The One Who Made Movies and TV Shows Her Coping Mechanism
How Movies and TV Shows Help You Cope With The Series of Unfortunate Events
by Angelica Orteo
The previous year has become a roller coaster ride. Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down. You could laugh, cry or maybe both at the same time. At some point, you’ll just want to scream or just stay silent. Indeed, a lot has happened and it was exhausting to some people — including me.
It has been over a year since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the Philippines and almost 11 months since the lockdown. In between, strong calamities and other social issues have arisen. The rights and the freedom of the people are also threatened and attacked. A school year began wherein students and professors suffered from poor internet connection, lack of gadget/s needed, lack of conducive learning and working spaces, and distribution of instructional materials. A series of unfortunate events it is!
Despite the events stated above, all you can do is to sit back and enjoy the ride at home and do the same routine everyday because of the pandemic. On the other hand, coping on your own has also become prevalent. Some people tend to rediscover old habits and hobbies while others are trying to discover new ones. Personally, I did not do any of the two as my coping mechanism. Instead, I retained my favorite hobby— watching movies and television shows.
A Little Flashback
Since childhood, watching movies and television shows, both local and international, has become my hobby. It also strengthened the bond I have with my family for we always watch horror films on a Friday night, a tear-jerker film during Saturdays and Korean dramas every long weekend or holidays.
In elementary, I tend to watch SpongeBob SquarePants, Phineas and Ferb, and Jimmy Neutron whenever I get home from school and it would really make my day back then. I would also wake up earlier than usual just to watch cartoons and Filipino dubbed anime series on TV.
Gone were the days in high school and college where watching local films in cinemas with my family and friends has become my stress reliever as well as an award for myself for working hard. Oh, memories really bring back memories.
Movies and TV Shows Will Be There For You
Due to unfortunate events and growing up, especially in this time of pandemic, watching movies and TV shows are not just for fun anymore. It became my coping mechanism.
There’s a time in my life, up until now, wherein I consider watching the TV show Friends as my stress reliever, having a good laugh and a light heart afterwards. Whenever I feel numb, I tend to watch Korean dramas but if I’m too lazy to read the subtitles, I would watch Friends. Whenever I feel sad and pressured, I would watch any film only to end up watching Friends.
Movies and series communicate with people, especially to those who are uncomfortable in real life. It expresses and reflects our own mood and emotions at the moment. It embraces us, enhancing our emotions, telling us that we are not alone in the battle just like a friend. Very relatable.
Different Lenses of Reality
Seeing different stories and plots may also help us see different lenses or visions in life, giving us new ideas and knowledge about interests and beliefs. Different storylines depicting unfortunate events like I’ve mentioned above are shown in movies and TV shows, primarily on documentary films and series, as well as true to life stories. Hence, the huge impact and influence in our lives.
Pause and Play
One of the sole purposes of entertainment media such as movies and TV shows is to provide pleasure and delight to the audiences as they also give a sense of relief to a person, which is very important during these trying times. It can help you ease your mind even just for a short period of time.
There may be a climax coming your way but there’s always a denouement or resolution for it. Just like in watching films and series, you just have to know when to start, pause, play and stop in life. And cut!
