Is the movie you’re going to see empath friendly?
By that, I mean will it be a movie that uplifts you or will it be one that thoroughly depresses you?
Don’t get me wrong, some people love being depressed, but for the high level empath who does not enjoy it, they should take care to avoid movies that are not pleasant to watch for empaths.
A few examples that come to mind of what I consider to be Empath Unfriendly movies are:
Mary and Max
Another Year
War Horse.
Atonement.
Why?
Well, Mary and Max, though quite a good story, is a story of loss, depression and living in a world they don’t understand, and doesn’t understand the characters. For the Empath watching this movie, especially for the first time, they may come away feel quite down.
Another Year, which is a fringe type movie, is like a slice of real life. Apart from the central couple, who are very happy and together in their relationship, the people around them are either depressed, alcoholic or lonely. There is no happy resolution to the story, and for the Empath, there is no pay off.
Such a movie would too close to their real life, and the feelings they may feel from others (or how they feel themselves).
War Horse, in spite of the predictable happy ending, is mostly a story about war, and war is not a healthy thing to watch for the high level empath.
Atonement is a movie that can leave an Empath depressed for days. The events unfold in such a way that it might leave you frustrated, as once again, there is no happy resolution.
The common thread with all these movies is that they can cut too close to the bone. The story attunes the Empath to those energies which are already around them, and can make them more acutely aware of them, no matter how contrived the plot might be.
And what I mean by attunement is that you will start to resonate on a similar energy level as the problems and issues that are portrayed in the movies. If any of those things exist around you, you may well become much more sensitive to them.
This goes for plays, books, and even music.
If the Empath is feeling depressed, and many Empaths do suffer from depression, they should do some research and avoid the subject t matter.
It is said that you should not judge a book by its cover, however the Empath is one step ahead here. They can sense, with a little practice, what something is going to be like before they see it, even if they don’t know anything about it before hand.
Look for those things that will uplift and energize you. Avoid that which drains and depresses you.
I had a big laugh when I saw you listed war horse. Every time my partner tried to make me watch it I’d get upset in seconds and absolutely refused to watch it, I just knew I couldn’t handle it. Glad to see I was right lol. Never saw the other ones but I guess because I picked up bad vibes from those too.
HI,
Yes I am an Empath, have only known for about 6 years what that means and I’m going on 59 (chronologically!). Still a lot of self discovery going on. Anyway, there is a websit, Dove Family Approved Movie Reviews, I have found. After watching the movie, “The Stonecutter” which was really cool, no violence or gratitious sex or language, which I cannot do. I am so glad for places like this for info and support. Being an Empath is hard to talk about with someone who “just doesn’t get it”. I am so glad for Gary and his willing to shart his support and insight. I look forward to anything he has to share. Lots of wisdom there, too.
(Empath waving from over here in BC, Canada.)
I’m curious as to what movies you do recommend for us empaths. 🙂 Got any favorites?
That’s a good question.
Movies tend to be very individual, but I think a good empath friendly movie is one that leaves you feeling uplifted and empowered. As to what that would be would depend on what your taste is and what you need in your life. I’ll give a think on what movies I enjoyed and found to be inspirational.
Well, that was a good answer in and of itself!
Here are a few that do the trick for me, but your mileage may vary:
“Brave”
“Tangled”
“Anne Of Green Gables”
“Shrek”
“Princess Bride”
“Ever After”
The Princess Bride is empath friendly? Inconceivable!
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
I have certainly been toying with the idea of doing movie reviews on what I’ve seen from an empath’s point of view. I’ll see how I go.
Thanks
Inconceivable? Inconceivable? You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
I like your idea of movie reviews. Toy on!
As an empath who has been an empath all of my life I have to say that there is not much that shocks me anymore, so I will watch most films because I like to feel all of the emotions that is humanly possible, it reminds me that I am alive. However, I don’t do horror, I have plenty of that to deal with on a regular basis as it is. Blood guts and gore just don’t do it for me. Empaths are strong people, in fact stronger than most I believe. We have to be to do what we do, just my personal opinion. Thank you for liking my post The Daily Channel – The Hybrid Self, it is deeply appreciated 🙂
Yes, agreed about the horror. I have little pull to watch such things, too. We get enough of that kind of thing in our own lives.
Empathy, not sympathy, is what most people crave!
True. Sympathy or pity just makes it more frustrating.
I remember when I had to stop listening to NPR in the morning because it put me in a negative vibe and discovered I was less present with folks in that space. Of course, there are more provocative examples that elicit negative emotions that get us stuck. Thank you for being a forum for waking up to that. Also, I appreciate your checking out my blog.
Thanks for sharing this one! I am probably “guilty” of being a HLE myself, so what you wrote here resonates with me. Recently, I’ve been doing my best to find something funny on the web first thing in the morning when having my coffee, something that makes me laugh and gets me uplifted.
Reading your blog actually reminded me of my being HLE, which – I’ve been trying to get away from forever. Because the other conclusion is this: If you are such a person, it gets hard to cope with the non-Empaths to the point of them becoming intolerable to be around. However, as the world is – still – largely wired to accommodate non-Empaths much better, it often becomes impossible to blend.
But like I said: Thanks for the reminder. I should not drift into denial again simply for the fact that this world is such an outrageously hard place to live in… :/
Yes, that it can be. Still, I believe a time is coming where this will change. All we need is to raise awareness and help others realize that they are empathic, and not crazy. Also agreed with the needing humour. Good humour is hard to find, and its all very personal. I enjoy ironic humour a lot myself.
Yeah, that Saturday I sat around and watched Deer Hunter was a mistake. Nice article … thanks!
That’s one movie I could never bring myself to watch.
I’m surprised The Green Mile isn’t listed. When my husband had me first watch it, he had to pause it halfway through for at least 30 min to let me cry. Now I can’t even watch 10 min before getting a completely meltdown. 5 min of watching is a panic attack. I am determined one of these days to watch it again. It’s an amazing story, but for those who are very sensitive to human emotions and bullying, it’s just… torture.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is also a very horrible movie to watch… I can never watch that one again. It is shown from the boy’s perspective, so everything is all innocent and carefree, until the end. It’s especially bad now that I have children of my own…
The Last Samurai is an amazing story, but it also had me sobbing. It’s not as bad, and I have been able to watch it a few more times, but it’s hard. One reason is because they got the ending almost completely accurate with history.
Of course this is coming from the person who cried horribly when the ant died in Honey I Shrunk the Kids…
I’ve often brought up the movie “The Green Mile” concerning things to do with being an empath.
Joan, I, too, was moved to tears during that movie, what little of it I was able to watch. I had to leave the room, but couldn’t get the disturbance out of my mind.
My husband later explained the movie to me and it sounds like something I’d like to see just for the fact that there is an empath in it, but the sad stuff would break my heart. I can’t handle things to do with children being harmed.
Actually, I did think of The Green Mile a couple of days ago, and thought that it would certainly make the list. But then, it’s been around 12 years since I saw it and I wondered if I was correct about it being a bad movie for empaths.
Having said that, I now recall leaving the movie theatre with my then wife and step daughter, and we had a talk to her about empaths, and that she was one herself.
Thank you for adding your movies and comments.
I’ve not seen The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I did see The Last Samurai, but I don’t remember enough about it. 🙂
I think an inspiring movie for empaths can be “Dreamer” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418647/). There are some parts in it that are hard to watch, but in the end it’s a good, uplifting message and empathy plays a big part in it, on many levels.
Two of my all time favorite movies are “The Legend of Bagger Vance” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146984/) – jeez, my eyes well up only thinking about that one – and “Reign Over Me” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0490204). Both had me experience meltdowns that lasted for hours and were probably the combined release of decades of bottled up feelings. While this may sound like a no-no as far as recommending them, they did two positive things for me: 1.) Offer that relief I seem to have denied myself for all my life and 2.) provide some affirmation as to our strength we’ve built over the years as people who are forced to adjust to a world whose governing principles totally run counter to our particular make and nature. With Bagger Vance, the ending is uplifting and sends a message of hope and strength, while Reign Over Me is more open ended, yet also with some presumed silver lining.
“Field of Dreams” might work, too. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097351). Well, so far for my spare 2 cents on this one 😉
Thanks, great list. I saw the Fisher King. It wasn’t a movie I wanted to see again.
I haven’t rewatched it as often as the others one, either, Gary, true. There are some harsh scenes in it. Maybe I’m just a fool for Jeff Bridges or something, I don’t know 😉
Such an imsipesrve answer! You’ve beaten us all with that!
Never meant to make it into a competition, Roberta 🙂 – but thanks! 😀
Oh, and not to forget “Fisher King” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101889) and “The Fabulous Baker Boys” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097322). A little warning as to the second one: Not exactly your Hollywood type Happy End, no Sir. However, a story about opening up, letting on one’s vulnerabilities and ultimately expressing and living one’s authentic nature. The inevitable love story, some family drama and overall peppered with some hearty, good laughs (let me just say “the auditioning scene” – hilarious! As a former pro musician this may be funnier for me as for other people, since I can relate back to back on that one).
Well… I’m running out 2¢ coins… 😉
as=than, than for other people. ..
Atonement still haunts me, it is an extremely hard movie to watch.
Yes, it haunted me for days, too. I can only watch the first half an hour and then I have to stop.
As a psychic empath, I can be emotionally drained very quickly. I find that avoiding many of the news programs, negative people and depressing situations help to keep me balanced. Of course, life is full of ups and downs, so visualizing a protective bubble around me or a reflective mirror to deflect the negativity is beneficial.
Yes, it certainly can be. I’ve half written something about Empaths the the news, but haven’t quite worked out what I want to say there. Thanks for the comment.
i definitely go out of my way to avoid any kind of sad movies or books (i’m looking at you Oprah’s book club). i’ve done this for years. so, long in fact that i almost forgot why and read Atonement. it left me quite unsettled and depressed for days! even now i can barely think about it without feeling a sort of sinking feeling.
so glad to hear it’s not just me!
Thanks. Yes, some movies just are simply depressing. Thank for the comments.
I don’t do movies – I thought it was just me.
I won’t buy a book unless I’ve checked the last chapter to make sure it has a ‘good’ ending. Buying ebooks on Amazon is a problem – you can read the first ten pages – but not the last two or three. I generally stick to ebooks I’ve read as a real book or the non-fiction stuff. Jackie (my wife) loves a good sob. I have to go away and put headphones on and play loud music so I can’t hear.
David
PS – thanks for visiting me at http://ja2da.com – is there a sign I can put on it to say it’s suitable?
Hi David,
Thanks. I’m a big fan of Dr. Bach.
Not sure what you mean by a sign question. Put on what? Suitable for what? lol
Hi Gary – my sister is a Bachophile and I’ve been dosed with them regularly for years.
I meant a sign to say my blog is ‘Empath Friendly’ – you know like “suitable for vegans” or “Contains no nuts” there ought to be a sign we can use to tell people that we are not going to rub their empathy raw.
David
Ah. No, there isn’t… yet.
But that doesn’t mean one of us can’t create one. I think I might just try and do that!
I don’t know where you’d add it but it would be nice to have a little icon or something along those lines – please let me know when you have something
David
I will. You could add it to the sidebar of your blog.
Okay, just tried to design one. It’s based on the Empath symbol, but personalized. Let me know what you think.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95881388@N08/8748931291/in/photostream/lightbox/
First, I want to say thank you so much for liking my poem/post “Authentic, Like Me.” Second, yes, I am definitely an empath. I spent my childhood using it to escape from (or repress, actually) harsh realities. I spent the first half of my adult years using my gifts to “make life happen!” I am an Aries, so I thought I was invincible. Loved dark movies, wild sex with strangers, dark magic, white magic, etc. As I got more into spiritual awareness, I still thought I was invincible to all negativity, using “gold light” and such to strengthen myself. I did a lot of tarot readings and loved it, but so much of that is deep, difficult stuff. So I was still drawn to negative people. Now, I understand that my whole life, I’ve been picking up & holding in so much negativity and voila! I have multiple sclerosis, or I call it multiple stress, multiple sensory overload, etc. I do still watch deep and tearful movies, but only ones that end in redemption. Afterwards, I have to watch something very light/comedy. Sometimes comedy is unnerving as it is often a front for anger – an empath knows. But It’s people more than movies, etc., that I really have to remember to be “Authentic…” around. If I have to leave, I leave. I have therapy weekly, listen to some wonderful spiritual teachers, and NOW live a very quiet life. I will say a lot of my poetry has come out quite darkly but, over the past 10-15 years, the redemptive theme always come through. I’m working on a book about all of this; actually I wrote the book, then years later, realized it’s only half the story. There are ways out of the darkness some empaths find themselves sinking into. Thanks for so many great suggestions and a great blog!
Thank you, and yours is certainly a familiar story. It’s wonderful that you are aware of these things. It goes a long long way to healing.
There is so much out there and so many ways out of the darkness. There is a way for everyone.