Can't believe Apocalypse now and Good Morning Vietnam aren't in there...!
It's really interesting to read about this. I've found myself after a few years of trauma unable to watch dark and stressful things if they are too close to reality (really anything with real grief in it). Which sucks because the darker and weirder the better in my opinion.
Anyway so now I have dived head first in to all things fantasy and sci fi. Andor was great, as real as Star Wars will ever get.
I've always sought ways to try new experiences. I think it's part of our desire to challenge ourselves or find shortcuts that shock us out of the ordinary. Growing up in a difficult home with few opportunities, media became my exposure therapy. It taught me to dream and to imagine. Trauma caused me to suppress that imagination for a while, but it's ready for a comeback. I think this desire to create and to experience things is part of how we process the world – it helps us see how others have grown, how we might react, and how we can progress as a society.
My goto is head torch on for a run along old mineral railway lines in the North East. As its pitch black just with head torch and ground uneven you have to concentrate on the moment, it's quite cathartic. Not been in the North Sea for about 10 years since getting pulled out by a RIP in Tynemouth just a little further down the coast it. It's definatley bracing though.
I have always looked for ways to try and do stuff like this. I think it's part of our quest to test ourselves or just a way to speed up the process and shock the system. I grew up poor and in a broken home and never got to do much of anything so media was my exposure therapy. It taught me how to dream and how to imagine things. I locked a lot of my imagination due to trauma but it's been due for a comeback think it's part of why we create things, and expose ourselves to things we want to process what others have gone though or see how we would react or help others see what it's like to grow as a race.
Oh yeah, I used to watch Hotel Rwanda, when feeling down. Or anything where two or more guys believably engage in hand to hand, sword against sword combat. My explanation is, that seeing characters to have much bigger problems than me somehow helps my problems to feel less heavy.
I love Band of Brothers. Great series, I've watched it through numerous times. Another really similar miniseries is The Pacific. Great stuff. And Hacksaw Ridge, We Were Soldiers are also favorites. My guilty pleasure/stressor are movies showing evil, graphic, overpowering, outsmarting violence against others who whole heartedly deserve their circumstance, performed by a loveable antihero. One that comes to mind is Sons of Anarchy. I think it's my way of tempering my hate against the injustices of the world and just the simple anger against self absorbed, selfish, entitled pricks that I just want to lay down and plunge a kabar into their eye socket and give it a twist. You do you. We all need our releases to keep us from going animal or losing it.
Band of brothers and Rome are two series that never get old! I found this idea really interesting and I started watching a bunch of war films during lockdown so maybe there’s something there. Not to be to fanboy but I also return to TG when feeling a bit shitty, not sure if it’s a stress thing though, more of a way to remind myself not to take myself to seriously. Anyway, it always improves my mood and makes me feel a little more grounded. I often also try and find a reference to explore, I would never have read bukowski (which lead to the rest of the beat writers) or watched some like it hot, not to mention a bunch of great bands, so a good place to go when looking for something new.
I hope that everything is okay on your end Alan xo. Stress and life can take its toll sometimes for sure. These days I always try to watch comedy to break my funks. Music , warm baths, dog snuggles, being around loved ones, copious amounts of chocolate and Tank Girl has always been my happy place. ❤️
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (2022) FURY, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, DUNKIRK, 1917, JARHEAD, RESCUE DAWN, FULL METAL JACKET, WAR MACHINE, DAS BOOT, LA VITA E BELLA,...
Thank me later if some of you haven't seen one of these ;)
When I 'm stressed out I will watch a classic war movie like Full Metal Jacket and be an " armchair warrior" for an hour and 45 mins , always works for me!
What about John Irvin’s classic 1987 Vietnam war movie ‘Hamburger Hill’? Praised for its historical accuracy depicting the 1969 Battle of Hill 937 (aka hamburger hill). If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend as it’s one of my all time favourite war movies. “We took it” was the last whisper at the end of the movie……..still gets to me!!
Can't believe Apocalypse now and Good Morning Vietnam aren't in there...!
It's really interesting to read about this. I've found myself after a few years of trauma unable to watch dark and stressful things if they are too close to reality (really anything with real grief in it). Which sucks because the darker and weirder the better in my opinion.
Anyway so now I have dived head first in to all things fantasy and sci fi. Andor was great, as real as Star Wars will ever get.
Funnily enough, although I'm not a big war film fan (Apocalypse Now aside) I love comfort
watching M*A*S*H, dressing in part combats, part hawaiin shirt and making myself a dirty martini. What mental health crisis?!!
I've always sought ways to try new experiences. I think it's part of our desire to challenge ourselves or find shortcuts that shock us out of the ordinary. Growing up in a difficult home with few opportunities, media became my exposure therapy. It taught me to dream and to imagine. Trauma caused me to suppress that imagination for a while, but it's ready for a comeback. I think this desire to create and to experience things is part of how we process the world – it helps us see how others have grown, how we might react, and how we can progress as a society.
My goto is head torch on for a run along old mineral railway lines in the North East. As its pitch black just with head torch and ground uneven you have to concentrate on the moment, it's quite cathartic. Not been in the North Sea for about 10 years since getting pulled out by a RIP in Tynemouth just a little further down the coast it. It's definatley bracing though.
I have always looked for ways to try and do stuff like this. I think it's part of our quest to test ourselves or just a way to speed up the process and shock the system. I grew up poor and in a broken home and never got to do much of anything so media was my exposure therapy. It taught me how to dream and how to imagine things. I locked a lot of my imagination due to trauma but it's been due for a comeback think it's part of why we create things, and expose ourselves to things we want to process what others have gone though or see how we would react or help others see what it's like to grow as a race.
Oh yeah, I used to watch Hotel Rwanda, when feeling down. Or anything where two or more guys believably engage in hand to hand, sword against sword combat. My explanation is, that seeing characters to have much bigger problems than me somehow helps my problems to feel less heavy.
I love Band of Brothers. Great series, I've watched it through numerous times. Another really similar miniseries is The Pacific. Great stuff. And Hacksaw Ridge, We Were Soldiers are also favorites. My guilty pleasure/stressor are movies showing evil, graphic, overpowering, outsmarting violence against others who whole heartedly deserve their circumstance, performed by a loveable antihero. One that comes to mind is Sons of Anarchy. I think it's my way of tempering my hate against the injustices of the world and just the simple anger against self absorbed, selfish, entitled pricks that I just want to lay down and plunge a kabar into their eye socket and give it a twist. You do you. We all need our releases to keep us from going animal or losing it.
Band of brothers and Rome are two series that never get old! I found this idea really interesting and I started watching a bunch of war films during lockdown so maybe there’s something there. Not to be to fanboy but I also return to TG when feeling a bit shitty, not sure if it’s a stress thing though, more of a way to remind myself not to take myself to seriously. Anyway, it always improves my mood and makes me feel a little more grounded. I often also try and find a reference to explore, I would never have read bukowski (which lead to the rest of the beat writers) or watched some like it hot, not to mention a bunch of great bands, so a good place to go when looking for something new.
I hope that everything is okay on your end Alan xo. Stress and life can take its toll sometimes for sure. These days I always try to watch comedy to break my funks. Music , warm baths, dog snuggles, being around loved ones, copious amounts of chocolate and Tank Girl has always been my happy place. ❤️
Unasked war movies to add this respectful list:
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (2022) FURY, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, DUNKIRK, 1917, JARHEAD, RESCUE DAWN, FULL METAL JACKET, WAR MACHINE, DAS BOOT, LA VITA E BELLA,...
Thank me later if some of you haven't seen one of these ;)
I’m forever just trying to find something to laugh at and pretend for a minute all is well and the world isn’t on fire
A nice walk with my husband and dog can do wonders for the soul too.
When I 'm stressed out I will watch a classic war movie like Full Metal Jacket and be an " armchair warrior" for an hour and 45 mins , always works for me!
What about John Irvin’s classic 1987 Vietnam war movie ‘Hamburger Hill’? Praised for its historical accuracy depicting the 1969 Battle of Hill 937 (aka hamburger hill). If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend as it’s one of my all time favourite war movies. “We took it” was the last whisper at the end of the movie……..still gets to me!!
Steve
I do this too but with post-apolyptic films or horror films. There's some odd sort of comfort in the dystopia