Ever since I started college, my watchlist has consistently revolved around a combination of Modern Family, Bollywood rom-coms, and Disney. Particularly during my freshman year, I barely watched anything new.
There is something oddly comforting about knowing exactly how a story ends. I know Phil Dunphy will somehow manage to embarrass his family, that the Bollywood sweethearts will come back to each other (albeit in ridiculous ways), and that Disney will always deliver a happily ever after. There are no surprises anymore; I don’t have to think, “What’s going to happen next?” at 2 a.m.
But why do we repeatedly return to stories we already know?
According to a research study by Pam Rutledge with Fielding Graduate University, “We rewatch shows for emotion, not plot.” For college students, like me, whose lives are as unpredictable as our schedules, familiarity can become an unexpected home. My freshman year was a time I needed that home. I was navigating a new environment, meeting unfamiliar people, and learning to live independently — the joys of adulthood. The last thing I wanted after an exhausting day was another unfamiliar experience, even if it was fictional.
Every time I rewatch a movie or a show, or reread a book for the millionth time, it somehow elicits a new emotion or experience. I could have watched a comedy a thousand times, yet on one particular night, I might find myself laughing at a joke that never struck me as funny before. Sometimes, the familiar offers an entirely new experience of its own. Perhaps that’s why Christmas Hallmark movies never seem to lose their charm. We watch them with our families year after year, revisiting the same stories, yet experiencing them a little differently each time.
So, maybe I’ll watch a new rom-com tonight and criticize its complete lack of plausibility, but I’ll do so with a smile and the comforting knowledge that I’ll probably watch it again. Because at the end of the day, I’m not ranking movies on a scale of 1-10; I’m ranking them purely on their rewatchability.