What's it called when, after watching a movie, you feel the need to act like the movie?
For example: After I saw The Bourne Ultimatum in theaters, I felt the need to drive faster and stealthier like Bourne did in the film. It was an exhilarating feeling.
A character driven example would be: mimicking The Joker’s mannerisms after watching The Dark Knight.
This was probably more prevalent in your younger years, but you may still experience it in small amounts when you get older.
Is there a name for this experience? Have you ever felt it? How often do you do this?
When did you most recently experience this? Explain.
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
29 Answers
I would call it ‘self-accredited mental stimulation’. It is when we feel the excitement of an action/movie and you unconsciously and confidently apply that to yourself.
I did this sometime after and when I’m watching certain movie that could ‘move’ my nerve. I remember to act like a Cat woman after I watched the Cat Woman movie. It makes me hot and wild!
Well,I call it crazy…especially after trying to fly without the help of an airplane;) no more Peter Pan for me
@erichw1504, I thank you. It’s the result of the perfect storm of being a word lover and a movie lover. ;-)
@TheOnlyNeffie, to be perfectly honest, it took me 20 seconds of noodling in Word to spell it exactly the way I wanted.
@Austinlad I love it, definitely worthy of a spot in the dictionary. ;)
I call it being Spicloli’d where after watching Fast Times at Ridgemont high I had the urge to go surfing, burn a spliff and order a pizza! “Gnarly”!
Character identifcation. You should have seen the guys from the unit after soming out of watching Navy Seals.
Yea, fight Club did that to me.
I don’t really act like the characters, but if I’ve been watching a film in which there are accents and I really got into the movie, I accidentally pick up the accent. My husband hates it when I watch Braveheart. ;)
I think the critics use ”compelling”.
Although, just about every time a critic uses it I wince and think the word should be reserved for pornos.
Edit: or maybe “sea legs” – or whatever you call it when you’ve been at sea and you get back and the ground feels like it’s still swaying.
Childish? l liked the coining of term cinematation, though.
@Austinlad yes, genius indeed! GA
@erichw1504 I’ve tried explaining this to people before and no-one understands!! <sigh> only this happens to me in life too..if I spend enough time with specific people with strong characteristics I find myself feeling like them feeling like I’m what it would feel like to be them having their mannerisms… but at the same time being me… is this what you mean?
I think it must be something to do with charming qualities though specifically because it doesn’t happen with mannerisms, speech, style, memes etc that I was consciously say are undesirable…. Anyway, it did specifically happen to me very recently after weeks of watching Big Brother…there was a girl called Josie on it…who was absolutely adorable, hilarious, stylish, gorgeous from Bristol.. I found myself talking to members of my family and suddenly would laugh or smile in a certain way which I thought…ah HA! that’s not me that’s Josie…. I’ve got her mannerisms!!! weird huh!?
Thank you, @BoBo and @lynneblundell!!! That was my quota for workplay for the day.
@lynneblundell Yes, that is exactly what I’m talking about! I usually experience it after a movie, but it can happen with pretty much anything.
I don’t think it’s called anything, it’s just being goofy and fun. I enjoy mimicking movies after I watch them. (Of course I try to avoid this around people outside of my family.)
I’d call it the power of suggestion.
i would probably call it inspiration. It’s just like any other thing you watch. Motivational speakers are probably the best example. they put on a show for people and inspire them to change different aspects of our lives when we leave their lecture. Same thing with a movie, you watch it you’re enthralled by it and then you act on it. How you act depends on the person i suppose, and it is probably directly related to how engrossed in the movie you get. You could make an arguement as to that the movie is somewhat of a minor hypnosis.
I wanted to be a torando chaser after I saw Twister. I get deja vu more than anything. Which is weird when I know I’ve never seen the thing before.
@Austinlad (and jellies): what would you call this phenomenon if you were eager to act out similar behavior after playing video games? gameritation? lol
@christos99 I hate to burst your bubble a bit, but God invented a little something called WoW.
Great question! I do experience this but I’ve never actually articulated it out loud. I do recognize it subconsciously though when it happens. I would say it happens to me about 40% of the time I watch movies. If I really like the character I sort of pick up their mannerisms, speech, or more frequently, their mood or energy, temporarily (for 1 hr to a day after the movie). As someone described above, it’s a feeling – it’s like picking up an attitude. If the character is melancholy, or aggressive, or peaceful, I will adopt that attitude or sometimes a slight accent.
I can remember driving home very fast (normally unlike me) after watching Ronin. Some other movies that had this effect on me were Fight Club, Traffic, The Departed, Pulp Fiction.
Answer this question 
Composing members:
0
