Topic: Horror
Unit Objectives:
-Explore the psychological and emotional curiosity of horror art on individuals and society
-Analyze the unique aesthetic qualities of horror
-Understand some basic principles of film and television analysis
Artifact: Enjoying Horror Research
There are many arguments as to why people enjoy watching horror films. In the article, “Why disaster movies can cheer us up”, author Ariel Leve begins by examining the differences between the expectations one has a child versus that as an adult. The simple version of it is as a child, we have unrealistic expectations; we believe in fairy tails and happy endings. As we grow older, those expectations shift to more realistic things, such as things not working out the way you want or planned. She connects these expectations to disaster films, which involve situations such as natural disasters, by stating that people like to have a means to handle uncertainty. What this means is that it is enjoyable to see things work out in the worst types of situations. For example, in War of the Worlds, aliens invade Earth and capture and devour humans, attempting to annihilate them all. This is a genuine fear for some, and in the film, a father saves the world from further destruction by taking out the main alien. His entire family ends up surviving and making it across state lines, and for many viewers that gave them a sense of relief that if something like this were to actually happen, there’s hope for survival. Specifically, the author states that “It offers us a little security in an insecure world.” (Leve). Another theory that the author suggested is that there is an effect called “downward social comparison” that comes into play with these films. Downward social comparisons refers to when people feel bad about themselves or their lives, but then feel better once they view a film where someone is doing a lot worse then them.
Lucy O’Brien, author of “The Curious Appeal of Horror Movies”, brings different arguments to light when it comes to why horror appeals to us. She begins by explaining how there are so many more reasons why horror should not be successful, such as low budgets, unknown actors and actresses, not kid-friendly, and most people do not have the stomach for them. One theorist that she introduces suggested that everyone is fundamentally insane, and viewing horror films allows us to purge on that insanity. While this is one theory she suggested as a possibility, her main thought was that the enjoyment was powered by curiosity. In a study conducted in 1994 on horror fanatics, participants were shown a video of real life gore, such as slaughtering animals and surgeries. The study concluded that 90% of the participants were unwilling to watch the entire film. The difference between this film and horror movies is one main thing, and that is that the video they were shown was real. It appears from this that we enjoy abhorrent fiction because it is unrealistic. Seeing terrible things happen to living beings is not enjoyable, nor should it be. The enjoyment is triggered by a curiosity for the unknown.
In the reading, author Noel Carroll viewed this debate from various perspectives. He focuses on more monster horror, which is closely related to the points suggested in the article by O’Brien. Monsters are unknown because they do not exist, at least not the monsters Carroll refers to in the reading. Because these things are unknown, people become engulfed in the idea of “what if?”, which is what might drive the enjoyment in horror. Specifically, “…horror story is driven explicitly by curiosity.” (Carroll 279). Carroll and O’Brien both argue that there is a desire to learn about things that are so unknown to us. Like the study concluded in O’Brien’s article, people who enjoy horror do not enjoy real life horrors and tragedies, which is why I would argue that this contradicts with the point in O’Brien’s article that stated that everyone may just be fundamentally insane. To me, that would indicate that people enjoy watching any type of horror instilled on others. In relation to the disaster films article by Leve, Carroll brought up a different perspective on it, explaining that because those situations are plausible, but unrealistic, it gives many a sense of relief that it has not happened to them. This is closely related to the term of downward social comparison; people would be cheering themselves up at the expense of others troubles. I think Carroll failed to bring up the point that Leve did, in that people can also relate to these films, and they feel like their situation is okay because they are not alone. I don’t believe there is any one reason as to why people enjoy horror films, however I would argue that curiosity is the strongest reason to me.
Reflection: This research assignment allowed me to venture off on my own and discover related articles to this topic. I learned about diagetic and non-diabetic sounds, which are the aspects of horror that allow us as viewers to have that aesthetic reaction. The articles I found illustrated the various curiosity that consumers have for horror films, bringing a different view than that of the reading. One of the ideas that Carrol introduced in the reading, Why Horror?, was that “One wants to gaze upon the unusual, even when it’s simultaneously repelling” (286). This is a point that I was ultimately curious about because it was the part of horror I could not understand. In my attempt to watch the hit show, “The Walking Dead”, I could not even get past the first episode because it was so disgusting to me. Carrols explanation not only makes sense regarding this show, but also to things such as freak shows or circus acts, which explains the photo below. These abnormalities among human beings spark intense curiosity. Because of this statement, I was able to understand the basic principle of various horror films and television shows.
Future: In the future, I intend on continuing to watch variations of horror. This assignment convinced me to give the show, “American Horror Story” a chance and I am now hooked and anticipating the next season. I hope I become more open to more gore like horror, such as “The Walking Dead”, but that moment has yet to come. Another goal I have regarding this subject would be to be able to identify the strengths and weakness between successful horror films and poorly made ones, because I think this genre is one of the hardest to be successful in.