Movies are primarily associated with entertainment, but they actually have much more power.
Can movies improve your social skills?Yes!
Movies are art. The point of any art is to enjoy it first, teach us something, move us, and motivate us.
Because movies are the most accessible art, they have the most significant power to change our lives.
We’re sure there are still some who don’t like movies.
They think they are a waste of time or even have a negative impact.
The point of this article is to provewhat social skills movies can improve.
If this topic does not interest you by chance, we will tell you right away that there will bemovie recommendations, so there is no reason not to stay until the end of the article.
How do Movies Affect Your Social Skills?
The study, conducted by researchers from UCL’s Department of
Experimental Psychology and Vue Entertainment found adirect link between watching a film and its impact on our brain function, social connections, productivity, and creativity.
Movies are an art form that affects society as a whole. They can significantly influence an individual’s beliefs, attitudes, and social skills.
“Film is the art form to create social change.”
— Brittany Dobish
The Way You Watch Movies Affects Your Social Skills
Whether a movie will affect you depends on how you watch it.
We don’t mean whether you watch movies in the cinema or via streaming platforms, but we mean whether youwatch movies with attention or not.
Here are two examples:
Example 1:
Tom comes home from work tired and just wants to lie on the couch.
To avoid sitting in silence, he turns on Netflix and plays some random movie without much thought.
He probably even lets Netflix recommend the movie to him because he doesn’t want to spend too much time scrolling and searching for a movie.
During the movie, Tom looks at his phone, checks social networks, eats, and maybe falls asleep.
The movie is just there to play in the background.
This way is passive movie watching, and it won’t have much effect on Tom.
Example 2:
Phil loves movies. He chooses to watch them when he is not tired and sleepy.
Before every movie, he likes to read reviews, only those without spoilers, because he hates spoilers the most in the world.
He is actively watching the movie, and all his attention is directed toward the film.
After the movie, he likes to explore trivia about actors, shooting locations, easter eggs in movies…
Which of these two people did you find yourself in?
Are you one of those people who can’t watch a movie orread a bookbecause they don’t have the focus?
We don’t want to sound like some movie snobs, butyou won’t understand the message if you don’t watch the movie carefully.
And what is a film if it is not a message? It can bepositive or negative.
The message depends on what the author wanted to say, but even more important, how you understood the movie.
6 Social Skills Movies Can Improve
1. Communication Skills
This is somehow the most logical.
By watching movies, we improve our communication skills.
We learnnew words, expressions, and ways of expressing emotions in communication.
Movies are also an excellent choice for learning aforeign languageand are certainly more fun than learning in schools.
2. Emotional Intelligence
Movies are great for emotional intelligence boosters.
Emotional intelligence is reflected in understanding our own and other people’s emotions, the ability to communicate effectively with others, cope with stress, and have empathy.
When we watch movies, we often identify with the characters.
We suffer through their sufferings and rejoice in their successes.
Through movies, we see theemotional consequencesof certain behaviors.
And something we didn’t experience in our lives, we can recognize because we saw it on film and know how to react.
Movies also have an excellent effect onempathy.
Kids are taught empathy through movies, especially good old Disney fairy tales.
3. Problem-solving and Decision Making
Motivation, solving problems, and quickly coping with different situations, all of that can be affected by watching movies.
Various movie stories influence our motivation and decision-making; superheroes, zero to hero, rags to riches, etc.
Don’t you get motivated watching Rocky Balboa work out, and the“Eye of the Tiger”is playing in the background?
It is no longer difficult for you to go to the gym and lose those few extra pounds.
It’s importantnot to get too carried awaybecause movies are fiction.
Manyclichés in moviesare the opposite of reality.
Sometimes we need that fiction in life, that motivation and belief in a happy ending like in the movies.
Even if they are not fiction but based on true stories or documentaries, it is not good to go too far and think that we can repeat everything from the movie.
When we watch someone solve a specific problem, we have insight into that process and can learn to do it ourselves.
4. Strengthening Relationships
Just as going out for coffee or going to the gym with friends is good for strengthening relationships, so are movies.
First of all, movies are greatconversation starters. It’s easy to start a conversation with someone about movies.
If you happen to like similar movies, that conversation can be long.
Pro tip:Avoid spoiling movies. Nobody likes spoilers.
How many first dates have taken place in cinemas? It’s the perfect location for that.
You don’t have to go to the cinema, you can invite friends, prepare popcorn and enjoy the movie together.
Some movies are muchmore enjoyable with friendsinstead of watching alone.
Comedies are funnier, and laughter is contagious, but most importantly, laughter is healthy.
And thosehorror moviesthat you can’t watch alone will be much less scary in a company.
And if you get scared together while watching horror movies, it’s like going on a roller coaster together.
Horror movies are often notorious, but they can actually bebeneficial.
In addition to helping us overcome our fears, they have apositive impact on mental health as well.
From cheesy comedies to scary horrors, whatever the choice of the movie is, if you watch it in the company of someone, that way only deepens your relationship.
5. Creativity
Creativity is one of the most important spices of life, and movies can help you a lot.
Movies can be yourinspiration for any kind of art, not only if you are involved in the film.
Your imagination can run wild after watchingvarious creative films.
We’re not saying that all movies are incredibly creative, but someone with an eye for detail can findinspiration even in bad movies.
Maybe by watching a bad and uncreative movie, we also encourage creativity to do the opposite of it.
You know how they often say that“a book is better than a movie”?It doesn’t always have to be the case, but don’t neglect books in your search for creativity.
6. Knowledge
Movies are a vast treasure trove of knowledge.
Movies have everythingfrom ancient civilizations to the secrets of the universe.
And fiction knows how to interfere a little, but it can’t shake all the knowledge that movies can give us.
Pro tip: watchforeign filmsfrom different countries to better understand other cultures and nations.
As with creativity mentioned above, don’t get all your knowledge from movies, don’t forget about books too.
What are Good Movies for Social Skills?
Finally,movie recommendations! That is what you’ve been waiting for throughout this whole article.
This is a huge topic for discussion because what is a good movie for one person and affects him in a certain way may not necessarily be the same for another.
But we are such movie nerds that we have to suggest some universally good movies that can help you improve your social skills.
If you want to work onemotional intelligence, try“The Pursuit of Happyness”, “Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind”or“Good Will Hunting”.
If you want someknowledge of history, we recommend“Braveheart”or“The Schindler’s List.”
If you are interested inspace travel, quantum physics, and black holes, watch“Interstellar.”
Need somemotivation? In addition to good old“Rocky,”we also recommend“Forrest Gump”and“Life is Beautiful.”
There’s also“The Shawshank Redemption.”if you don’t believe us about that movie, trust IMBd because it’s thehighest-ratedmovie.
Want to laugh or be scared with your significant other?
We recommendcomediessuch as“Horrible Bosses”or“The Hangover,”and maybe a few more romantic ones like“There’s Something About Mary”or“My Big Fat Greek Wedding.”
As forhorror,“Conjuring”and“The Exorcist”are good choices.
You lackcreativity and imagination; there are“The Lord of the Ring”and“Star Wars,”and we recommendTim Burton’smoviesbecause of their unique style.
To Conclude,
In addition to entertaining us, movies also teach us meaningfullife lessons and influence our social skills.
It is importantnot to exaggerateand not to go too far into fiction, but to know how to escape into imagination when we need it.
And what are you waiting for? Have you chosen which movie to watch tonight from the ones we recommended? Let us know how you liked it.
