NYT: What Makes Movie Audiences Happy?

These interviews with a screenwriter and U of Penn happiness researcher hit a sweet spot for Prevention Speaks. How can we highlight relationships & resilience when we make films with communities - to celebrate when a policy passes, like - cross your fingers - the tobacco free workplace ordinance in North Myrtle Beach, or doesn't (yet), like smoke free parks in Ringgold?


“Audiences don’t care about an accomplishment unless it’s shared with someone else. What makes an audience happy is not the moment of victory but the moment afterwards when the winners share that victory with someone they love.”

“...the accomplishment the audience values most is not when the heroine saves the day or the hero defeats his opponent.” Instead, she said, “the accomplishment the audience values most is resilience.... It might be about not winning, about finding something deeper that means more than victory.”

(Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch)