Personally, I have always been terrible with horror
films/series. I could never understand why people would want to put themselves
through it! The only time I have ever watched them is when I’ve been bullied
into it by my friends. Although I am not a huge fan of horror, I do experience
this bizarre thrill when watching it. A sort of mini adrenaline rush through
scaring yourself. I’ve done a bit of research in the hope to understand why we
do it to ourselves.
I found an interesting
article from ‘wisegeek.com’. The main argument here is that the films represent
the decay pf society, which viewers find appealing. Another reason they give is
that horror films enable viewers to be scared within a controlled environment.
We love the thrill of feeling scared. These films get our heart rate going and
give us the adrenaline rush without actually putting ourselves in danger.
The theory that I found to be the most interesting was a
study done in 2007 by Eduardo Andrade and Joel B. Cohen. They argue that so
many people enjoy horror as it allows them to experience negative and positive
emotions at the same time. People experience a positive thrill or a rush, but
aside from this they may be experiencing other positive emotions, especially if
watching these films with friends etc. Some people become obsessed with horror
because of the unique feeling of being in two ‘contrary states’.
No comments:
Post a Comment