Entertaiment is a form of recreation that provides a distraction and can be used to relieve stress. It can also be used to build social skills and develop interpersonal relationships, such as when children play games or interact with dolls. Entertainment can range from a clown at a birthday party to a stadium rock concert.
According to Bates and Ferri, entertainment is understood objectively, involves communication between text and audience, requires an external stimulus, offers pleasure, and occurs in a passive form. It is also interesting to note that many forms of entertainment have been adapted and remixed in multiple different media. For example, the story of Scheherazade has been told in an orchestral piece by composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov and Ravel, has been made into several films, and has spawned numerous innovative video games.