So we’ve been locked down on and off for about a year now, and a lot of us have been bingeing on drama.
The pessimistic among us would say that Netflix marathons are bad for our information diet, and that this type of escapism can “rot our brains” – or whatever phrase TV show detractors like to use.
But is it really all that bad? Why is it that we think it enriches our minds to read a brilliantly-written novel, but it supposedly rots our minds to binge watch a brilliantly-written television series?
Last year the first lockdown contributed to 16 million new sign ups to Netflix by the end of March, and by then lockdown had only just begun! You might put that down to “having nothing better to do” – but many of the shows on Netflix touch on the same great themes as literature, and by doing so make us reflect on what’s important.
That all time great crime drama Breaking Bad for example has audiences thinking about how power corrupts, and about how desperation can push people to their limits; while the all-time great sitcom The Office reminds us of the importance of belonging to a community.
That’s one of the reasons these shows are considered greats. Plot isn’t enough. The best dramas also make us think. A great show can also make us consider doing something new. The recent chess-related hit The Queens Gambit saw a rise in people buying chess sets. Given how much chess stretches our mental muscles, nobody could accuse this show of “rotting our brains.”
There is compelling research indicating that television shows may help us develop. A study conducted by Jessica Black at The University Of Oklahoma is just one example. In two separate studies Black got one group to watch critically-acclaimed dramas that dealt with complex social issues – such as The Good Wife, Mad Men, and Lost – and got another group to watch documentaries. Those who watched drama scored noticeably more highly in the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) than those who watched documentary, leading the researchers to conclude that, “… narratives, as well as written narratives, may facilitate the understanding of others’ minds.”
But are the results of this study conclusive? Can bingeing make us better human beings? Perhaps the fiction viewers already had more social intelligence and empathy than the documentary viewers – how can we be sure?
Over the coming weeks Rising East will contribute to these discussions by looking at the evidence; and on the way who knows – perhaps we might end up looking at ourselves, and the world, a bit differently.
Coming shortly is the first of our articles in this series, on The Office.