Don’t feel bad about bingeing TV. Humans have binged stories for thousands of years
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пятница, июня 14, 2024
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Streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Stan and Prime Video have habituated us to the “all at once” series drop.
Key Points:
- Streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Stan and Prime Video have habituated us to the “all at once” series drop.
- And that is the fact that bingeing – the act of unrestrained and excessive indulgence – is nothing new.
- Far from being a new behaviour spawned by the digital age, bingeing is rooted in human history.
An ancient practice
- Much like you might binge Baby Reindeer, Eric or The Walking Dead today, humans have always sought absorbing narrative experiences.
- Before writing emerged, ancient oral storytelling captivated people across cultures, providing entertainment, knowledge transmission and cultural education.
- The reading sofa and the television couch certainly represent what 18th-century novel-reading and modern-day television-viewing seem to have in common.
- Access to home videos meant back-to-back viewing, while film screenings and double features mirrored older communal entertainment forms such as public readings and theatre attendances.
Hooked on a feeling
- Creators must now design shows with the binge-watching model in mind, using cliffhangers, escapism and continuous arcs to encourage prolonged viewing.
- As to why we love bingeing, this comes down to a complex interplay of emotions and brain chemistry.