2008 Woodie Awards
Horror films reveal humans' cold nature
Chelsea Growden
Issue date: 9/28/06 Section: Opinion
I was in Hastings the other day looking at movies. I am a drama and comedy fan mainly, but in my search for a good movie I reached the end of the feature films and to my horror, found myself in the horror section. Just being in that area is somewhat disturbing; every cover has a picture of a contorted face and it seems like all the names have the word "death," in them.
Horror films play up our worst nightmares, and why would I want to pay to see my nightmare on screen? Whether we are scared of being burned alive, being chased by a guy with a hook, a homicidal doll, or that there are monsters under our beds. If I wanted to see things on fire, people dying and horror in general I would watch the news on TV it's free.
But horror film fans still choose to spend $20 on a DVD of their favorite blood and guts thriller. What kind of a twisted person pays for that?
I guess a scary movie fan is a thrill seeker who enjoys the adrenaline rush of getting scared.
All I know is that they are much tougher than I am.
I've never been a scary movie fan because I have an over-active imagination. If I get suckered into watching a scary movie, I can't sleep for a week because various scenes replay in my mind. I end up not wanting to open my eyes for fear that the creepy looking girl from "The Ring" will be sitting at the edge of my bed.
What's worse than a fanatic who owns every zombie film in history, is the person who wrote the script for the movie. These people have to be even more twisted than the fans. To enjoy watching someone be eaten alive by blind, flesh-eating creatures in a cave is one thing, but to come up with the concept is another.
I feel concerned for the writers of horror films, they must have incredibly messed up minds or maybe had a terrible childhood to come up with some of the ideas they have.
How did we as human's become so grotesque and callous that we can watch someone die as a form of entertainment? How can we stand to watch that and it not even faze us?
The fact that it doesn't disturb us is the simple problem that I have with horror films, their fans, and the writers.
As humans we are cold hearted and lacking in compassion if we can sit through endless hours of scary movies. I think our time could be put to better use. Watch the Discovery Channel program on the "mermaid baby" who was born with her legs fused together and be proud that we as people have the ability to solve problems like that. Or watch something on the History Channel about the wars we've fought in and learn to appreciate the real horrors people have gone through.
Someday my imagination may calm down and I'll be able to understand why people are so obsessed with horror movies, but until then I'll continue being a wimp and make sure that my arm doesn't hang off the edge of the bed in case there may be something under it. I'll also continue to believe that massive amounts of therapy could be a good idea for some of the writers and fans.
Horror films play up our worst nightmares, and why would I want to pay to see my nightmare on screen? Whether we are scared of being burned alive, being chased by a guy with a hook, a homicidal doll, or that there are monsters under our beds. If I wanted to see things on fire, people dying and horror in general I would watch the news on TV it's free.
But horror film fans still choose to spend $20 on a DVD of their favorite blood and guts thriller. What kind of a twisted person pays for that?
I guess a scary movie fan is a thrill seeker who enjoys the adrenaline rush of getting scared.
All I know is that they are much tougher than I am.
I've never been a scary movie fan because I have an over-active imagination. If I get suckered into watching a scary movie, I can't sleep for a week because various scenes replay in my mind. I end up not wanting to open my eyes for fear that the creepy looking girl from "The Ring" will be sitting at the edge of my bed.
What's worse than a fanatic who owns every zombie film in history, is the person who wrote the script for the movie. These people have to be even more twisted than the fans. To enjoy watching someone be eaten alive by blind, flesh-eating creatures in a cave is one thing, but to come up with the concept is another.
I feel concerned for the writers of horror films, they must have incredibly messed up minds or maybe had a terrible childhood to come up with some of the ideas they have.
How did we as human's become so grotesque and callous that we can watch someone die as a form of entertainment? How can we stand to watch that and it not even faze us?
The fact that it doesn't disturb us is the simple problem that I have with horror films, their fans, and the writers.
As humans we are cold hearted and lacking in compassion if we can sit through endless hours of scary movies. I think our time could be put to better use. Watch the Discovery Channel program on the "mermaid baby" who was born with her legs fused together and be proud that we as people have the ability to solve problems like that. Or watch something on the History Channel about the wars we've fought in and learn to appreciate the real horrors people have gone through.
Someday my imagination may calm down and I'll be able to understand why people are so obsessed with horror movies, but until then I'll continue being a wimp and make sure that my arm doesn't hang off the edge of the bed in case there may be something under it. I'll also continue to believe that massive amounts of therapy could be a good idea for some of the writers and fans.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Daniel
posted 10/18/06 @ 10:19 AM EST
Damn, that was a deep story. It almost made me re-evaluate my taste in movies...ALMOST! For your information the "girl from 'The Ring'" HAS a name. Her name is Samara and if you're not careful she'll crawl out of her well and get you! By the way. (Continued…)
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