After researching articles, I came across two written by Noel Carroll.

The first article is a response to another writer’s piece, Berry Gaut. Gaut discusses the idea of horror movies posing as a paradox, in a sense how it is seemingly possible that some individuals take pleasure in watching something that is supposed to instill fear. Carroll challenges Gaut’s claim denying the fact that there is no “intrinsic relationship between being horrified and feeling any unpleasantness and by maintaining that nature of the conceptual relation between being horrified and displeasure” and that in response to this perturbation people will “experience the objects of their emotion and the emotions themselves are unpleasant” (pg. 1). I disagree with this statement made by Gaut. Although I personally dislike horror movies, I feel that some people enjoy watching horror movies to experience the thrill and feed their imagination. The ability of a horror movie to instill a sort of fascination is one of the reasons why some people enjoy watching these types of movies. Carroll makes an argument Carroll makes the claim that viewers find horror films fascinating.Gaut also brings up the fact that it is difficult to maintain the fascination with the horror movie. Carroll comes back with the idea that some people have greater thresholds in their attention span governing whether or not the individual stays in-tune with what they are watching. I agree with this as I have experienced this while watching a movie with my friends. As we discussed in the lectures and the reading, the diegetic and non-diegetic essence of the film have the ability to enhance our experience while viewing scenes. The addition of special effects may also be a contributing factor drawing our attention and attraction for scary movies.

The second article, Noel Carroll is also the author of the breakdown of the humor in horror. He brings up the valid point addressing the idea that certain horror movies aim at attempting to be humorous while simultaneously frightening us. An example of this would be the movie Beetlejuice. Carroll explains that this movie was made to show the audience that there are scenes that are seen as a satire that should be interpreted as scary. I feel this is the optimal way for an individual to enjoy horror movies is to view it lightheartedly. The integration of real life situations and events such as characters exemplifying mental illnesses has more of a psychological impact on viewers. In his article, Carroll talks about the heightened emotional response the producer is attempting to evoke from the audience playing on the idea of a real life situation. The way the movie is shown is aimed to stimulate and heighten your emotional response whether it be relating the show to your own personal experiences. In relation to art, and my definition of art, the art of cinema directly targets the way you feel during and after you watch the piece. This type of art is enhanced with special effects to enhance the visual experience.

When watching scary movies, they sometimes involve and monstrous or beastly figure. Carroll addresses this as a way for the movie to guide the audience to “control and guide our emotional responses in such a way” (pg. 149) that the audience should be perceiving the monster in the same fashion as the actors in the movie. There is a difference, however, between the ways the monster is being portrayed and how it should be perceived. One example Carroll brings up is Chewbaca in the Star Wars movies. He is seen as a hairy beast although not interpreted as frightening. We would not consider Star Wars a horror film even though there is a beastly figure. The intention of that beast is not made for horrifying viewers. This type of art is more on the aesthetic side for a pleasant enjoyment. This relates to the slides talking about the Aesthetics of Horror Presentation in our lecture slides. The Mise-en-Scene encompasses the ideas of the overall aesthetics of the costumes and makeup of the characters. If the creature was portrayed as a killer, there may be some fear instilled in viewers as they may imagine themselves being in the path of a blood thirsty animal. The ability to see a comical side of these creatures can influence the way we perceive them. Carroll recalls upon a stand-up comedy Bill Cosby performed in which he talked about the way he interprets scary figures as comical. Cosby “[erasing] one of their essential characteristics” (pg. 156), which would be extracting the one characteristic that makes creatures so frightening.

The art of cinema is continuously pushes the limit on horror films. With enhancing technology on special effects the possibilities are endless in creating new worlds and creatures that will send chills up your spine. Although not a fan or horror films, I would try to perceive the scary movies with a more comical view to better my enjoyment of scary movies.