Aesthetics of horror Research Part II

Mark Lane

AAD 250

Aesthetics of Horror Research

“Why do people Watch scary movies, Stay In Ice Hotels, Or Eat Bacon-Flavored Ice-Cream? ”

            This article comes from a popular Psychology blog written by a British Psychologist named Jeremy Dean. Dean argues that on top of the traditional arguments as to why people view horror films, such as the idea that pleasure is experienced simultaneously with fear, or that people can enjoy themselves knowing the movie and the frightening stimulus is not real. He goes on to explain his idea of “conceptual consumption”, in which people are after more than just the actual experience of watching the film. He claims that people like the idea of having experienced a scary movie, just as they enjoy the idea of having a weird experience such as sleeping at an ice hotel or eating bacon flavored ice cream.  Dean claims that has something to with self image, in that people want others to know that they have unique experiences, they try new things, watch scary movies, etc.

            Noel Carroll’s article, “Why Horror?”, argues that horror is popular for the cognitive pleasures people take from solving the mystery, seeing the murderer captured, and the relief that comes from experiencing a resolution at the end of the film:

“Applied to the paradox of horror, these observations suggest that pleasure is derived from the horror fiction and the source of our interest in it resides, first and foremost, in the process of discovery, proof and confirmation that horror fictions often employ. The disclosure of the existence of the horrific being and of its properties is the central pleasure in the genre; once that process of revelation is consummated, we remain inquisitive about whether such a creature can be successfully confronted, and that narrative question sees us through to the end of the story. Here, the pleasure involved is, broadly speaking, cognitive (Carroll, 282).”

            Carroll’s argument is both rationale and plausible, but Dean’s argument is superior because it encompasses both Caroll’s point of view and Guat’s. Dean does not discount the possibility that people appreciate horror films for cognitive reasons, or that people can experience contrasting emotions simultaneously. Instead, he focuses on why people wish to have the experience, which may have less to do with what they feel during the movie than it does with how they feel knowing that they’ve experienced something strange, scary, weird, etc. People like to feel that have unique experiences, and that others view them as interesting. Ultimately I think there is truth to each of these hypothesize, but that Dean’s is the most compelling.

Source:

Dean, J., (2009). Why Do People Watch Scary Movies, Stay In Ice Hotels,or Eat Bacon-Flavored Ice Cream?PsychBlog. Retrieved August 1, 2009, from http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/04/why-do-people-watch-scary-movies-stay-in-ice-hotels-or-eat-bacon-flavoured-ice-cream.php