Feelgood films make you feel pretty good, actually
LOVE Actually and Pretty Woman top the list of ‘feelgood films’ that do make viewers really feel good, research shows.
Part of this comes from the satisfaction of seeing a fairytale play out, as when Julia Roberts’ street girl character in Pretty Woman gets the rich guy played by Richard Gere – a modern-day equivalent of the Cinderella story. Or to the unlikely romance between Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister and Martine McCutcheon’s tea lady in Love Actually.
That film also ticks the emotional drama box, as in the scene where Emma Thompson’s character breaks down in tears after finding the necklace her husband bought was intended for his secretary, says the study.
Third and fourth on the feelgood list are the French films Amélie and The Intouchables.
In total 450 people from across Europe were quizzed by the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. It found that the most popular feelgood films involve romance and humour.
Characters facing difficult moments also has a strong emotional effect.
Many of the participants agreed the perfect feelgood film should be sentimental but not be “kitschy”, and that it should also be technically well-made.
Dr Keyvan Sarkhosh, from the institute, said: “In addition to an element of humour and the classic happy ending, feelgood films can be identified by certain recurring plot patterns and characters.
“Often these involve outsiders in search of true love, who have to prove themselves and fight against adverse circumstances, and who eventually find their role in the community.”
The study was published in the journal Projections.