Thursday, October 31, 2013
Why We Crave Horror Movies
In "Why We Crave Horror Movies," Stephen King asserts that we love horror movies because "we're all mentally ill," and the "potential lyncher" in almost all of us needs "to be let loose" every once in awhile. Consider King's assertion; then, in a well-written PEA paragraph support, refute, or qualify King's claim. Use specific evidence from your personal experience, reading, and general knowledge to help prove your point. Post your paragraph as a comment below.
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ReplyDeleteI love English
ReplyDeleteAlton Oldham; Paul DeMange
ReplyDeletePeriod 4
11/1/13
Stephen King believes that people crave horror movies because they are mentally ill, but there are more important reasons than that, such as "to show that we...are not afraid". King states this reason, but uses it as a supporting fact, while in truth, it's the most important reason. For instance, I went to The Ring with some friends, not to be scared, but to prove that I was not afraid in the face of fear itself. I went with a lot of girls, and didn't scream, nor whimper, nor cry to build up my pride by showing that I was not afraid. This only supports the truth that people go to horror movies to show that they're not afraid and to build up their pride, instead of using the horror movies to "exercise" their inner insanity.
Haylie Thomas, Cassie Voth: In his piece," Why We Crave Horror Movies," Stephen King correctly asserts that people enjoy watching horror movies because everyone is "mentally ill" to a certain degree. This statement is correct because by human nature people find dark and twisted situations repulsively interesting. For example, when given a creative writing prompt in English class many of our classmates chose a more gruesome approach. This proves that everyone has a dark side and many choose to express it through horror films and creative writing. Therefore, King's assertion is true because if people weren't all mentally ill we would not have to release our inner malicious personalities with every chance we got.
ReplyDeleteDixie Lutz and Aubrey Laudel
ReplyDeleteStephen King's assertion that we love horror movies because "We are all mentally ill" and the "potential lyncher" in almost all of us needs "to be let loose" every once in a while is false. Most people are not "mentally ill", and although we may dislike some people and some things in our lives, most would never do anything to hurt or kill them. Teenage girls like us like to watch horror movies for the suspense and thrill of being scared and making our boyfriends feel manly for "protecting" us. It is not because we can relate to the murderer or feel like we need to "let loose" our emotions- we are actually quite terrified- but it is merely the fun of being scared around Halloween. Some aspects in horror films may include grotesque thoughts, torture, and other unthinkable images that do not appeal to the majority of people. In other words, most people do not wish to experience these gruesome aspects in real life, but simply for the fun of being scared or grossed out.
Sara McGraw
ReplyDeleteAshely Ihm
Sarah Hill
While Stephen Kings idea that everybody is "mentally ill" in their own way, King doesn't consider that the different levels of mental illness is quite a noticeably different. King's assertion that everybody's mental illness needs to be released through horror movies is not completely true due to the fact that talking to yourself, and killing people are on very different scales. Therefore, people would need to release this in different ways depending on what their level of illness is. Although we support his assertion that everybody is somewhat mentally ill. It is true that everyone wants to "show that we can, that we are not afraid", although it is not completely true that without society "showering us with positive reinforcement", that people would all be mentally ill to the point they acted out like horror movies. People can naturally be good-natured and not have a desire to unleash crazy through horror movies. We refute with the idea that people are not able to be civilized without society, but support with the idea that everybody has something personal that can make them considered mentally ill.
Trevor Schrepel and Kyle Winkler
ReplyDeleteIn "Why We Crave Horror Movies," Stephen King asserts that we love horror movies because "we're all mentally ill." This assertion is true because although people are not necessarily mentally ill, they crave fear and use it as a release of built up stress. In modern society, actions that King refers to as mental illness's are unacceptable, horror movies relieve a persons desire to fulfill these fantasies. People speed in their cars, not because they are late, but because they can. The fear of being caught by the police is similar to the fear that a person feels during a horror movie. People crave horror movies "to be let loose." This craving is equivalent to other, more typical activities such as participating in sports and driving a car fast; therefore, a simple feeling drives people to watch horror movies: thrill.
McKenna Milton, Colton Kugler, & Collin Meyers
ReplyDeleteStephen King’s assertion that we love horror movies due to an inner insanity that we all share is true to an extent; most of us can find catharsis by watching scary films, yet our morals keep these negative emotions in balance. Whether it’s working in a haunted house or terrorizing a younger sibling, most of us find a sick pleasure and sense of power being the source of someone’s fear. Although society doesn’t see this as a concern, most people would agree that it’s morally disconcerting satisfaction is found by scaring others. Horror movies provide a “safe” and “acceptable” outlet to release these natural feelings. Those who are locked behind bars can’t ethically discern fact from fiction; therefore they act on these inner drives. However, for the rest of us, the thrill experienced from watching a horror movie allows our “little-bit-of-crazy” to be appropriately expressed.
Camden Lawhead
ReplyDeleteEmilee Wood
Stephen King’s assertion that people’s love of horror movies comes from a need to satisfy the insanity that lies within everyone is accurate. There is a curiostiy that lies within all of us that we can satisfy through the thrill of horror movies; a curiosity about the dark side of human nature. The adrenaline that comes from a ghost around the corner or a killer with a knife satisfies the insanity within all of us by appeasing the curiosity. One can express and answer this curiosity in the fantasy world of the movie, instead of it coming out into reality. It is in turn “feeding the gators” and keeping them at bay. It is just like riding a roller coaster, we are addicted to adrenaline rushes and thus their sources, one of them being horror movies. Thus people’s love of horror movies comes from a need to satisfy the insanity and curiosity that lies within all of us.
Danielle Johnson
ReplyDeleteKevin Jordon
Stephen King's assertion that "we're all mentally ill" and we need to be "let loose" every once in a while through the medium of horror movies, is a fallacy. King's generalization about needing horror movies for an outlet to relieve the "potential lyncher" in all of us, doesn't provide an explanation as to why people, such why people, such as myself, who do not enjoy or watch horror movies are not violent. Horror movies are not the only means to subdue this "potential lyncher," and there are other outlets in our lives that can serve this purpose. I've known people who do not use any of these outlets such as horror movies and remain a bastion of sanity and reason.
Anugrah Mathews, Hannah Wethington, Sydney Forst
ReplyDeleteIn "Why We Crave Horror Movies," Stephen King asserts that we love horror movies because "we're all mentally ill." We support King's assertion that we are all "mentally ill" from our love for horror movies. When watching horror movies individuals get excited with adrenaline pumped throughout their bodies, this causes the adrenaline rush and addiction to be achieved while watching horror movies. This type of movie allow us to live vicariously through the fantasy plot line opposed to living it in a dangerous reality. People enjoy watching horror movies because it allows them to feel safe, while experiencing the true adrenaline in a fantasy world. Ultimately, horror movies balance out our insanity by giving us an escape from reality, to live a more accelerating life style.
Dylan Lesley
ReplyDeleteIn " Why we Crave Horror Movies" Stephen Kings shows that horror movies are like roller coasters they both give us the adrenalin rush that we crave. King asserts that people are "mentally ill" this snip it doesn't completely mean that we are mentally ill but says that it's not natural for people to go around scaring them selves half to death. It's this thrill that watching horror brings that has people coming people back for more.
Stephen King asserts in "Why We Crave Horror Movies", that our craving for horror movies comes from a natural insanity that we all have. On most levels, we agree with this idea; for example, whenever there is a suicide, we all have this urge to ask the question of "how?", but most of the time we resist. The point is, humans are curious in peculiar ways, we want to know the "whys" and "hows" and "what ifs" in any kind of situation, weather it's disturbing or not. This connects to how King addresses our craving for horror movies; we find entertainment in the disturbing aspect of life and are able to find that in a horror film.
ReplyDeleteMaddy brandvold and hannah friedrichsen
Emily Moore
ReplyDeleteStephen King's assertion that people love horror movies due to the need to satisfy our inner "crazy" is mostly accurate. While everyone has the potential to be a "lyncher," many people don't enjoy scary movies. I myself have seen some wicked things, like a school shooting, so I've had my fill of adrenaline and fear; so, I don't watch any horror movies to "feed the gators." With that being said, I do think that everyone is "mentally ill." Everyone has their own ticks and peculiarities, and it all just depends on the severity of said aspects. King also says, "We go to have fun." This is much more accurate...I believe that people enjoy horror movies due to the fact that these films are outlets from reality. Perhaps "potential lynchers" watch horror films to get a sick rise from within, but most people are simply curious, and innocently so.