the walls while my brain has a party, I also use a lot of trance/altered states... And how about people who commute staring blankly aheadwhile they listen to music - passive entertainment in a trancelike state - dangerous? .... is the issue the sitting and staring/ the passive mind or the altered state?

If it is the passive mind then wouldn't watching things that are mentally stimulating and make you think/converse be in the "safe" basket?

[bluedragon]

When you meditate, you are in control. Your mind is active. When you watch movies, your mind is stimulated passively. Besides, you experience dynamic action while your body is still. But you are not initiating this action. When you dream, for example, I'm sure it is totally different, cause your brain creates everything. The same if you were to imagine yourself in a high-speed car chase or gun fight - your neural pathways would fire in a similar was as if you were actually doing it. But the movie imposes this action upon you, while you remain passive. At least, this is how I understand it.

In any case, when I meditate, I am totally aware of everything and ready to go. If a ninja blasted through my window and attacked me, I would proceed to fight him without a thought, and I would be at top efficiency.

But when I watch a movie, I don't feel able even to answer my phone. If a friend calls me, I prefer not to answer right away: I stop the movie, have a glass of water and move around the house a little bit just to get back in an active mode, and then I call him back.

[merveilles]

Originally Posted by bluedragon

I asked a similar question before but thought I'd bring it up again, maybe more people would be interested in discussing this time.

Is watching movies (regardless of the quality) harmful for our brains and does it lead to poor concentration and memory?

I came across a few articles that suggested TV (and movies) may be the most harmful of all "drugs", similar to the effects of heroine. Some suggested that the content doesn't matter at all, it's the moving images, the camera motions and the fact that, when we watch, our body remains still while we experience a lot of action through the eyes of the characters/moving camera etc, that messes up our brain.

I am planning to make a 30-day trial and see if by giving up movies, I can get such positive results as this information would lead to believe.

Did anyone have similar experiences?

I don't know, to me that's sort of like saying dreams are damaging. I've read some of your other posts and I almost wonder if it's just a personal thing. If I'm watching a movie, it's easy for me to switch back to real life. I like watching movies. I think you can learn a lot watching from how people interact with each other, experiencing situations you never could in real life, or studying the plot, characters, whatever. But if you're just mindlessly watching and not taking anything in, I can see how that could maybe be damaging. Maybe it would be like stopping working out, and your muscles slowing going away..

[joelr]

Originally Posted by bluedragon

I came across a few articles that suggested TV (and movies) may be the most harmful of all "drugs", similar to the effects of heroine. Some suggested that the content doesn't matter at all, it's the moving images, the camera motions and the fact that, when we watch, our body remains still while we experience a lot of action through the eyes of the characters/moving camera etc, that messes up our brain.

I am planning to make a 30-day trial and see if by giving up movies, I can get such positive results as this information would lead to believe.

Did anyone have similar experiences?

Heroine converts to morphine in your liver which is not really harmful at all if used medically. I mean it's problematic with the addictiveness, self medicating and combining with other depressants like alcohol/benzos. But it does not cause brain damage.
It's much less toxic to the body than alcohol.

Many people spend decades on high doses of morphine or some related pain killer due to illness/injury.

LSD and pot are the brain fryers. I have seem several folks over the years who seemed "slow" and admitted it was from years of constant pot or LSD use. TV does not do that. My dad would be like a zombie.

[bluedragon]

Originally Posted by merveilles

I don't know, to me that's sort of like saying dreams are damaging. I've read some of your other posts and I almost wonder if it's just a personal thing. If I'm watching a movie, it's easy for me to switch back to real life. I like watching movies. I think you can learn a lot watching from how people interact with each other, experiencing situations you never could in real life, or studying the plot, characters, whatever. But if you're just mindlessly watching and not taking anything in, I can see how that could maybe be damaging. Maybe it would be like stopping working out, and your muscles slowing going away..

I totally agree that you can learn a lot. In fact, I learned a lot about self-discipline, efficiency, values and character from movies I watched, and certain characters have inspired me so much that it's thanks to them that I made decisive breakthroughs in areas I had been working on since before. But that doesn't change the fact that watching movies puts me in an unfocused and passive state. Are you saying that you feel equally proactive after an hour of movie-watching or after an hour of reading a book?

[Mogget]

it sounds like you get WAY into movies to a level that I don't.... I get far more into books (I have missed some pretty intense real life action due to being nose deep in a book)...

While I think the the content of most tv and movies are intelligence leeching garbage I just don't think the medium is the problem.