I was sitting in the balcony of The Grand Theatre. The theatre held 600 moviegoers that night and had in a previous life been a balcony of a entertainment palace built in the early 1900’s. It was 1979, we were all there to see “’WHEN A STRANGER CALLS” is a 1979 American psychological horror film. It was directed by Fred Walton and stars Carol Kane and Charles Durning. The film derives its story from the classic folk legend of “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs” and the 1974 horror classic Black Christmas. The film was commercially successful, grossing $21,411,158 at the box office, though it received a mixed critical reception.
‘WHEN A STRANGER CALLS” is rated PG, the film is a masterwork and a fine example of how good horror can be if effectively executed. I know that in the first 20 minutes of watching this movie, my fellow moviegoers were firmly gripped in the suspense of the movie and began squirming and talking to the screen, sharing the terror felt by the lead character played by Carol Kane. This movie was the scariest film I had even seen and by the squirming and shifting going on in the seats beside me, it was obvious that this opinion was held by many in the audience.
We laugh more at movies when we watch them with others. We get bigger thrills from the latest Die Hard installment. We’re more likely to tear up…..during a romantic film,when we’re with a bunch of other folks, it’s as if our emotions are heightened. When we watch movies with a large crowd, it is like our fears, emotions and empathy are supercharged.
Sitting in a darkened theater we focus more attention on whatever we’re watching. There are fewer distractions. We become more fully engaged with the experience. You can make the argument that the technology of movie going provides the answer It would be hard to argue that a 40 foot image that fills our entire field of vision is more overpowering than your 42 inch screen at home. Coupled with a full theater sound system and you have an engrossing experience. Okay that makes sense for an action picture, but is harder to connect with romance or a drama.
But movie going really is something more ancient, something that collectively we as humans are naturally drawn to. In some ways it’s the psychology of the mob, a coming together of the species to share, evoked emotions and to experience. Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung, has stated we synchronize our emotions and thoughts when we come together in a group because we all share an identical “collective unconscious“, a universal framework of archetypes and collective themes. When an audience assembles it is is if when we get together, we all have the same subconscious script we’re reading from, written by our collective experience as the human species. We take cues from each others breathing, our movement and even hormone releases. We act more collectively when watching a movie. Something home viewing can never replicate.
Most of us realize that emotion and mood is contagious. If we see someone scowl, we’re more likely to scowl ourselves. If we see others smile, then we too smile. We as a species have a need to replicate the actions of others especially those that we feel emotionally connected to. Emotional contagion is strongest between people who are close or with those we wish we could be close too. Thus our increased empathy for the characters on screen when we view movies in a large audience.
Anyone knows that smiling and laughing is expressed prior to the expression of language. Human beings in our near history traveled collectively or their own protection. One became many, an soon humans developed their own system of warning. But these systems only work if the word spreads quickly.
In short, we as movie goers and as well human being s pick up emotions from those around us. We as a specific species are wired to do so, we gauge each others emotions, reactions and feelings and adjust our own behavior accordingly. This is not a conscious decision. It’s just a very old part of our tribal brain doing it’s job.
I have experienced this collective patterning no only when viewing ‘WHEN A STRANGER CALLS”, but I fondly remember busting a gut over “SOMETHING ABOUT MARY”. After the initial viewing of these movies in the theatre, I of course bought them on DVD hoping to catch viewing lightning in a bottle again. Of course it was not the same. Something was missing , a key ingredient had been taken out of the recipe for a wonderful entertainment experience. That ingredient was the audience.
There is no better special effect in movie-going than the audience. They add and shape the movie going experience and heighten all experiences. This is something we should repeatedly remind the public of.
The best thing about movie going is us……
