English 1101-06
Why people love horror movies?
In the society, many people love horror movies because they contain an essential truth that most of the guardians and parents do not tell their children. Some parents usually encourage and comfort their children by urging them that everything is going to be all right and nothing to be worried about. While such people lie to children, the horror films do not. The horror films provide the full measure of what people suffer and experience as adults, and hence creating a significant sense of trust. Monsters in the horror movies present facts that are important in our lives. For instance, although fear is not a good thing, it is important to learn facts about it and develop a capacity to face it. People want to know the truth about life, and this explains why most people seek out experiences that most would call distasteful. Kaplan explains this scenario by comparing the horror movies and the spicy cuisine. He argues that some people love the mouth-burning foods because mind derives pleasure from ‘watching' the body react adversely while knowing very well that nothing dangerous will actually happen to the body. Similarly, the human mind is in capacity to realizing that a monster is a fabricated realism (Kaplan). Therefore, knowing that those monsters in the film cannot actually harm the audience boost their esteem and help them learn survival tactics from the horror movies.
Monsters are ancient and real, and hence constitute an essential part of our existence. This illustrates that that the monsters and the vampire are always living with us and have taught us throughout our evolution. As species, we have developed to fear threats and dangers so we might overcome them and survive to transfer more effective survival tactics to our offspring. Consequently, they help the individuals to overcome various environmental and social threats. Kaplan and Donovan confirm that the monsters in the society are reflected by fears and the environmental dangers that have historically encouraged individuals to run instead of facing the suicidal battles. For instance, when ancient hunters accidentally met the saber-toothed tiger, they run instead of facing the death (Kaplan). This indicates that the monsters are with us and are powerful ingredients of survival in the human evolutionary history.
Another major reason people watch the horror movies is that they help them to acquire or enhance self-confidence, and subsequently help them to make effective decisions. Monsters represents more severe problems that make the audience feel better and understand their problems are relatively better compared to the one represented by the muster. Unconsciously, the individuals' minds compare their problems with those of the monster character and help them to perceive them as petty problems that are easy to address. According to Dean, the decisions made in the horror movies are more or less similar to daily decisions in the society, but their stakes are much higher. As a result, such situation appeals to the audience to start working on their problems and use the decision-making tactics to make their judgments (Dean). This illustrates that the monsters not only influences the self-confidence but also foster the decision-making processes among the audiences.
People also love monsters in the horror movies because of their novelty nature. In other words, the monsters have the sense of being unusual, original, or new and hence creating curiosity among the viewers. People in the society seems to pay attention to the anomalies within their environment to learn something new and different. People have the curiosity towards the things that are forbidden in life, and this led them to the horror movies. People watch horror movies because it is through them that they get to test their fears and discover the darkest recesses of their minds. In addition, people are enticed to watch unusual creature such as Medusa because being curious about change is significant for survival. Most of the monsters in the horror films acquire the desirable resources by taking risks. In this case, most people love monsters because they help them to develop effective risk taking techniques. Monsters instill fear, which has significantly helped to adopt significant resources since the time immemorial. This fear helps the individual to take the risk, engage on the world exploration and empirical testing, and consequently discover new resources.
Some people love monsters because of their supernatural powers and unusual characteristics. For instance, vampires have distinct characteristic that make them more superior, than human. Autonomous and self-reliant characterizes the vampires that live seamlessly comfortably with their lonely existence. In addition, vampires are minimalists because they are independent on gadgets such as bombs, guns, of even first-aid kits (Vranich). They have their own mechanism for survival that makes them different from human. Other characteristics of vampire that make them fascinating include having fangs, being smart, fearless, romantic, powerless, and sensitive among others. This psychology behind vampires induces people to love them as their fascinating monsters.
Conclusion
Despite the horrible and terrifying experience derived from watching horror movies, most people seem to love and enjoy them because of various reasons. Fear is not something that one would wish for but is inevitable to live without fear. Therefore, horror movies portray fear openly and show us the essential truth about life, though in a hard way. Most people have discovered that the facts of life are hidden in the horror movies. In the contemporary popular culture, the horror movies may induce pathos or empathy that forces people to recognize monsters as their own and consequently like what they were told to hate. I also believe that most people love horror movies because they are an essential part of our existence. As species, we have evolved to overcome and survive from dangers and threats in our societies. Significantly¸ help them to make decisions, boost self-confidence, and their novelty and supernatural nature. Although the monsters are a fabricated reality, they create a terrifying realism that attract more and more audiences.
Works Cited
Donovan, Patricia. Why We Create Monsters. UB Reporter, 27 Oct. 2011. Web. 16 June 2016.
Kaplan, Matt. The Science of Monsters › Analysis and Opinion (ABC Science). ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 8 July 2013. Web. 16 June 2016.
Vranich, Belisa. Why We Love Vampires: The Psychology Behind the Obsession. The Huffington Post, 25 May 2011. Web. 16 June 2016.
Dean, W.H. Why Do Monster Stories Appeal to Us? Plato's Head, 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 16 June 2016.
