Comments on: Why We Need Horror Movies (AKA: WTF, LA?)

By: VitaminD

VitaminD — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:07:26 +0000

“My comment is awaiting moderation” Since when? I’ve put all sorts of things on this site, and I’ve never once had anything “awaiting moderation.” Hey mental_floss, how can you have what could be a controversial subject open for comments, and not expect some controversial views? I’m disappointed, and will be very much more so if my previous statements are banned.

By: VitaminD

VitaminD — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:04:52 +0000

We love horror movies for the same reason we like violent videogames: there is no morality in the modern world. Oh sure, there are religions and all that, and there are good people and bad. But for people like me (and I’m assuming there are plenty) who sometimes have bad thoughts with no outlets for them (contact sports, for example) and unchecked aggression due to built-up frustrations and the general dissatisfaction with our lives, these outlets are invaluable. Sometimes I feel like punching somebody, so I turn on Modern Warfare or Grand Theft Auto and get my silly little kicks in a consequence-free environment. I know it isn’t real, but it’s still fun, and I actually feel better after beating some digitized whore with a baseball bat. The cynics will say that this reveals deep seated psychological problems within me, and I’ll admit I’ve had some depression issues over my 26 years, but anyone can tell you that XBOX is cheaper than therapy. There are the really twisted people who will pick up weapons and harm others, and those who will see those unfortunate peoples’ video game and music connections and try to relate them to each other, but I think that’s a bunch of malarkey. I’ve never thrown a punch at anyone in my life, and I’ve had plenty of opportunity. It’s always a choice between intellectualism and violence in uncontrolled situations, and trying to say that listening to ICP or Marilyn Manson will cause me to flip out and do unspeakable things is like saying the internet exists only to cater to porn addicts. There may be some correlation, but it is far from black-and-white. And, for the record, I was a pervert well before I discovered porn, and I’m not afraid to admit it.

By: tim

tim — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:33:58 +0000

Horror movies also give us the opportunity to identify with the monster/killer/psycho in a way that’s not pathological. Part of us WANTS to cross that line. The sane among us don’t.

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:30:02 +0000

I like what Andrew says : “I think, to truly comprehend evil, requires an honest look at who we really are and what keeps us from crossing that â€œlineâ€ losing our compass. I think the answer is, suprisingly, our heart is depraved and evil at its root.” As of right now, I am reading a book entiled “The Nazi Doctors” which, in addition to detailing the brutal medical experiments of the Third Reich, also makes the point that anyone, anywhere is capable of doing the same thing. That the Nazis and the Third Reich were not an isolated event and the people taking part of them were not crazy or “inhuman,” but frighteningly human. So I belive Andrew is right–to understand evil we must first admit that we are all capable of it. Remember that Michael Douglas movie, “Falling Down?”

By: hockey zombie

hockey zombie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:02:13 +0000

Excellent article, anything that invites a great discussion like this is great.

I agree, for the most part, most people want to believe that violence comes from OTHERS, but I feel there is a small segment of people who just like violence.

I’ve been watching Band of Brothers recently and it makes me realize there is a whole generation of men who lived through the most horrorfying experience ever, and you would never know what they did or what they saw, and ultimately, you can never know what goes on behind someone’s eyes.

My final thought…There is no more violence happening now than any other time in history, we simply see it as more because its a lot more real because we live while it’s happening, and not just reading about it later.

By: tom

tom — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:08:49 +0000

I disagree with the conclusion-we might want to believe that people who commit inhuman acts are not human, but they are. Humans are all to capable of committing what we would call inhuman acts. We don’t need horror movies to tell us that. Years of watching people watch horror movies in a drop-in center for homeless people has taught me that most people who watch horror movies like to see horrible twisted things happen to someone else (I also think that is why we rubber neck at traffic accidents (which I do!). I don’t think that people that watch horror movies are bad–it is just that I don’t think we should hang some BS pseudo-philosophical reason on to make us feel better for taking some measure of entertainment over the misfortune of others.

By: The Curious Cat

The Curious Cat — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:45:52 +0000

This is a really interesting article. The other day I was talking to my friend about why I liked horror films…I still don’t really know why I like them. My boyfriend always puts this question to me and I am stuck for an answer…I still don’t think I have a well rounded one but your ideas will probably go someway to helping me form one…

By: Rachel*

Rachel* — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:22:48 +0000

Everytime I go in a movie theatre I have the same fear of someone stabbing me in the back. I think it started after I saw some crime show where it happened.

By: frodopal

frodopal — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:53:41 +0000

Michelle’s post (4th one) reminded me of the premise of Desmond Morris’ book “The Human Zoo”. He talks about how, biologically, we evolved to relate to a tribe of about 300 to 500 people and how our culture and environment have left our biology behind. We’ve still got ape brains just trying to make sense of the modern world.

In his work as a zoologist, he saw animals in captivity (and presumably inadequate enclosures for the most part, given the book was written in the 60s) commit violent acts never observed in the same species in their natural habitat. Think infanticide, incest, rape, murder and cannibalism.

Then he relates this anti-social, abnormal behavior in animals to our modern human existence, saying that most of us are now living in situations that are not healthy for our biology, i.e. cities that contain too many people, which allows us to have more anonymity.

Think about it…

When we only knew and saw 500 people, there was easier accountability. If tribesman X was abusing his daughter, other people knew about it and either killed him or ostracized him from the village. If tribeswoman Y was slowly going crazy, she had tons of relatives and neighbors who noticed and got her some day-to-day help. Not that bad things didn’t still happen but I bet you didn’t have many serial killers, if any.

Nowadays, we’re so isolated from our “natural” support systems that it’s easy to fall through the cracks. Some of us have great family support; others create their own support systems. But many many people can stray beyond “civilization” and never get missed by anybody willing to do something about it.

That’s why I think it’s so important to reach out to your neighbors and community groups and stay involved. We have to rebuild our own “tribes” and “villages” within these too-big cities and we have to hold each other accountable and, yes, mind each other’s business. :)

By: Casimira

Casimira — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:25:52 +0000

Working for the coroner’s officer I see my fair share of death and there are so many times where I just look at things and question what was going on in people’s heads.

We’ve had some freak shootings lately, 31 in July of last year, and surprisingly only 1 person died that month. We’ve also had 2 people die in fast food drive thrus over the past 6 months, and both were shot. This area was also the location of a mall shooting, Von Maur, which completely surprised me. I never would have expected anything like that to happen in Nebraska.