Those who prefer to watch ‘bad’ or ‘trashy’ films, typically low-budget films featuring anonymous or bad actors, are smarter, according to a study. ‘Trash films’ were described as ‘cheap or poorly made films with embarrassing or disturbing content’. Researchers explained that the study showed that the very characteristics of what made a film trashy, helped support its use.
“The study focusses on how something identified as cheap and worthless can still be embraced and (re)evaluated as providing positive enjoyment,” Keyvan Sarkhosh, film scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany, said.
These films were watched as they provided for humour and entertainment. The same group was also found to appreciate art films. The enjoyment of watching trash films was found related to an ironic viewing stance.
Viewers attributed to trash films not just amusing/entertaining qualities, but also a positive, transgressive deviance from the cinematic mainstream.
For the study, Sarkhosh conducted an online survey and included 372 participants, composed of university students, and people whose online presence on trashy film-related forums was significant.
The study showed that an 84 per cent of the fans of trash films had university degrees. “Such viewers are interested in a broad spectrum of art and media across the traditional boundaries of high and popular culture,” Sarkhosh noted.
