Why Comfort Media Has A Stranglehold On Our Attention
I think I’ve interacted with Pride and Prejudice an inhumane amount of times. I’ve memorized lines from the 2005 adaptation and read the book almost every year.
Though it might seem odd to reread or rewatch the same story, there is just something about it that makes me want to return to the historical romance.
This phenomenon is known as comfort media, which is defined as any form of media that people use as a safe haven. The song you play whenever you are sad, the TV show you watch to destress—those are examples of comfort media.
Comfort media is not just limited to nostalgic sitcoms. Social media has given rise to comfort creators, which mainly refers to youtubers and streamers.
Perhaps it’s the familiarity that gives us comfort. It feels good to witness satisfying character journeys and with some forms of comfort media you grow with the character. A lot of old sitcoms serve as comfort shows because they remind us of a different time. They can also remind us of who we were when we watched them.
That parasocial connection creates a sensation of comfort, it’s like interacting with friends. The characters are people we have watched for years, so there is a degree of intimacy with them, even if it is artificial. Therefore, watching a show or movie you loved when you were 15 might remind you of hanging out with friends from that time.
The concept of comfort media is relatively new as it was mainly passed around during quarantine. It was a stressful time that led many of us to interact with old favorites such as the Harry Potter series.
However, comfort media continues to persist. According to The New York Times, the 2011 legal drama Suits was the most streamed show on Netflix last year and classic 90s sitcom Friends accumulated 25 billion minutes of streams on Max.
In the age of streaming services it is easier to revert back to familiar favorites due to the vastness of their catalogs.
On one hand, critics of comfort media state that it might limit us from discovering new things since we’re only interested in what we’ve already seen. However, there is something nice about revisiting familiar media and growing with our favorite characters.
Some stories feel different each time you read or watch them because each time you might notice something new. Whether it is a small background detail or the set-up of a plot twist, there is value in a re-watch.
Comfort media is an interesting nostalgia related phenomenon that makes you think about how you interact with entertainment.
