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

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.

By: Martyn

Martyn — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:47:02 +0000

Great post.

I noticed a pattern between those crimes in L.A. Gun crime. All but one was Gun crime.

It perplexes me how America can still have laws that allow people to own and carry firearms. I live in the UK and i never worry about gun crime, because its just so rare over here.

Although Knife crime seems to be on the rise over here, the government states its at it lowest in years.

I know, I know Guns dont kill people, people kill people but I do feel more able to defend myself in a knife incident than i would a gun incident.

Guns relinquish all control over a situation for everyone in it.

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:54:15 +0000

In regard to horror films, one of the things that’s almost always a constant is that our victims have “sinned”. It’s usually teenage sex that unleashes a horrible slashing monster, but it can also be the sin of greed as in Jaws or Alien or Jurassic Park, or adultery (not far from teen sex) as in Fatal Attraction. Sometimes it’s as upfront as the old “Don’t do this or else” kind of thing that of course our characters do (Adam and Eve?) then unwavering death and destruction send them to their demise. Perhaps we watch this films because it satisfies some primal need that we have to feel safe. We can always say to ourselves on some subconscious level “at least I didn’t do THAT”, and feel safe knowing the monster won’t come after us.

Perhaps our need for horror is also the primal need for fear. It’s the state of fright that has aided us in our evolution and something that maybe deep down we need to feel from time to time in order to reassure us of our status quo.

Personally, I hate horror films.

By: Earp

Earp — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:39:14 +0000

@ Ransom
@ Nutmeg
We create characters [like the ones in x-men and every other comic/horror media] to associate and give reason to evil. Magnito’s motive is created out of childhood trauma. I would argue that is the case for most villains on or off screen. It’s all very philosophical why we feel the need to understand and emulate terrible things on film to try to explain the irrationality of some, or maybe even all of us. We haven’t all become mass murdering serial killers but I would imagine a majority of us have irrationally hurt someone in one way or another, or at least contemplated it. So the question rises: is man intrinsically good or evil? What is accepted as an act of good or evil is entirely contingent on the perspective of the subject. The act is then judged by those witness to it and classify it as good or evil from an entirely different stance. The reasoning is an attempt to align the act with a moral majority to establish a standard of moral so that people don’t run about putting babies on spikes, because that is just not okay [unless your name is Vlad and you have a castle to back up your actions].
Every night the television is littered between newscasts of atrocities which are brought to our attention as a matter of importance, then exaggerated, rationalized, and glorified into elements of the next season of C.S.I. the same way they are in Horror/supernatural films.
Throughout the ages people have been killing each other for all kinds of rationalized or irrational reasons maybe putting it out on film gets it out of our systems and allows us to emotionalize with how horrific an act is… maybe it gives homicidal maniacs new and creative suggestions. Take from it what you will. If you don’t find a use for it or entertainment in it, don’t watch it.
I’d also like to suggest that we should all make a concerted effort to refrain from irrational acts of violence.

Your blog is my Pandora’s box of morality.

By: Meliza

Meliza — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:10:01 +0000

I want to give humans the benefit of the doubt and say that people cannot be born “evil.” I think that people are born psychologically imbalanced and the environment that they live in, among many other factors, can also stimulate an even greater disposition toward violence.

I agree with the idea that the world has not become more evil, but that these sort of episodes are being covered by the media more.

& I also agree to the “It’s not because we’re insensitive” statement because people can never desensitive themselves to death and killing. Never.

So, in conclusion: Good article. I am living in Boston right now, but I’m from LA, & it made me really disheartened to hear this.. not just about LA, but about the sanity of humanity in general.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:04:12 +0000

@Andrew

I guess I’m unique, I’ve never had the urge to shoot into a crowd, and I don’t need a supernatural explaination to keep me from doing so.

By: Andrew Thompson

Andrew Thompson — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:34:08 +0000

I believe you are absolutely right that people don’t like to look at their hearts to try to comprehend evil in our world.

“It’s not because we’re insensitive;”

Exactly, we have become desensitized, we don’t want to admit we live in an evil fallen world so we “turn to the comics” instead of understanding the source of evil.

I think you hit the nail on the head that we rationalize an “us and them” mentality to make ourselves comfortable. We fictionalize and dramatize it in the movies to feel safe(r).

This raises a huge topic that people can’t seem to understand what defines good and evil in a world of moral gray. Most will say morals, laws and social morays keep us “in line” and abiding. We are born with this sense of right and wrong, true and false, and evil people have had this “damaged” some how causing them to lose their moral compass.

I think, to truly comprehend evil, requires an honest look at who we really are and what keeps us from crossing that “line” losing our compass. I think the answer is, suprisingly, our heart is depraved and evil at its root.

I am a Christian man who believe its by the grace of God that has set up and defined these intrinsic feelings of morals and truth. We all are born with a bad heart but by the commonly unacknowledged grace of God we are able to live and function as society. I realize this stirs a million questions about why then does God allows others to commit evil and why bad thing happen, to which I say google it for lack of space here.

But, for us non-killers, it is grace that keep believers and non-believer alike keep us from “going there”. I think we all can admit we all have evil or feel evil to a degree in our lives and these questions about the existence evil in our lives are tough to address but neccesary. If nothing else it will bring us back to feeling for mankind again.