I rarely get weepy in front of the TV at home, but I can be a mess watching a movie on a plane.
asserted
I → get → plane
The film or program doesn’t have to be something sad like Hamnet.
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film → have → Hamnet
I have been known to shed a tear watching Grease.
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I → know → Grease
As soon as the music wells up, I well up.
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I → well → ?
You could say I’m a fully subscribed member of the Mile Cry Club.
uncertain
I → say → Club
I’m not alone in this.
asserted
I → ’m → this
It’s well documented that people tend to get overly sentimental on flights.
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people → document → flights
(And not just the ones who get stuck into the beers.)
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who → stick → beers
The lower-than-usual cabin pressure causes mild hypoxia of the brain (lower oxygen levels) which affects our ability to moderate emotion and manage stress.
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which → cause → stress
“I’ve often eagerly rewatched a movie I’ve enjoyed on a plane and found to my surprise it was absolute rubbish.”
Dehydration from dry cabin air leads to fatigue, which also causes less emotional resistance.
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which → rewatche → resistance
Add jet lag, alcohol and sleeping pills or tranquillisers to the mix and a flight can become an emotional roller-coaster before you’ve even tuned into Love Actually.
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you → add → Actually
In the air, our critical faculties can turn to mush.
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faculties → turn → mush
I’ve often eagerly rewatched a movie I’ve enjoyed on a plane and found to my surprise it was absolute rubbish.
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it → rewatche → surprise
Maybe a smaller screen hides all the flaws, but I think it’s more likely that lack of oxygen in my brain has created an altered state of perception.
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lack → hide → perception
Hollywood studios should test all new movies on plane passengers.
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studios → test → passengers
We’d give every one of them 10 out of 10.
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We → give → 10
True, a plane is a hybrid space that’s not ideal for watching movies.
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that → ’ → movies
In the old days, there was only one movie screened in the cabin, so it was more like a public cinema.
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it → be → cinema
Now, with on-demand systems where you can choose your own entertainment, it’s more like the experience of a private home.
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it → choose → home
But you still share your enjoyment with hundreds of others.
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you → share → others
Have you ever watched a particularly adult movie with explicit sex scenes, only to be aware the eyes of the stranger seated next to you are constantly sliding towards your screen?
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eyes → watch → screen
The communal thing can also be frustrating when you’ve just started watching a thriller, only to realise another passenger in your direct line of sight has started the same movie ahead of you, thus spoiling the plot unless you keep looking away.
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you → start → plot
When I wander around the cabin I often note that at least half the passengers have tuned into the Marvel universe and similar superhero blockbusters.
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passengers → wander → universe
These movies are mindless, noisy, distracting and perfect for forgetting where you are: hurtling through the lower stratosphere at 900km/h in a tube of aluminium alloy with your knees around your chin.
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you → forget → chin
Hypoxia of the brain isn’t the only thing that accounts for an emotional response to in-flight movies, though.
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that → account → movies
The stresses of travel that lead up to us taking our seats already prime us nicely for a few tears.
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us → lead → tears
Taxi doesn’t show up?
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Taxi → show → ?
Check-in lines that wind around the concourse?
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that → check → concourse
A flight delay that might mean you’ll have a missed connection?
uncertain
you → mean → connection
I sink into my narrow seat and turn on the seatback screen with profound relief that I’ve made it through these hurdles.
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I → sink → hurdles
If the plane then actually takes off, I’m ecstatic.
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I → take → ?
For some people, such as those frightened of flying, taking off is the start of their anxiety.
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taking → take → anxiety
Separation from loved ones, nervousness about the destination, feelings of loss of control, disorientation, ear pressure discomfort and motion sickness are all elements that can make us extra vulnerable at this time.
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us → love → time
Even the excitement of going away can create its own kind of psychological change as hearts race, butterflies flutter in the stomach, and hands get clammy.
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hands → go → stomach
I admit that if the flight gets excessively turbulent, I amp up the sound in my headphones so that I don’t hear those thumps the wings make going over rough air.
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wings → admit → air
Psychologists advise that anxious flyers should avoid movies that heighten psychological arousal, especially horror movies and thrillers.
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that → advise → arousal
It’s obvious that films such as Hijack and Panic in the Skies are probably not good choices.
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films → ’ → Skies
Lighter entertainment, such as comedies and musicals, is recommended.
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entertainment → recommend → comedies
But if you’re likely to cry in The Sound of Music, like me (as soon as the orchestra strikes up), it’s not very helpful.
asserted
it → ’re → me
With the odds of having an emotional wobble on a flight stacked against us, my advice is to pack plenty of handkerchiefs.
asserted
advice → have → handkerchiefs
The Aporia
