Vigour of Film Lines

“In the play of children we seem to arrive at the conclusion that the child repeats even the unpleasant experiences because through his own activity he gains a far more thorough mastery of the strong impression than was possible by mere passive experience. Every fresh repetition seems to strenghten this mastery for which the child strives; even with pleasurable experiences the child cannot do enough in the way of repetition and will inexorably insist on the identity of the impression.

This characteristic is destined later to disappear.[1] A witticism heard for the second time will almost fail of effect; a theatrical performance will never make the same impression the second time that it did on the first occasion; indeed it is hard to persuade the adult to read again at all soon a book he has enjoyed. Novelty is always the necessary condition of enjoyment.

The child, however, never gets tired of demanding from a grown-up a repetition of a game he has played with him before or has shown him, till at last the grown-up refuses, utterly worn-out; similarly if he has been told a pretty story, he wants always to hear the same story instead of a new one, insist inexorably on exact repetition[2] and corrects each deviation which the narrator lets slip by mistake, which he perhaps even thought to gain new merit by inserting. Here, there is no contradiction of the pleasure-principle: it is evident that the repetition, the rediscovery of identity, is itself, a source of pleasure. ”

[1] My emphasis

[2] We are all familiar with a child who has watched the same movie about 90 times

Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle

Do you like rewatching movies? Is Freud wrong when it comes to adults and rewatching plays (i.e. rewatching movies)? Finally, do you consider it being similar to child’s play (it is not understood negatively), or you take pleasure in finding new things to contemplate or enjoy due to movie’s merit?

Thanks for your thoughts!