From Silent Films to Streaming: How Collective Experience Shapes Our Emotions | Julian Hanich | Professor of Film Studies at University of Groningen | Season 9 Episode 5 | #141

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In this conversation, I explore the fascinating world of collective film experience with Julian Hanich, a professor of film studies at the University of Groningen who specializes in the emotional and social dimensions of cinema. We dive deep into what Hanich calls the "paradox of pleasurable fear," why we seek out emotions in movie theaters that we'd normally avoid in real life, and how the presence of others fundamentally transforms these experiences. From his childhood ban on movies due to their emotional effects to his groundbreaking research on audience dynamics, Hanich reveals how watching films collectively serves as a form of emotional regulation and social bonding that's impossible to replicate when viewing alone.

Our discussion takes fascinating turns as we examine the ten different types of laughter Hanich has identified in movie theaters, from genuine amusement to relief laughter after scary scenes, to the performative laughter of film connoisseurs showing off their knowledge. We explore how collective viewing creates opportunities for connection through shared silence during moving scenes, erupting together in laughter during comedies, or even the awkward moments when humor doesn't land the same way for everyone. Hanich shares compelling examples, including his uncomfortable experience watching Borat in Berlin, where audience laughter at an anti-Semitic scene revealed troubling social dynamics, demonstrating how cinema becomes a space where cultural values and political positions are unconsciously revealed.

The conversation becomes deeply relevant to our streaming age as we discuss what we've lost in the transition from shared television events and cinema experiences to individualized Netflix viewing. Hanich argues that the movie theater remains one of the few spaces where we can experience genuine collective emotion with strangers, creating temporary communities based on shared taste and feeling. We also explore the delicate art of emotional attunement how opening ourselves to others' experiences of joy, fear, or amusement requires vulnerability and the willingness to "shed our protective shells." This isn't just about movies; it's about the fundamental human need for connection and the skills required to truly share experiences with others in an increasingly isolated world.