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Why do we watch scary movies
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In a world of continual violence and brutality, people simply seem to be unfazed by the horror films produced by directors all across the world. Stephen King, a horror author, would even go as far as to argue people crave horror. In Why We Crave Horror Movies, King explains why people cannot get enough of films that often evoke emotions of fear, disgust, and, oddly enough, happiness. Granted that these emotions may occur, the uncraveable is only craved when a life is not filled with with spirit of Jesus Christ. In Stephen King’s paper Why We Crave Horror Movies, he describes three reasons why people adore horror films. He first explains that some want to prove one is not afraid; that he/she can conquer any fear. Secondly, Stephen
I have provided a clear evaluation of his essay in an organized way using the appropriate standards of evaluation. In understanding why humans “Crave Horror Movies” even when some people get nightmares after watching them we find the importance of our emotions and fears. We find those emotions and fears form a body of their own which needs to be maintained properly in order to remain healthy. We see how emotions can be controlled though viewing horror movies. Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror Movies” is a well written essay with convincing analogies, comparisons, and urban humor.
One of America’s famous actress film director and producer Katie Aselton once said,” I don’t love horror movies with something surreal happening. That doesn’t work for me. What’s terrifying is something that could actually happen to me and what I would do. I don’t know how to throw a punch, and I’ve never had to do it.” This quote shows connection to King’s article. I’m starting to consider that everyone has a crazy side. Why We Crave Horror Movies explains the reason people want to go see horror movies. The average person enjoys the horror movies because they are in a safe environment knowing they can not be harmed. By discussing the argumentative strategies such as ethos, logos,
The article Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King distinguishes why we truly do crave horror movies. Stephen King goes into depth on the many reasons on why we, as humans, find horror movies intriguing and how we all have some sort of insanity within us. He does this by using different rhetorical techniques and appealing to the audience through ways such as experience, emotion and logic. Apart from that he also relates a numerous amount of aspects on why we crave horror movies to our lives. Throughout this essay I will be evaluating the authors arguments and points on why society finds horror movies so desirable and captivating.
It deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us.” Suggestive of the notion that we need horror movies to stay on sane level of the playing field. I believe that this is a far-fetched idea to why we enjoy the blood filled manic movies. I am sure there are those circumstantial people who truly do watch them for pure pleasure and liking, but we can’t take this into account because there will always be circumstantial evidence. As humans, we are naturally curious and we all carry the desire to see what were not supposed to see. We credit most of life’s greatest discoveries on the fact that we are curious, rapidly moving into an era of new findings. For instance, your first reaction when driving by a major car accident is to look, we have the innate tendency to catch a glimpse of the world no one wants to really experience. We know that when we look, odds are were not going to witness a unicorn jumping over a rainbow, but the possibility of seeing a horrific accident or even a mangled
Overall, in Stephen King’s essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies”, his suggestion that we view horror movies to “reestablish our feelings of essential normality” (562) and there is a “potential lyncher in almost all of us” (562) has brought forth many aspects that I have never really thought about. Why do we have so much excitement when it comes to horror films? Everyone has their own opinion, which will never end with one definite answer. Stephen King thinks there’s and evil in all of us, but I don’t think so. The evil only comes out if you make it, we do not need horror films for psychic
“Why We Crave Horror Movies.” 784-86. Solomon, Stanley J.
People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified. Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned.
In his essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies” King attempts to bring understanding to the phenomenon of the horror film genre. He states “sanity becomes a matter of degree” eluding to the theory that sanity is relative and that all humans are relatively insane. Jack the Ripper and the Cleveland Torso Murderer were the examples of humans on one extreme of the spectrum of sanity; saints represent the other safe end of the sanity spectrum. He illustrates the thought that in order for human kind to stay functionally sane there needs to be some sort of outlet for our violent “mad” thoughts. In King’s view horror movies provide a stable outlet and mental relief for innate madness. King argues that his insanity/ant civilization emotions are ingrained
King owes his success to his ability to take what he says are “real fears” (The Stephen King Story, 47) and turn them into a horror story. When he says “real fears” they are things we have all thought of such as a monster under the bed or even a child kidnapping and he is making them a reality in his story. King looks at “horror fiction...as a metaphor” (46) for everything that goes wrong in our lives. His mind and writing seems to dwell in the depths of the American people’s fears and nightmares and this is what causes his writing to reach so many people and cause the terror he writes about to be instilled in his reader.
In the short story “Why We Crave Horror Movies” Stephen King accurately states, “ the horror movie is innately conservative, even reactionary.” What this is saying is no matter how bloody or how intense the movie gets, people could always enjoy a little horror in their day. Some movies have those scenes where some person gets injured then killed and that really gets the blood pumping in the viewers and for some people, that essential normality that cures the craziness. To continue, King makes another good point in the short story, “Why We Crave Horror“ and correctly claims, “we may be removed from the beauty of a Robert Redford or a Diana Ross, we are still light years away from true ugliness.” This quote from King’s story states that no matter what happens to people it could always be solved with a quick thrill from a horror movie and that humans do this to have fun with normality. Despite the fact that people seem that it's normal to watch someone get butchered or decapitated but, people can also have some fun and excitement for the
We all have cravings, be it for snacks or sweets, there is always something we desire. We crave horror in the same way. In Stephen King’s essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he argues that people need to watch horror films in order to release the negative emotions within us. King believes that people feel enjoyment while watching others be terrorized or killed in horror movies. King’s argument has elements that are both agreeable and disagreeable. On one hand he is acceptable when claiming we like the thrill and excitement that comes from watching horror movies; however, his views regarding that the fun comes from seeing others suffer cannot be agreed with because the human condition is not as immoral as he claims it to be.
Stephen King, a very well-known writer and director, has a passionate voice when it comes to anything dealing with horror. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” King calls us out for knowing that we love the adrenaline rush and how we are so captivated by horror movies. He explains how we watch horror movies for the level of fun. King proposes that we go to defy ourselves; to see how far it can push us and that is what makes the experience so interesting. We lock our inner psycho from reality and feed it with the demonic, bloody violence found in horror movies. Doing this suggests that horror movies are our fix for our psychotic thoughts. Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror Movies” portrays that we are all insane in some weird way through
In the essay “Why We Crave Horror Movie,” Stephen King describes that horror movies are beneficial for the people because we are all mentally ill. King explains that horror movie is a sort of release because everyone has a dark side in our body, so watching horror movie can keep the hungry alligators under control. People watch horror movie because they want to prove themselves that they are not afraid of a horror movie, and they are normal people too. King describes horror movie like a roller coaster, so people have enough courage to sit through the whole ride. People also enjoy seeing other people in danger. A horror movie can also keep the dark emotion down such as violence and aggression, and it allows people to remain happy and sane. A horror movie can
Everyday is a challenge and we experience things that we like and we don’t like. There are things we always want to leave behind and move forward; however, we cannot. As humans if we are told not to do something, we want to try it anyway to see the outcome. In the same manner, if we are told about a movie being scary we go out of our comfort zone to experience it and then later be frightened. Stephen T.Asma mentions,“Monsters can stand as symbols of human vulnerability and crisis, and as such they play imaginative foils for thinking about our own responses to mence” (62). When we watch horror movies, we force ourselves to imagine the wrong and undesirable. These thoughts in our head cause us to believe that our own obstacles are likely to cause a threat or danger to ourselves. In the same manner, horror movies can be represented as obstacles in our life that we don’t want to go through and we do it anyway to feel good about our own situations that they are not as bad as others. Stephen King also depicts, “We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality; the horror movie is innately conservative, even reactionary.”(King 16). Horror movies may put us in a mindset where we feel safe and more comfortable with our own situations but explore our options in worse situations. It gives us an example of what people did in their fright time and how we should confront each and every
Terror as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary is, “a very strong feeling of fear” (Terror, 2014, para. 2). Likewise Merriam-Webster dictionary defines horror as, “the quality of something that causes feelings of fear, dread, and shock: the horrible or shocking quality or character of something” (Horror, 2014, para. 2). Without question, Stephen King is a master at designing short stories and novels, which instill sheer horror in the reader. In the fictional worlds Mr. King creates, terror and horror lurk everywhere. From simple closets to an unassuming lake, King is able to turn the ordinary into something that causes fear and panic. With pounding hearts, readers of King’s fictions delight in the terror he constructs. Nevertheless, an author can only write so many stories, before they all begun to sound the same. For example, “The Boogeyman”, “The Raft”, “Strawberry Spring”, and “Sometimes They Come Back” all have the same basic theme. While the plot, setting, and character development may vary, the conflict, literary devices, style, and form are similar.