Oh boy, I was thinking about this a while ago and today I thought of it again. I am wondering how other people look at things. I'll start off with just the comparison to movies, to not get into the deep and heavy stuff immediately. But if the thread does progress, I might have to go there.
So, people (mostly) want happy endings to movies. When you see the protagonist struggle you also want him to succeed. You don't want the antagonist (bad guy) to win. But this is fairly basic good vs evil stuff.
Now, lets jump to a movie that isn't about good and evil and that doesn't have an antagonist. Let's take The Pursuit of Happyness [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/] for example; you want the protagonist to get the job. You would feel sad at the end if he doesn't.
Next, lets look at Grave of the Fireflies [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095327/]. In this movie two children will face many hardships. I won't spoil the ending, but sufficient to say it's pretty powerful.
With the first movie you would feel happy in the end and with the second movie you would feel sad in the end.
Here comes the gist of things: How do these movies reflect on you? Because I see a flip side to what I just said about happiness and sadness. With the first movie you might reflect on your own life and feel sad, because your life didn't take that turn. While with the second movie you might feel happy, compared to the protagonist's life.
How you feel about these things?
TL;DR: Does the suffering of others give you more happiness because you realize you have it better than them (which in turn makes you forget about your own sorrows)?
So, people (mostly) want happy endings to movies. When you see the protagonist struggle you also want him to succeed. You don't want the antagonist (bad guy) to win. But this is fairly basic good vs evil stuff.
Now, lets jump to a movie that isn't about good and evil and that doesn't have an antagonist. Let's take The Pursuit of Happyness [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454921/] for example; you want the protagonist to get the job. You would feel sad at the end if he doesn't.
Next, lets look at Grave of the Fireflies [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095327/]. In this movie two children will face many hardships. I won't spoil the ending, but sufficient to say it's pretty powerful.
With the first movie you would feel happy in the end and with the second movie you would feel sad in the end.
Here comes the gist of things: How do these movies reflect on you? Because I see a flip side to what I just said about happiness and sadness. With the first movie you might reflect on your own life and feel sad, because your life didn't take that turn. While with the second movie you might feel happy, compared to the protagonist's life.
How you feel about these things?
TL;DR: Does the suffering of others give you more happiness because you realize you have it better than them (which in turn makes you forget about your own sorrows)?
