Take for instance this clip taken from Stanely Kubrik's Full Metal Jacket:

Caution: Contains powerful and graphic depictions of lifelike violence related to wartime scenarios, not for children or the squeamish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G3PoVRWybk

The clip is brutal, powerful, and saddening. There is pretty much nothing positive being depicted in the clip, and in fact the whole movie is pretty intense yet it is an extremely famous movie, and I myself enjoy the clip.

So my question is why do people enjoy depictions like that, or similarly enjoy sad movies or novels? Why do what we would normally perceive as "bad feelings" sometimes give us "good feelings?"

Someone shine a light.

Chems... when we are sad, the body releases happy hormones. It's the same thing with compulsive gamblers, they lose and then have happy hormones. It's not the "win" they are addicted to.

Because it helps us to feel alive, especially in this day and age where we have a rather boring, comfortable life. We experience those powerful and emotional moments vicariously and it makes us feel alive.

When I watch a movie I build emotions for the characters if the movie is good. So when I see them being shot at or dying I have an emotional attachment that causes stress. I enjoy it because the emotions I get. It's not to say that every movie and every character does this to me, its mainly if the creators of the movie do a good job and the acting is good. Nobody wants to feel that way and some people would prefer not to watch this type of movie because it carries too much stress. For example my girlfriends father works as an EMT and he is also captain of the dive team for the fire department so he sees a lot of scary things. He doesn't like watching scary movies because of it. Its too much stress. A little stress and tear jerking is a good emotional response that most would prefer.

*This is coming from somebody who has taken only one psychology course so please don't pick it apart you psychology wizzes.

I [censored] love Danzig.

Kinda right.

First, compulsive gamblers continue to gamble despite losing all their money not due some "happy hormone" that gets released when they lose, but rather because they believe that they can beat the house (due to some system or luck) and it is that thrilling sensation (plus the prospect of "winning it all back") that keeps problem gamblers from simply cutting their losses (well, that and a whole host of other issues that I don't have time to get into).

As an overall point, however, the "happy hormone" is serotonin. Serotonin (a neurotransmitter) is released naturally and is associated with a elevated mood. Illegal drugs such as MDMA, cocaine and amphetamines all lower the ability of serotonin receptors to receive the serotonin (thus drastically altering a person's mood). SSRIs (selective sereotonin reuptake inhibitors) also do the same thing, but are only prescribed by a mental health professional for those who are suffering from a mental disorder like depression.

Mix of chemical reactions, and memories.

Thanks for the more detail explanation. As for addiction, there's more to it then just physical, of course, but I was interested by the fact that "losing" was added to it. I think what's harder for them to become clean is to get rid of the pshychological addiction.

More on topic, why do we enjoy the unjoyable emotions... to experience human life. I prefer to cry at some dude dying on the screen than a real friend of mine. (Not that I won't cry for a friend... don't get me wrong :blink: )

If you wanted you could also argue why people derive enjoyment from seeing others in pain. Example would be a moron that decides it is "Fun" to constantly get hit in the groin/crotch. Personally I think it is due to the times and how many of us were brought up. At the moment there are things glorifying pain brought onto others such as that TruTV's World's Dumbest *Insert Name*. Saddest thing is how some things are glorified which should not be such as website being devoted to hatred, flaming, etc... .

Encountered a site like that myself and it really serves no purpose, but to promote angst, bigotry, anger, hatred, etc... of other people. Some will try to dignify it saying it is a proper outlet for people so it doesn't build up inside thus leading to an explosion of rage. However many know the truth were it just serves as an area to foster that emotion.

As to the OP's like for things like that it's just one of the weird quirks. I have an unusual liking towards dark things such as heroes being brought down by villains. Prime example is Superman getting the snot beat out of him by Doomsday. Friend tells me the primary reason I probably like Doomsday is due to him being the only villain to successfully kill superman.

Although that kind of humour has, huh, "developed" over the ages, at the base of this, at the primal level, laughing at stressful -or potentially dangerous- situations is a way to deal with it. Of course, we could do like chimps and have an orgy instead... :blink:

And that is exactly what Stanley Kubrick was going for: where other movies may glorify war, Full Metal Jacket looks instead at its horrible truth and grim ironies. Seeing this side is a lot more enlightening in the long run than simply hashing out happy endings with no emotional payoff - if the hero simply saves the day, gets the girl, and lives happily ever after, what has he learned? What has the audience learned? There's a certain catharsis to watching a tragedy unfold: you reflect on how fortunate you are and appreciate the world in a new light. If a film can move you to this kind of thought, provoke you to feel something, then it has succeeded.