What Scares You?

[kokopelle]

My lovely mate and I were talking about what scares us. We used the media as a mirror for those things that bother us greatly, to the point of not watching the shows/movies all together.

My mate is put off my horror films. Not all horror films though. She does not mind the ones that have fantastic monsters. Examples of this would be Hellraiser, werewolf, or vampires movies. She really really does not like slasher movies (Halloween), zombie movies (Dawn of the Dead) or evil beings twisting reality (Hill House). The thread here is that she does not like to see the possible reality twisted into a horrific reality. The ability to suspend disbelief in these show's "realities" is not possible. The movies are "too real" even though their premises are fantastic. The things off two bubbles, like vampire inhabited realities, are OK. Just don't get too close to rl.

I, on the other hand, don't watch doctor shows or even near-doctor shows (Nip Tuck). I don't like to see needles or hear people talk about operations. I have a discomfort with movies that are overally emotional, with the actors doing lots of shouting and crying. I remember the Mel Gibson movie in which he would yell over and over again, "GIVE ME BACK MY SON". Ack. I was put off by Chris Something (Mind Freak) on TV because of the commmercials beinng "over the top". I don't mind the horror films, which means I have to (sadly) see them by myself. I think I am more interested in the evil that people are capable of. I once did a paper on the nature of good and evil. I'll post it on my blog soon. I watched vampire movies as a study of the 'evil' side.

I believe that our media, films and TV, are mirrors for our culture's 'myths'. Our reactions to these myths tells us something about ourselves. My mate and I both reacted from a place of fear/discomfort when the realities presented were a twisted version that was too close to our own realities. My mate has a medical background, so the blood-n-guts bothers her much less than they bother me. I have an interest in the dark side of things, so the slasher/zombie/evil beings bother me less. A common cause with different source material to work with.

Here is my question to my readers. Does what scares you fall into this theory? Is there another explanation why certain things in the media frighten you? Your comments are appreciated!

Comments

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

I believe that our media, films and TV, are mirrors for our culture's 'myths'.

I completely agree. They mirror, exacerbate and expand upon 'myths' and phobias, as well as lusts and wants, in a way that either leaves us wanting more (in the case of me and romantic comedies, *sigh*) or balking and running for the door (in the case of me and supernatural thrillers, lol).

Thank you for this post, it was a wonderful and succinct way of describing something that some people in media studies seem to find quite complex (it is a complex topic I guess, if you then went into myth / different types of media etc), but you've summed it up wonderfully. It was refreshing to read. Thanks. :D

[valkyriur.livejournal.com]

I believe that our media, films and TV, are mirrors for our culture's 'myths'. Our reactions to these myths tells us something about ourselves.

Agreed.

I actually tend to like those that twist reality. I love "Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". What I don't like is blood and guts for no reason.

I can watch most medical shows. There are certain kinds of surgery, usually the ones where people are awake and in pain while they're getting surgery are the ones I can't watch.

I'm uncomfortable with emotional films only because everyone around me is bawling. For example, when I watched "The Passion of The Christ", it was like I just flipped this switch in my brain to observation mode during his entire torture. Granted, I didn't see it on the big screen, but the same thing would have happened if I'd seen it there, I'm pretty sure

[qassandra.livejournal.com]

The only movie that ever really frightened me was the Juon (the original, Japanese version of the Grudge); I think a lot of that had to with how I had to strain to understand the language, so my defenses were down.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I saw Juon. In some ways it is scarier than the American version in that they don't rely on as much special effects. To continue the thought in my original posting, the distortion of reality is closer to "home". Tell me. Is there a nuance of "terror" in the original language that is lost in translation?

[qassandra.livejournal.com]

Not that I picked up on.

It was also much closer to "home" at the time, as I was living in Japan.

[elegy-of-flames.livejournal.com]

Huh, in terms of Japanese horror movies being "dumbed down" I've heard that this happened to the English versions of the Ring. According to a friend, Japanese horrors rely very strongly on atmosphere and play with visual elements like light and shadow and camera angles to produce psychological effect, whereas in the English version all this was replaced with "Boo!"-type scare tactics.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

Yep! The video store I used to rent from had the original Japanese movies. I saw the Japanese version of "Dark Waters". There was (much less special effects and a better story line. It was creepy. I'm glad you've recovered.

[elegy-of-flames.livejournal.com]

I once watched a friend playing one of the Project Zero survival horror games. There's ghosts, lots of them. Whenever one gets near the player character you start hearing lots of muted whispers, and there's a heart-beat sound...it was so sinister it managed to quite effectively raise my adrenaline even though I wasn't the one holding the controller, the lights were on and bright, and I had chocolate. Damn Japan... :P

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I saw Juon. In some ways it is scarier than the American version in that they don't rely on as much special effects. To continue the thought in my original posting, the distortion of reality is closer to "home". Tell me. Is there a nuance of "terror" in the original language that is lost in translation?

[elegy-of-flames.livejournal.com]

I'm back, recovered, and ready to admit I avoid horror movies at any cost :P

Yes, many of the things that scare me are things that push my personal "buttons". For example, movies depicting physically or emotionally abusive parents disturb me quite strongly. That's because I can relate altogether too well, and it can give me rather strong flashbacks. Reality-twisting movies that encourage solipsism a little too much are another thing I avoid, because I get really uncomfortable questioning the bases of reality. I avoid thinking about how, in terms of physics, solid objects aren't actually "solid" and colour is only a wavelength, because there's a degree beyond which I don't like deconstructing the universe. I want to know how it works, but I also want to know that it's there, and that it's real (please don't ask me to define "real" now...)

But I don't actually watch horror movies, period, because of the other thing I don't like: any kind of "cheap thrill" or shock tactics. I'm a fairly tense person, and something jumps out at me, I will get startled, and that's something I don't enjoy, so I don't watch the relevant genre. Even in non-horror movies I'll still do the peeking-through-my-fingers thing when a climactic scene is being built up. I'm aware of the fact that my discomfort is a reflex reaction, but I've never felt any reason to overcome it, simply because I don't particularly think I need to "train" myself to enjoy something that isn't my thing.

Sheer gratuitous violence and emotional overload don't actually bother me (though I sometimes avoid "sad" movies as well, if that's not the kind of mood I want to be put in). On the other hand, I'm also not bothered by particularly braindead movies. Toilet humour? Juvenile pranks? Sheer blatant stupidity? Bring it on, I find it funny....

[lupini.livejournal.com]

My only comment is how you mirror me and my mate. :-)

I, after 20 years as a medical office assistant in a teaching hospital, can watch operating room videos whilst eating tartar. Vampires, monsters etc. are ok. Squishy zombies, or slasher movies I dislike. I've walked out of those. I've been in pathology labs and seen amputated limbs, but that never bothered me. I can watch my own blood being drawn. Perhaps it's the "gore just for the sake of being disgusting" along with it being a sort of perversion of reality that bothers me.

Dan is more the "zombie and slasher"--although neither of us are real fans of horror films.

[lupini.livejournal.com]

Actually, I guess I do have something more to add. I must admit to a bit of a theory about the modern slasher movie. Most of today's youth do not have much in the way of violence, trauma, or blood in their lives. Not the way our great great's had in their lives. There is no butchering of animals. When people are traumatically injured, they are whisked away in emergency vehicles instead of taken to the kitchen table and worked on there. Dead people are likewise whisked away instead of bathed, dressed, and buried by loved ones. Few people have had to live through epidemics or such. Life is much cleaner and less horrific for most Americans.

So, perhaps there is some sort of genetic memory of these things that the modern violent movies is fulfilling. Do these films take the viewers to an energetic level of recognizing that they are "alive" that was a part of life in generations gone by?

Does that make sense?

[wulfwalker.livejournal.com]

IMO Defense, (as the GF), I would have to mirror what some of the others have said. namely that a background in first reponse medical training (MEDEVAC, EMT, ER and Trauma Center) has given me the ability to "switch off and become very detached and dispassionate about viewing medically gory stuff, even though, I admit, that I yell at the stupid things they do. Horror films on the other hand... I have Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome/Disorder adn am very hyper vigilant and easily startled into flight or fight. you see, I KNOW what humans can do to humans and the horror I have the most trouble with it the seemingly normal interactive person who is human on the outside but not on the inside. the Freddies, the micheal myers the hannibal lectors, dahmers, hitlers, etc.. are the ones I cannot handle. too close to my reality. I think we are all AWARE that these type of "people" exist, but we somehow manage to distance ourselves from it as not existing within our personal space realities. the "that will never happen to me". and WHY we do it is a whole other topic. part of what I experienced has left me a chronic insomniac. I am incapable, even in my sleep. to block out threat, real or perceived.

[iskender.livejournal.com]

Best explanation I've heard, and I heard it in a film class.

Horror: Fear through shock--what you don't see and don't expect. The sudden reveal. Boo!-tactics, very low-level but sometimes decent yield.

Terror: Fear through suspense--what you don't see, but expect, anticipate, and imagine. Harder to achieve, but incredibly high-yield. Asks a lot of the audience.

As far as what scares me? I don't get scared all that much. I get uncomfortable, more often. I don't know. I think about what films have scared me, and they're as liable to be realistic as fantastic. I don't really know what's the commonality. I feel more suspense when I care about the characters, or when scenarios on the screen mirror personal episodes that were intense. My wife and I watched a physical/verbal fight the other day on one of our shows. She thought it was a little histrionic, a bit of a catfight. I, on the other hand, thought it only too realistic. So the scene took hold of me. Whereas most tough-guy fight-scenes don't worry me at all. I think it's uncertainty, most of all, that frightens me, but uncertainty with enough possibilities for my mind to work itself into a frenzy.