Unfortunately, we could all be mental cases just waiting to wake up. As Stephen King says it best “I think that we’re all mentally I’ll; those of us outside the asylums only hide it better” He makes a remarkable argument testing the metal state of every true horror movie fan. He points to craziness as if it were normal, as if without these movies people couldn’t unleash a sleeping demon that lies inside us all. He mentions how adolescents show signs of insanity with use of jokes, proving that without “horror movies” people would have no place to free emotions that are kept concealed. Our society makes young people hide their emotions by reinforcing good behavior and punishing those with bad behavior keeping them from having an outlet to vent their frustrations. He believes we go see others menaced- sometimes killed to satisfy an inner twisted psychic, to allow our pathos to escape us, without these films we could be at risk of becoming another “funny farm crazy” or “Jack the ripper “but to what degree is another matter. To begin with, the comparison to modern day horror movies and public lynching Mr. King makes a strong argument. We are all just out to see someone’s head on the chopping block. Until reading this article it never crossed my mind that we could all have mental issues. It never occurred to me that people outside of asylums were just better at hiding their psych. This makes an interesting argument if we carefully consider what King is implying, it’s a scary
King begins this article with the attention grabbing statement, “I think that we’re all mentally ill: those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better—and maybe not all that much better, after all.” (King, 2013, p 641) Even if his readers immediately disagree, he has accomplished capturing their attention. Next he describes a few crazy behaviors that are common to most people: talking to oneself; making faces when no one is looking; and giving in to irrational fears of snakes, the dark, tight places, and things lurking where we cannot see them. Most people can relate to these behaviors and can reason this is true. He then moves on to explain how we face these fears and give our emotions a break by watching a horror movie. He likens this to a roller coaster that is a mixture of fun and delicious terror as it takes its participants by surprise with a 360-degree loop or, “plows through a lake at the bottom of the drop.” (King, 2013, p 641) The next example pulls on the emotion inside his readers to measure up to the perfect standard of beauty. He says horror films tend to make people feel more normal because the comparison is so grotesque that the readers know, “we are still light-years away from true ugliness.” (King, 2013, p
My grandma once told me, “If you stay up too late at night, the boogeyman will get you”. I never believed her but I knew I wouldn’t want to see the Boogeyman if he actually existed. Most people would actually want to watch these horrible beings. In this case, they would want to view a horror movie such as “Friday the 13” or “Nightmare on Elm Street”. It is part of our Human Condition to be attracted to the films and asking for more. Stephen King’s claims in “Why we crave horror” asserts us that humans crave horror to face our fears, to re-establish our feelings of normalcy, and to experience a peculiar sort of fun.
Stephen King never clearly states the thesis of this essay however there is enough information provided that we can infer one. We need to keep our inner lyncher at bay by feeding ourselves with small portions of demonic, bloody, violence, found in horror movies. King writes “It deliberately appeals to all the worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized...” (Why We Crave Horror Movies, paragraph 12) and by doing so he’s implying that horror movies are like a temporary fix for our violent craves.
In the excerpt from “Why we Crave Horror Movies” by Stephen King, he discusses what makes us “crave” horror movies. King begins with a statement that suggests that when people submit themselves to a horror film, they are “daring a nightmare” or, in other words, they see it as a challenge. He claims that three of the reasons people do this are, one, to that they are not afraid. Secondly, to feel normal. Lastly, because it is fun.
King argues the genre has an important role because while watching a horror movie people show their true emotions. King uses the words “daring the nightmare” to explain the experiences people put themselves through when they pay to be frightened (King 1). The truth is most of them go to see the most brutal way’s producers can come up with to harm someone. As the king of horror himself puts it, “It urges us to put away our more civilized and adult penchant for analysis and to become children again… We are told we may allow our emotions a free rein… or no rein at all” (King 2). It’s fun to let loose and feel crazy sometimes, feel no one is watching. Still, people are watching, so what keeps them from putting everyone into an asylum?
We are all mentally ill and share the insanity of man. Should we force all people to “face their fears” by watching horror? I would say that the answer is most likely not. Not all of us necessarily watch and need horror
Most young children despise horror movies and dread waking up in the middle of the night due to daunting nightmares controlling their sleep. But somewhere in transitioning from a child to a young adult, many begin to acquire a love for horror movies. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies”, Stephen King proposes the idea that watching such gruesome violence keeps our inner demons in check while providing a “psychic relief” (2). Kings’ claim that watching violence prevents violence is simply false; in reality, horror movies desensitize us to the effects of violence and normalize the many acts of violence we see in our world today.
The emotion of fear injects the sense of dread all throughout our body, causing our muscles to tense up, pupils to dilate, body to sweat, stomach to clench, and to breathe heavily. Fear’s main intention of doing so is to warn ourselves of any potential danger we might be in and prevent any future harm done to us. (Dayton) So, for what reason might we humans want to experience fear; such as watching horror movies, when it is so closely associated with pain?
Novelist, Stephen King, in his explanatory essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” argues that the adrenaline we get from horror movies comes from the fascination of confronting our inner fears and establishing our sense of normality. King’s purpose is to convey that such films serve as a way to explore deeper emotions and feelings of those of his male audience by displaying a conversational tone. Stephen King begins the essay by stating “we are all mentally ill” to challenge societal perspectives, further encouraging the audience to question the definition of normality. At the beginning of the essay, King utilizes vivid imagery to elaborate on the psychological appeal of horror movies. Shown later re-purposing it in the second paragraph, King
In the essay, "Why We Crave Horror Movies" by Stephen King the author tries to prove that the modern day horror movie is are relief of violence, are fix of adrenaline and fun, and also something that can dare the nightmare. In a lot of ways these things can be related to real life situations. My relief of violence is playing video games, and my fix of fun and adrenaline is when I play football, and something that dares my nightmare is when I challenge my brother.
sample, but it also appeals to population and emotion. To further explain why we crave
A girl runs frantically through the woods trying to escape an axe wielding villain. The defenseless victim suddenly trips and collapses to the ground. The villain laughs wickedly as he lifts the axe above his head. The girl releases a final scream as the weapon quickly ends her life, causing the audience to go silent as they watch the villain drag away the lifeless body. Death, blood, guts, suspense, screaming, and terror are all just a few things to expect when watching a modern day horror film. What is horror? Horror can be defined as an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. (Wilson) The description of horror is not very pleasant, but for some reason horror films are extremely popular. Why is this so? People are addicted to the
Many authors tend to state their opinion very briefly in their work. This makes it vulnerable for others to agree or disagree on the opinion with facts. Common fallacies also known as logical fallacies and argumentation styles are the most critical ways an author can be debated on leading to ongoing arguments. Logical fallacies are faults in reasoning that weaken our arguments and argumentation styles are types of arguments that modify the text to create a structured essay. Logical fallacies and argumentation styles can either create a more developed essay or can make it vulnerable. This can be avoided with much revision and editing but there will always be someone to judge someone else’s work for any purpose if found. Like many novels that
Stephen King wrote a very brief essay titled "Why we Crave Horror Movies", in which he explained some of the reasons that people choose to go to horror movies to be entertained. In his essay, King goes on to explain that we as a people need horror movies as a sort of release; to feed the darker elements within all of us without having to sacrifice our humanity (also, civility). King does this by comparing people based on their levels of sanity whereas some societal "eccentricities" are completely acceptable, while some will get you thrown right into the loony bin. It’s summed up pretty well in this quote:
In Stephen King's "Why we Crave Horror", the famous novelist argues for a rather depressing explanation of society's fixation with horror movies. He insinuates today's generation's obsession over gory and demonic storylines is a result of our internal need for violence that must be satisfied. Such claims may shock readers at first, however, King's use of diction, imagery and tone leave us no choice but to agree with his analysis of human behaviour. He uses these rhetorical tools to prove to the naive reader that we truly are "mentally ill".