King
King
In Robin Wood’s “The American Nightmare, Horror in the 70s,” it exposes the theory of how horror films are generated. According to Wood, horror films exemplify how repression comes in conflict with normality and brought to existence, and the effect it has on society. Repression is the rejection of thoughts or impulses that conflict with the standards of our society. Wood discusses many key points that our mind represses such as sexual energy, female sexuality, bisexuality, and children’s sexuality. In a horror film, the monster symbolizes either repressed feelings or the fears of society. The monster of the film also represents “otherness”, which is what society represses in one’s self and then projects onto another inferior part of society to be hated. Normality in horror films is “the heterosexual monogamous couple, the family, and the social institutions that support and defend them.” Society as a whole is a member of “patriarchal capitalist society” or “social norms.” Wood demonstrates that these components connect to make a horror film. He generated a basic formula to horror films with three variables: the monster, normality, and how they relate to one other. The correlation between the monster and normality are fundamentally the subject of the horror film. Wood also outlined the five recurrent motifs since the 60’s. These motifs are what society fears and represses. “Annihilation is inevitable, humanity is now completely powerless, no one can do anything to arrest the process.” Horror films embody the fears we have in ourselves and in society. We repress what is abnormal in society because we know that ultimately it is ourselves who do not want to become…
The horror genre is meant to bring out the worst in people. Each and every person has dark and evil thoughts that are not often seen during the day. However, the moment they begin watching a horror movie, those evil thoughts take over. It is a “peculiar sort of fun, indeed. The fun comes from seeing others menaced – sometimes killed” (King, 1). These sort of movies appeal to the side of people that is often tucked away. While I am driving down the highway and a person suddenly cuts me off and I have to slam on the breaks, I often think what would happen if I jumped out of my car and slammed…
Stephan King starts with a very provocative statement. He states his opinion that "we are all mentally ill." The writer used inductive reasoning here because he starts out on something general such as calling everybody mentally ill and going into specific behaviors which people tend to do. He supports that statement by saying how people talk to themselves when not in public, how they pick their nose and make weird faces when no body is around to watch. Also, he gives examples of how many people have "hysterical fear-of snakes, the dark, the tight place and those final worms and grubs that are waiting so patiently…
Even today, Zombies have continued to be a dominating force in the movie, television, and video game industry. This has many people wondering why. Max Brooks discusses how current events over the past six years have influenced the type of entertainment consumers seek. Over the past six years tragic events such as terrorism, war, global illness, and weather related disasters have dominated our lives and the news. To escape from the anxiety created from real life threats, society relies on fictional characters such as Zombies. People can watch movies about flesh eating creatures out to destroy the earth knowing that it will never occur in real life. Horror films cause the viewer to become frightened and nervous. Much like worrying about whether a terrorist attack is going to happen again at an airport or whether your home is going to be destroyed by a hurricane, horror films cause anxiety. However, this anxiety is relieved as soon as the movie is over. People use…
Pinedo’s work exemplifies the effects on behavior and feelings of a person through horror films. The desire to watch films of gore and murder are also explained through comparisons of horror films to pornography. The audience of a horror film becomes intrigued with the effects of not seeing during horror films, allowing their…
I thought Stephen King’s opening paragraph in the short story “Why We Crave Horror Movies” was great. I believe it leaves the audience on the edge of the seat wondering what his statements will be. I also like his opening paragraph because I am able to relate to his examples of fears. An opening like King’s leaves the audience curious, and sets the tone for the rest of the paper. My beliefs of the dominant mood, what I have learned from this paper, and my relations might very much differ from yours.…
Horror movies test us on our fears, desires and mentality. As from the king’s thesis, “the reason we all crave horror movies is because we are all mentally ill”. That gives a point that we need to watch horror movies just to release our tension.Some people prefer horror movies for a different reason. They want to prove to themselves that they are brave and that they fear nothing. People always try to prove certain things true when they are not that sure of themselves. Even though they choose to watch these things, the images are still disturbing for many people.But people have the ability to pay attention as much or as little as they care to in order to control what effect it has on them, emotionally and…
In Stephen King's essay “why we crave horror movies”, King informs the readers about how insanity can vary in everyone, and how horror movies can suppress the madness. King is expressing that everyone has their own issues, but some are better at disguising it than others. The author is explaining how horror movies help conserve a feeling of normality in society due to horror movies being so deranged. Some even get scared for pleasure. King states that people enjoy horrific circumstances if they are going through them personally. Horror movies allow us to go back to simpler times and cope ;however, it helps to confide in others to stay balanced. Insanity comes in different multitudes. When holding in our emotions they're bound to come out…
To summarize Stephen King’s argument, he explains his thoughts on why people crave horror movies. After reading the give supports of why, Stephen King has been convincing that people are attracted to horror movies because they let people express they’re fearless, their true sanity and feeling on normality.…
4. Society views mental illness in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest with shame. Immediately when people saw the patient’s uniforms they were treated badly. The medical establishment views mental illness as people that need to be fixed. There are no conflicting viewpoints.…
The context of the novel is also somewhat important in understanding the complete message that the setting tries to provoke. Mental hospitals have a long and not particularly inspiring history in Europe and America. The first, such…
Furthermore, we watch a horror movie to satisfy our mental thirst of wanting to actually witness the harm of another human being. A public lynching is the act of purposely killing someone who is guilty of crimes, moreover, this action is normal to be heard of or witnessed by an outstanding number of people across the world. The connection is that we need horror movies to satisfy our craving of committing horrific acts upon other human beings. We view horror movies as killings, which is the exact content of a public lynching. We witness both horror films and public lynching with the expectation of seeing some type of killing. It is human nature for us to be curious.…
Horror and thriller are a long standing favorite media type of our kind. A good scare that lingers in our minds sticks with us in ways other genres do not. The interest can span through movies and novels which both deliver results in different ways. Horrors and thrillers also affect our bodies while watching, though also differently. The reasons of why we like to be scared continue to be studied, but a few theories have emerged that are all partially accepted. Horrors and thrillers stimulate both our bodies and minds because they remain a mystery as to why we like them, they have helped us evolve, and they demand our attention.…
I read in a news article the other day that the legislature is considering to pass a law to where we wouldn’t be able to watch any violent movies from the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. What is the legislature really thinking, that is all day, 5 am to 10 pm. Okay the legislature decides to take all violent movies away from us. I can gurantee you that somehow someway, someone somewhere will find a way to watch them no matter what. We have the right to speak up if we don’t agree, I mean we do have the Freedom of Speech. But these days who knows, because it seems like if we speak up about things we get shunned for it, or there is no reason. Honestly, I feel like it’s a bad idea, it’s like what else do they want to take away from us.…
In movies, plot structure helps project the tone of the movie. The generalization of movies usually commences passively, and gradually builds into a climactic scene. Then, it dies down to its peaceful way once more, but usually not in a horror or comedy. Throughout the history of horror and comedy movies, the plots usually ended on that climactic scene and had most of the movie be the foundation for that climax. As time went on, plot structures of the two genres started to develop and one could see that they help convey their tone similarly yet differently at times.…