What makes rewatching shows so comforting? The feeling of sitting down after a long day with a bowl of buttery popcorn, snuggling up with a blanket, and hitting the remote to turn on the show you’ve seen a million times, or the excitement of noticing a new detail, such as a joke that you may have missed before. Seeing your favorite actors in a familiar setting on screen can evoke nostalgia, which is why rewatching films is a frequent ritual for many. With the rise in streaming services and the slow decline of network television, people now have the ability to rewatch their favorite scenes and get to know their favorite characters better.
Sophomore Nathalia Velasquez Hernandez rewatches shows often. “I’m from South America, and I learned how to speak English from American movies and American TV shows and I rewatch them all the time,” she said. One show Velasquez Hernandez rewatches frequently is “Modern Family,” and even after all of the rewatches she still finds new details. “I started watching ‘Modern Family’ when I was 10, and I’m 15 right now and I still watch it. There are some things that I realize: ‘Oh my gosh I can’t believe I missed that,’ you know, just like jokes, or like metaphors,” Velasquez Hernandez said.
Rewatching media gives people the unique tool to learn a new language or further their understanding of another language. People can listen to conversations and dialogue with the ability to pause, rewind, add subtitles, and slow down. By rewatching a show, one can slowly become more comfortable with the theme and storyline, allowing one to focus more on the actual dialogue and jokes that are being told.
Even though junior Felix Waterman doesn’t rewatch shows and films often, he can see the value in it occasionally. “The second time I watch, I already know the plot and stuff so it allows me to focus on smaller details of the shows and movies,” Waterman said. “In general, when you are less focused on what the characters are actively doing in the scene it allows you to observe and enjoy, like the backgrounds and stuff that maybe the background characters are doing.”
Many people rewatch shows and movies to grasp a better understanding of what they consumed. By rewatching a show, you are able to go back on it with a fine tooth comb. People want the ability to analyze what they’ve consumed, especially viewing it through different lenses.
According to Hilary Fong, a Universal Ninth Grade Ethnic Studies and Social Living teacher, rewatching movies and TV shows is more comforting and nostalgic. “One movie I just rewatched with my nephew is ‘The Parent Trap’ with Lindsay Lohan. It was my favorite movie growing up. I think as a kid, different things excite you and then when you get older you (realize) different themes that kind of have more resonance,” Fong said. “It’s interesting too, because that show came out when I was a kid and it’s been really interesting to rewatch it as my life goes on and how I relate to it at different ages.”
Familiarity is a significant part of rewatch culture. People rewatch shows that they consumed as children, understanding their childhood favorites in new ways. Other times people rewatch television in the background because they don’t want to commit to a new show knowing they’ll end up missing content.
Either way, rewatching shows provides a new look on them, giving you deeper knowledge of their cultural and personal relevance.