Discussion Why do you consume sad art/media while also experiencing feelings of sadness?

[DaisiesRegrets]

Just a general question which I wanted to ask, something which I always found to be interesting and correlates with a paper I'm writing for one of my psychology classes. But generally for a lot of people, when we display feelings of sadness, we tend to consume media which would also generally be considered sad/depressing. I was just curious what everyone's reasoning is for why they do this, for me personally it's sort of a comfort thing. It's nice to know that there are other human beings which are also feeling as shit as I do. Another reason is also simply that some art says exactly what I'm thinking much better than what I could ever put into words. So with this being said, what are some of your reasons?

 

[Asahina]

I like sad media because its relatable and makes me feel less alone.

I know people who have lived far worse lives than me and was often told growing up that my emotions are invalid because I haven't suffered enough, and while objectively true, for some reason I feel like I'm always masking emotion while feeling empty and tired of life inside. Depressing media allows me to feel and relate with those dark feelings while happy media feels like ignoring the problem and keeping the mask on. At least when I'm enjoying media alone, or making music, I want to be able to put down the mask and be my unfiltered self.

 

[Hibiki]

i wouldn't say i tend to consume more negative, depressing media than happier media, but what i've noticed lately is that i can't really enjoy happier media as much as i used to; i find myself feeling envious and wishing i could have what the characters, narrator, etc. have. i guess that nowadays, positive media is a painful reminder of what i don't have, so i don't really have a choice but to consume other things