The BBC recently published research from Matthew Grizzard, an assistant professor, on people using entertainment to escape from reality, now more than ever. The study showed that many are keeping themselves busy with entertainment that feels eerily close to their day-to-day. Often, people want to see their experiences and themselves reflected in what they’re watching, reading or doing.

“We do like to see characters that are going through the same thing we’re going through,” Grizzard said. Although people have plenty of alternative entertainment options that have nothing to do with the pandemic, some of us are opting in to merging daily life with the modes we use to escape it.

Read the full BBC article.