"Scary, But I'll Take A Look." Why We Need Horror Movies - Society

2023 Author: Oswald Adamson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 12:13

Every thriller has a dark basement. It is there, uncertainly feeling for the steps and convulsively grabbing the railing, the hero descends. Instead of a basement, there may be an abandoned attic or a dark forest, but the plot repeats itself: the hero is scared, but he walks. The viewer makes the same decision: "scary, but I'll see."

Horror is a hospitable genre. How many plots, inhabited by all kinds of evil, does the fantasy of the scriptwriters give birth to. But both subtle psychological thrillers and primitive horror films with revived chainsaws - everything finds its viewer. Traditionally "scary movie" attracts much more audience attention than light comedy or calm melodrama.

Monsters and unpredictable psychopaths, ancient evil dormant in the attic in a grandmother's basket, vengeful spirits, sad vampires, fountain blood and other naturalism. Is there something wrong with us if we look at it of our own free will? In fact - everything is "so".

Victors of evil

Sasha is about thirty, and for all her love for cinema, she has never watched horror films. I avoided psychological thrillers. Any movie plots, even with a slight tinge of suspense, already drove her into melancholy. For Sasha, cinema has always been a way of rest and relaxation, and therefore biographies, melodramas, and fantasy were usually preferred. A happy ending is not required, but horror stories are not needed either.

An unexpected turn in Sasha's film preferences occurred at the moment when, visiting friends, she accidentally saw on TV the series "Supernatural". Gloomy road movie, unassuming roadside landscapes, the main characters are young and pretty hunters for evil spirits. Guys travel around the country with a noble mission - to exterminate evil that takes on various, but invariably terrible guises.

You can't call Supernatural a horror movie, but the mystical storyline makes a strong impression on a person who doesn't look "scary". Sasha watched episode after episode. This rather strange pastime has unexpectedly helped to cope with the increased anxiety and anxiety that she has been experiencing lately, she said.

Friends made fun of this hobby, believing that the real reason to get hooked on the series, like hundreds of other girls, is the incredible charm of cinematic "hunters". Sasha nodded laughing. You cannot tell everyone that you, like a child, are fascinated by a plot in which an ordinary person defeats evil every day.

Such stories attract us all the time. Starting with very little fairy tales and continuing in the epic, fantasy, all kinds of heroic stories. In a "scary" movie, such a victory gives the viewer special hope. The hope that his personal, secret fear is not omnipotent. That he, too, can be overcome and remain alive.

Put fear in a "box"

Getting together and telling scary stories could have been more exciting as a child. And it's okay that all these creepy plots are erased to holes - you can always generously add freshly invented chilling details, or even weave a new storyline on the go. The recognition of your author's skill, as well as the undoubted gift of the storyteller, was clearly read in the dilated pupils and the enthusiastic horror on the faces of your comrades.

If you enjoyed telling scary stories more than listening, then as a child you knew the feeling of victory over your own fears

An oral story addressed to those who listen to you attentively is already psychotherapy to some extent. The narrator stops being afraid. And why be afraid if you have all the plot knots in your hands, which you can knit in a new way every time? You can send a monster into a cage or turn into a cat. You can save the life of the protagonist, but you can not.

In psychology, there is the concept of "containment". In general terms, this is a way to give boundaries to an endless, generalized experience that a person in this form cannot cope with. In the case of fear, to show that instead of an all-consuming black hole, there is something quite concrete and, possibly, compatible with life. And it is almost certainly much smaller in reality than it seems.

A scary story, like a horror movie on the screen, is a convenient container for fear. We are all afraid of something. Someone thinks about it all the time, someone hides it deeply, deeply, trying not to extract it into the light again. In any case, this fear comes out as soon as something reminds of it. Or - as soon as there is a safe opportunity to experience it

Put it in a transparent box and watch what is happening, knowing for sure that the monsters cannot reach you through the closed lid. At some point, the action can be paused. If you want - turn it off completely. Well, and most importantly, you are free to choose subjects in which evil will behave in one way or another. And then what happens in the film becomes a projection of what I personally fear. Although outwardly it may not even remotely resemble this.

Of course, all this does not mean that fans of thrillers are purposefully and systematically engaged in self-therapy of their own fears - very few people think about such things (at least when choosing a movie for an evening viewing). After all, fear does not ask a person where he or she is best projected. But it happens as it happens: the human psyche remains wise even in its somewhat irrational manifestations.

You can be afraid

It's a shame to be afraid, it's a shame. An adult must be stress-resistant, this is now written in all the rules for hiring. We try to be calm, balanced, and fearless by default. What strength, what self-control it sometimes requires! Yes, there are situations in which you can speak openly about your fears without fear of ridicule or judgment. This usually means having a good, trusting relationship with someone close to you or working with a therapist. True, for some, such situations are very rare. There are also people in whose life this practically does not exist.

But to be afraid with absolutely "impunity", to the fullest, and at the same time not look weak or hysterical in front of the TV screen. And even in the cinema, where the same thing happens to most of the people around you. Watching a scary movie is one of those rare situations where fear is legalized. Everyone is afraid and worried, to one degree or another, otherwise there is no point in watching such a movie. And even if you scream or cry, it will not cause confusion.

The lucky one is who can take the ability to express their feelings from the cinema into real life. Sometimes it is simply necessary to say out loud that you are afraid, sad, angry. Learning to do this in adulthood is not so easy. All the more so - to learn to talk about yourself, without making your interlocutor the reason for your feelings. But if it works, life becomes easier.

Is this all there is to watch horror even if you didn't like it before? Of course not! It is unlikely that something that causes rejection can be useful and healing

But it's important to remember that the fear box can take many forms. Friends, the Nice Guy Joe, for example, would put King's novel in the freezer when it got too scary. Laughter laughter, but this is exactly the situation in which a person does something with his tension - playing, joking, falling into childhood a little. By the way, fear does not tolerate frivolity. Therefore, the necessary "box" is sometimes found in some completely frivolous, and even frankly stupid way. Each has its own.

And in the freezer, let you have an ice cream. Or something equally pleasant.