The Nuance
The Health Benefits of Revisiting Your Favorite Books and TV Shows
During Covid-19, spending time with old fictional friends could pay dividends
It’s often said that Netflix and other streaming services have ushered in a golden era of high-quality television. There are so many great new shows to watch that some viewers are using accelerated playback options to binge content more quickly. The fast-cast is replacing the broadcast.
If the task of hacking through your streaming queues already feels daunting, the idea of wasting precious tube time rewatching familiar shows or movies may seem anathema. But in fact, experts say revisiting much-loved shows, movies, or books may offer health incentives that unfamiliar content can’t match.
Shira Gabriel, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at the University at Buffalo. A lot of her published work has explored a concept she and her colleagues have termed the “social surrogacy hypothesis.” It’s the idea that spending time with fictional characters can in some ways mimic the benefits of spending time with real-world friends or loved ones.
