<p>Have you ever experienced that feeling after watching a really great movie (somewhat like a dramatic one) that after watching the movie, you got carried away? Even though the movie ended well in a happy ending, there is that feeling inside you that remained. The feeling can't be explained, but the sad part of the movie remained somewhat. What do you call that feeling, and is there any explanation for this?</p>

<p>How and why can movies take us out of our everyday physical reality and into a fantasy world, so that when the movie ends, we are left feeling dissociated from our own lives, feeling feelings that don't belong to us, but to the fictional characters from the movie?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-03T08:58:13.533Z
credits for Mr. what and bleeding fingers for the idea of question.
Þaw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-03T21:03:52.803Z
Note our [meta-discussion of this question](http://meta.cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/768/4086).
Nick Stauner
<social-psychology><emotion><motivation><philosophy-of-mind>
How and why can movies take us out of our everyday physical reality and into a fantasy world?
Þaw
# How and why can movies take us out of our everyday physical reality and into a fantasy world?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-02-03)

Have you ever experienced that feeling after watching a really great movie (somewhat like a dramatic one) that after watching the movie, you got carried away? Even though the movie ended well in a happy ending, there is that feeling inside you that remained. The feeling can't be explained, but the sad part of the movie remained somewhat. What do you call that feeling, and is there any explanation for this?

How and why can movies take us out of our everyday physical reality and into a fantasy world, so that when the movie ends, we are left feeling dissociated from our own lives, feeling feelings that don't belong to us, but to the fictional characters from the movie?

**Tags:** social-psychology, emotion, motivation, philosophy-of-mind

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: credits for Mr. what and bleeding fingers for the idea of question.  
> **username_1**: Note our [meta-discussion of this question](http://meta.cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/768/4086).  

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## 0 answers

