If you're a fan of trashy films ala Dead Snow, The Room, Sharknado, Critters and so on, you've probably had to field questions from people as to your intelligence.

Hey, it's not all black-and-white Polish dramas about nuns in monasteries or the like that you have to watch, after all. Sometimes, you want to see a grown man with a weird accent and clearly-dyed hair mangle his way through dialogue.

Anyway, a new study by the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (that's its name, really) has found that the consumption of trashy films is linked to above-average intelligence. The study's lead, Keyvan Sarkosh, admitted that "...(at) first glance it seems paradoxical that someone should deliberately watch badly made, embarrassing and sometimes even disturbing films, and take pleasure in them."

Sarkosh's study, the first of its kind, suggested that trashy films and its audience have "above-average education" and would be described as "cultural omnivores."

"Such viewers are interested in a broad spectrum of art and media across the traditional boundaries of high and popular culture." The study also found that 90% of its participants were male and that trashy films were seen as a form of positive entertainment, given that they were viewed from an ironic standpoint.

So there you have it - watching Tara Reid being attacked by Sharknados is a sign of intelligence. SCIENCE SAYS SO.

 

Via Max Placnk Institute