Can someone help me better understand what is the value of media where the primary takeaway is “this made me feel like shit”? I still struggle with why some people value and cherish so deeply the media that makes them feel this way.

Obviously this is inspired by The Last of Us 2. I’ve been reading some reviews and responses, and nothing I’ve read has suggested what thesis this game may have to offer us, or why the world is a better place for this kind of experience existing.

And PLEASE! I’m really not looking for responses dunking on TLOU2 or these kinds of media. I genuinely want to know why these kinds of experiences make the world a better place, what do they offer us that advances us or makes us better?

So often, when I talk to people who like this kind of work, the feeling of intense awfulness seems to be the goal in and of itself, rather than an avenue to anything better. Is there something I’m missing, or does the feeling of agony...

...simply trigger a sense of value for some people in ways that can’t be verbalized?