Rhetorical Analysis of Stephen King's "Why We Crave Horror Movies"
Marquita Simon
Parkhurst
English 1301
1/28/11
A Summary of “Why We Crave Horror Movies”
By Stephen King Before I got pregnant with my son, I used to love watching scary movies. My favorite was all of the “Saw” movies, but there was a few I’m still scared of watching to this day. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies”, Stephen King explains how each and every one of us have some kind of weird and twisted side that likes to see the horror in some daily things. He talks about riding on the roller coasters at amusement parks, you have this excitement of riding, but then you think of the scary movie where the ride starts falling apart and everyone dies. These types of things make us put ourselves to the test and prove to others that we are able to do some things. Yes, it puts fear in our hearts, but it will never stop us. King makes us realize that when we are young, we are really curious about different things, horror being one. Once we have grown into mature adults, our curiosity has somewhat been fulfilled because we don’t crave the scary things anymore. As a child, we watch children’s movies looking for fun little things. The only thing is that we don’t quite realize that there are issues in those movies that deal with death. For instance, in “The Wizard of Oz”, the Wicked Witch of the west is melted by the water that Dorothy threw on her. Not all of the children’s movies are fun and games. As we look at these movies, we let our thoughts roam where they want. If you think about it, are we normal to laugh at someone who just got their head chopped off. Stephen King says “the potential lyncher is in almost all of us.” He’s saying that all of have had those moments where someone has made you angry or upset, and you just wanted to hurt them. In another way, he could’ve meant the lyncher as showing love, friendship, etc. to one another, and one will be awarded with the same acts of kindness or something else. King says “If we share a brotherhood of man, then we also
Parkhurst
English 1301
1/28/11
A Summary of “Why We Crave Horror Movies”
By Stephen King Before I got pregnant with my son, I used to love watching scary movies. My favorite was all of the “Saw” movies, but there was a few I’m still scared of watching to this day. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies”, Stephen King explains how each and every one of us have some kind of weird and twisted side that likes to see the horror in some daily things. He talks about riding on the roller coasters at amusement parks, you have this excitement of riding, but then you think of the scary movie where the ride starts falling apart and everyone dies. These types of things make us put ourselves to the test and prove to others that we are able to do some things. Yes, it puts fear in our hearts, but it will never stop us. King makes us realize that when we are young, we are really curious about different things, horror being one. Once we have grown into mature adults, our curiosity has somewhat been fulfilled because we don’t crave the scary things anymore. As a child, we watch children’s movies looking for fun little things. The only thing is that we don’t quite realize that there are issues in those movies that deal with death. For instance, in “The Wizard of Oz”, the Wicked Witch of the west is melted by the water that Dorothy threw on her. Not all of the children’s movies are fun and games. As we look at these movies, we let our thoughts roam where they want. If you think about it, are we normal to laugh at someone who just got their head chopped off. Stephen King says “the potential lyncher is in almost all of us.” He’s saying that all of have had those moments where someone has made you angry or upset, and you just wanted to hurt them. In another way, he could’ve meant the lyncher as showing love, friendship, etc. to one another, and one will be awarded with the same acts of kindness or something else. King says “If we share a brotherhood of man, then we also