Editing Entertainment (section)

== Psychology and philosophy ==

Entertainment can be distinguished from other activities such as education and marketing even though they have learned how to use the appeal of entertainment to achieve their different goals. Sometimes entertainment can be a mixture for both. The importance and impact of entertainment is recognised by scholars<ref>For example, the application of psychological models and theories to entertainment is discussed in Part III of {{cite book|last=Bryant|first=Jennings|title=Psychology of Entertainment|year=2006|publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc|location=Mahwah, NJ|isbn=978-0-8058-5238-7|pages=367–434|author2=Vorderer, Peter}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|ref=CITEREFSayreKing2010|last=Sayre|first=Shay|title=Entertainment and Society: Influences, Impacts, and Innovations (Google eBook)|year=2010|publisher=Routledge|location=Oxon; New York|isbn=978-0-415-99806-2|edition=2nd|author2=King, Cynthia}} p. 22.</ref> and its increasing sophistication has [[Influence of the IBM PC on the personal computer market|influenced]] practices in other fields such as [[museology]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Conservation, Education, Entertainment?|year=2011|publisher=Channel View Publication|isbn=978-1-84541-164-0|editor=Frost, Warwick}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Museum Revolutions|year=2007|publisher=Routledge|location=Oxon; New York|isbn=978-0-203-93264-3|author1=Macleod, Suzanne |author2=Watson, Sheila |editor=Knell, Simon J.}}</ref>

{{Listen
|filename    = Applause.ogg
|title       = Applause
|description = Audience applauding a performance of [[Cavalleria Rusticana]] by [[Pietro Mascagni]] (2011)
|format      = [[Ogg]]
}}

[[Psychologist]]s say the function of media entertainment is "the attainment of [[gratification]]".<ref>{{cite book|last=Zillmann|first=Dolf|title=Media Entertainment – the psychology of its appeal|year=2000|publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Taylor & Francis e-library |location=Mahwah, NJ|isbn=978-0-8058-3324-9|page=vii|author2=Vorderer, Peter}}</ref> No other results or measurable benefits are usually expected from it (except perhaps the final score in a sporting entertainment). This is in contrast to education (which is designed with the purpose of developing understanding or helping people to learn) and marketing (which aims to encourage people to purchase commercial products). However, the distinctions become blurred when education seeks to be more "entertaining" and entertainment or marketing seek to be more "educational". Such mixtures are often known by the [[neologism]]s "[[edutainment]]" or "[[infotainment]]". The psychology of entertainment as well as of learning has been applied to all these fields.<ref>For example, [[marketer]]s mix commercial messages with non-commercial messages in entertainments on radio, television, films, videos and games. {{cite book|last=Shrum|first=L.J.J.|title=The Psychology of Entertainment Media|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-84872-944-5|edition=2nd}}</ref> Some education-entertainment is a serious attempt to combine the best features of the two.<ref>{{cite book|title=Entertainment-Education and Social Change: History, Research, and Practice|year=2008|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-4106-0959-5|editor1=Singhal, Arvind |editor2=Cody, Michael J. |editor3=Rogers, Everett |editor4=Sabido, Miguel }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Digital Games and Learning |year=2011 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |location=London; New York |isbn=978-1-4411-9870-9 |editor1-last=de Freitas |editor1-first=Sara |editor2-last=Maharg |editor2-first=Paul}}</ref> Some people are entertained by others' pain or the idea of their unhappiness ([[schadenfreude]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 February 2020 |title=Schadenfreude: Why Do We Like To See Others Suffer? |url=https://www.scienceabc.com/social-science/why-do-we-like-to-see-others-suffer-schadenfreude.html |access-date=2 May 2022 |website=Science ABC |language=en-US |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020162049/https://www.scienceabc.com/social-science/why-do-we-like-to-see-others-suffer-schadenfreude.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

An entertainment might go beyond gratification and produce some insight in its audience. Entertainment may skilfully consider universal philosophical questions such as: "What does it mean to be human?"; "What is the right thing to do?"; or "How do I know what I know?". "The [[meaning of life]]", for example, is the subject in a wide range of entertainment forms, including film, music and literature. Questions such as these drive many narratives and dramas, whether they are presented in the form of a story, film, play, poem, book, dance, comic, or game. Dramatic examples include [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s influential play ''[[Hamlet]]'', whose hero articulates these concerns in poetry; and films, such as ''[[The Matrix]]'', which explores the nature of knowledge<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Irwin|editor-first=William|title=The Matrix and Philosophy|year=2002|publisher=Carus Publishing Company|location=Peru, IL|page=[https://archive.org/details/matrixphilosophy00irwi/page/196 196]|isbn=978-0-8126-9502-1|url=https://archive.org/details/matrixphilosophy00irwi/page/196}}</ref> and was released worldwide.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ql_9| title = IMDb ''The Matrix'' worldwide release dates| website = [[IMDb]]| access-date = 30 June 2018| archive-date = 9 May 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190509185717/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_ql_9| url-status = live}}</ref> Novels give great scope for investigating these themes while they entertain their readers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=Peter|title=Philosophy and the Novel|year=1975|location=Oxford, Clarendon|publisher=Oxford University Press, Incorporated}}</ref> An example of a creative work that considers philosophical questions so entertainingly that it has been presented in a very wide range of forms is ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''. Originally a [[radio comedy]], this story became so popular that it has also appeared as a novel, film, television series, stage show, comic, [[audiobook]], [[LP record]], [[adventure game]] and [[online game]], its ideas became popular references (see [[Phrases from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]) and has been translated into many languages.<ref>{{cite book |author=Simpson, M.J. |title=The Pocket Essential Hitchhiker's Guide |edition=2nd |publisher=Pocket Essentials |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-904048-46-6 |page=120}}</ref> Its themes encompass the [[meaning of life]], as well as "the ethics of entertainment, [[artificial intelligence]], multiple worlds, God, and [[philosophical method]]".<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Joll|editor-first=Nicholas|title=Philosophy and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|year=2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York|isbn=978-0-230-29112-6}}</ref>