Enjoying Trash Films Linked To High Intelligence

Do you enjoy watching films so bad they’re good?

Then you might be smarter than you realise.

According to a study published in the ‘Poetics’ journal (via The Independent), our enjoyment of trash films is likely due to a higher intelligence… and it’s all down to ironic viewing.

“At first glance it seems paradoxical that someone should deliberately watch badly made, embarrassing and sometimes even disturbing films, and take pleasure in them,” explained Keyvan Sarkhosh, of the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics.

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The study which was titled: ‘Enjoying trash films: Underlying features, viewing stances, and experiential response dimensions’ attempts to get to the bottom of why we enjoy films which are traditionally thought to be terrible.

We’re looking at you, ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space’.

After all, we wouldn’t listen to a band we think is rubbish, or view a piece of art that we can’t stand. But many of us will happily sit down and purposefully watch a film which we think is absolute rubbish… and even take joy in it.

Why do we do it?

Apparently, it’s an intellectual thing.

“To such viewers, trash films appear as an interesting and welcome deviation from the mainstream fare”, says Sarkhosh. “We are dealing here with an audience with above-average education, which one could describe as ‘cultural omnivores’. Such viewers are interested in a broad spectrum of art and media across the traditional boundaries of high and popular culture.”

According to the study, low budget horror is often the genre of choice.

After all, there’s so much of it about.

The study also finds (rather obviously) that it’s film buffs who take the most pleasure in watching terrible movie. After all, their enjoyment comes not just from the film itself, but from discussing production values, analysing plot structure and dissecting what it is that makes a great movie.

And it certainly explains why ‘Sharknado’ is so popular…

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Picture Credit: The Asylum, Valiant Pictures