Yes, it’s that time of year again. Living rooms up and down the country will reverberate to the sound of families rowing, and the television being turned on to provide distraction. But whereas a generation ago the nation could be united by watching the only film on offer, The Sound of Music on BBC1, today’s British viewing habits, like so much else in modern life, are fragmented. Videos, DVDs, umpteen movie channels on satellite, by and large you will choose the films you watch this Christmas — and your choices will say more about you than you think.
Many people choose films they have already seen. Ritual is very important in terms of making us feel secure about ourselves and our place in the world. Watching Where Eagles Dare when we already know the ending, when we are perhaps word-perfect on the dialogue, is part of a need to self-comfort. This is especially so at Christmas, a time many people find extremely stressful and emotional.
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