Analysis of Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King - Coursework Example

?Introduction Stephen King, in his essay “Why we crave horror movies,” says that horror movies are conservative and reactionary. He says that horror movies are conservative as they reinforce the tradition of ‘normality’ by making people afraid of the abnormal. By this, he means that by showing fear and disgust at the horror, human beings try to portray and re-emphasize that they are psychologically normal people. It is a long held belief that only abnormal people can get joy and happiness by watching horror movies. People try to display this belief by reacting with horror at whatever gory happens in the horror movies. Hence, King is right when he argues that horror movies are conservative and reactionary as the horror movies show only those things that are acceptable to human limits of goriness and by doing that, prevents the social approach towards horror from changing. Movies as conservative and reactionary King says that horror movies are conservative as they help people to confirm to themselves and to the world that they are ‘normal’ people as they fear and loath things that horror movies show. According to him, horror movies limit their goriness and ugliness by showing only those things which can be digested by human mind. In doing so, horror movies conform to the social expectations and hence, they remain conservative. King also says that horror movies are reactionary as they help people to avoid social change. By that he means that people avoid the social change by refusing to accept their attraction towards the antisocial and gory aspects of their mind. The fact remains that despite of knowing that horror movies are about gory violence, evil spirits, sinister vengeance etc., people still choose to watch the movie. If they had really felt repulsive towards the ugly, gory, violent and disgusting things in life, they would have chosen not to watch the horror movies, which are full of these things. However, horror movies provide only that which can be accepted by the society. Hence, King says that horror movies are reactionary as they oppose social change and reinforces the attitude of ‘normality’ in people. Role of horror movies People find an outlet to their suppressed emotions and antisocial emotions through the horror movie. Their desire to kill, beat, tear apart or bite the hated person is fulfilled through the gory scenes in the horror movies. Horror movies also work as a representation of human desire to know the deeper aspects of human psyche and the universe. Horror movies serve as a path to the dark side of human mind. People who make horror movies are not machines. They are human beings and part of human society. It is obvious that whatever is shown in the horror movies are the things that they have imagined and thought about. The fact is that the gory, sinister and evil things interest and appeal to the human mind. However, in their waking state and to remain ‘normal’, people push these things to the unconscious. For example, the ideas of ghosts, vengeance after death, exorcism, possession by evil spirit etc., have always appealed to human minds. Sadly, they do not approve these things. They say that these are all imaginations and myths. However, innately they are still curious about it and feel that these can be true. Their fear of darkness, fear of closed rooms, fear of heights etc., show that human beings do believe in the existence of ghosts and paranormal. However, their rational mind demands proof and scientific approach. Hence, they do not express their curiosity about the paranormal openly. However, their thirst to know the unknown and their excitement is fulfilled through the horror movies. Horror movies serve the craving to know what happens if there are ghosts or devils or evil spirits. They serve the antisocial aspects of the society and hence, also give an outlet to the abnormal and antisocial emotions suppressed inside the unconscious. By doing so horror movies serve the society as it saves people from exploding their emotions in the society. There are many Hollywood movies which prove that horror movies are appealing as they cater to the hidden desire of knowing the unknown. My opinion In Hollywood industry, movies like ‘Psycho,’ ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ ‘Saw’ etc., which tell the story of crime and psychopaths, were considered horror. The gory violence and the psychic abilities were portrayed as ‘horror.’ However, in recent years, the trend of remaking of Japanese horror films like ‘Dark Water,’ ‘The Grudge,’ and ‘The Ring’ in Hollywood tells a lot about the psychology of the society. First of all, the original Japanese movies have a strong cultural and ethnic influence on their stories. The stories deal with the strong religious and ethnic beliefs that if the spirit of the dead is unhappy, then it comes to take revenge and makes your life hell. Surprisingly, these movies were highly appreciated by the Western audience. The success of their remakes in the West tells that even the West believes in the idea of life after death. In some way or other, these movies deal with a spirit taking its revenge. For example, in the movie ‘The Ring,’ the spirit or ghost of the dead girl works through a cursed video tape to kill people. The girl had been killed by her mother and now she is taking the revenge. It was understood that only Eastern cultures believe in existence of spirits after death. However, the remake and success of ‘The Ring’ in the United States proves that the idea of unhappy spirits taking vengeance and killing people appeals to the Western mind also. It appeals to the craving of knowing the unknown, which is suppressed in their unconscious mind. Conclusion The discussion above shows that the horror movies serve the society by giving an outlet to people’s antisocial emotions. It also serves the society by fulfilling their craving of knowing the aspects of the ‘other world,’ which their rational mind stops them from knowing. Hence, Stephen King is right when he says that horror movies are conservative and reactionary as they help in maintaining the tradition of ‘disgusting the ugly and gory’ and keeps the society from changing. Works Cited King, Stephen. “Why we crave horror movies.” drmarkwomack. n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013. < http://drmarkwomack.com/pdfs/horrormovies.pdf> The Ring. Dir. Gore Verbinski. Perf. Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson and Brian Cox. Dreamworks Pictures, 2002. Film. Read More