I can see making a distinction between the gory, hard-core horror films like the Saw franchise vs. the silly ones like the Jason and Michael Myers movies. The first group actively disgusts me, while I just find the second group pointless and boring (if you want to be scared, they’re not scary, and if you’re looking for plot and good acting, forget about it). Either way, I “don’t get” them, for the purposes of this thread.
So, to some people, watching people actually get fucked is significantly worse than watching people pretend to participate in gory violence. I accept that. But I don’t get it.
What about that Japanese cartoon-porn (speaking of things I don’t get)? That’s simulated as well, but you couldn’t discuss it in polite company, could you?
Horror is attractive for lots and lots of reasons, I think, but the biggest might be that the physical reaction to terror is a lot like arousal. The heart beats faster, endorphins flood your system, your senses are on higher alert, there’s a strange sense of antic…ipation. As has already been pointed out in this thread, the mechanics of horror are not unlike the mechanics of sex, complete with penetration. The horror genre, more than any other mainstream genre, is about the body. It’s about physicality. The movie is focused entirely on whole bodies becoming broken bodies, and in the case of slasher films, “broken” bodies being punished. Women are almost always the object of the gaze, even if the woman is the main character (Halloween etc), which allows for both men and women to receive various levels of pleasure from the experience (not necessarily sexual pleasure).
I think there’s also an element of catharsis. We watch horror and experience these terrible things because it’s a safe way to imagine it. The human psyche is fascinated by dark, perverted, terrible things. A good horror movie lets you explore that for 90 minutes and then lets you walk away, maybe freaked out, but physically safe.
I think vampires are pretty easy to understand, too. The first modern, western literary vampire was highly sexualized, since he was based on Lord Byron. Then we get literary vampires like Carmilla and Dracula who are also very highly sexualized and the concept of vampire=sexuality becomes ingrained in our culture. There’s the slow seduction that enthralls the victim and leaves them in sort of an obsessive, sexual trance and then there’s the culmination of the bite–blood and a hint of violence and penetration and then surrender and ultimately bliss. It’s forbidden and frightening and yet strangely attractive. Now, I won’t pretend to understand why Twilight is popular because those fools are barely vampires, but the continual waxing and waning of vampires in pop culture doesn’t surprise me.
Also, a lot of women enjoy a little neck sucking action in real life. Probably men too, but I know more about women.
Actually wanting to be bitten hard enough to draw blood is uncommon (and a bit dangerous), but many people enjoy being kissed on the neck and a good number are turned on by hickey-inducing sucking or gentle biting. There are of course people who don’t like having their necks touched much at all, but enough people are into it that the idea of a suave, good-looking guy or gal who wants nothing more than to suck on your neck seems like pretty obvious erotic fantasy material.
**Monty Python *and Mel Brooks. I don’t think either ever made me so much as smile or smirk, let alone laugh. I had to once suffer through Blazing Saddles *with a girl I was seeing, and even though we wound up having sex for the first time afterward, I’m still not sure it was worth it.
I’ll second this. Mel Brooks has never, ever done anything for me. In fact, I honestly can’t think of a worse way to spend two hours than watching a Mel Brooks film. And I don’t even like the Monty Python skits that are funny. My sisters have made me sit through entire episodes and movies and it’s just the most awful, tedious…I can’t stand it. Ironically, I love all the Python guys in their other projects. I’ll laugh and laugh at, say, Fawlty Towers. But please don’t make me watch Flying Circus.
I dunno, I guess I’ve had too many actual experiences where I thought I was going to die to get any visceral enjoyment out of being terrified. Trust me, when you think someone’s about to kill you, the last thing on your mind is sex.
I’m not saying there aren’t any good horror/thriller movies. *Alien, 1408, * and Pan’s Labyrinth are all excellent films, but they are films that keep the protracted human suffering to a minimum and focus on artsy, atmospheric moods. I usually can’t take the ‘‘ghosty’’ stuff seriously, I remember how much I was convinced The Ring was going to scare me and after it was over, I was like, ‘‘Really?’’
And I ‘‘get’’ why people like vampires, but they’re just so silly to me. The obvious explanation for the popularity of Twilight is shirtless young men.
Broadway musicals. They just all seem so… immature? to me. The music is so fluffy it reminds me of children’s songs. The acting so overdone it seems silly. The musical numbers that end with the character holding a looong note with his hands held out to the sides slowly raising them while staring into the balcony. :rolleyes:
The whimsical smile wink nod numbers, the grand finales with everyone on stage singing at once.
I’ve only seen two live shows, Phantom and Wicked and thought both were silly.
I saw some of the movie Chicago and was thoroughly bored. Nine looks like the same thing.
Now I know there are tons of fans of this stuff and it’s extremely popular but I don’t get it.
Just kidding, I like those fantasy worlds too.
The one I don’t get is pathetic loser comedy. Where everything is predicated on how despicable the main character is, things like ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’, or ‘Extras’.
I’m not saying that people are literally sexually aroused by horror movies (well, most people aren’t, anyway). But that the physical responses to both scenarios can be similar enough to be pleasurable. My point is that the horror genre, more than any other (except porn), is about the body. It’s not about maniacs with knives (since we don’t know really anything about them and they tend to either be masked or grotesque beyond recognition), or ghosts, or demons, or zombies, or the wolfman. Horror movies are really about the physical integrity of the body and all of the ways that that physicality can be violated, protected, restored, or demolished.
I think, judging by your second paragraph that you think I’m defending the horror genre. I’m not. Not in particular (my sister is the horror buff). But out of all the things mentioned in this thread, horror is the one thing that I do get. People are fascinated by bodies (their own and others) so it makes sense to me that people would also enjoy movies that are basically about bodies.
Thanks- I had a hard time getting through one of the first “singing” episodes- when Gandalf had just “died” and everyone was sad, and then all the sudden, Aragorn and Legolas start bursting into song about the famous woods they just entered. It’s worse than a musical.
Funny thing, my NanoWrimo novel is basically a western with a female protaganist- and she has a 1860’s viewpoint, not a modern viewpoint plugged into the time period. I like Westerns that are revolved around the people trying to survive out there rather than the gunfighters/outlaws.
Let me add another vote for all sports. I’m a guy living in West Texas, and let me tell you that the movie (and the series, I suppose, never seen it) Friday Night Lights is accurate in its depiction of the religious devotion of some people around here to sports, especially football. For me, the surest way to get to sleep is to put on a game. Out light a light.
Anyway, my original point was that he was an Internet celebrity. He is. He wrote two books that fizzled quickly, then set up his “date application” website, got on an MTV show, generated buzz, and then became what he is today. It conforms almost exactly to the process I mentioned in my first post. Point made. Point correct.
Saying that there’s no distinction between “writing” and “literature” is essentially saying “Mary gives awesome head” scrawled on a bathroom stall is a work of literature on par with Paradise Lost. I think the differences should be obvious.
But you are assuming a dichotomy that isn’t there. Just because a piece of writing isn’t high literature doesn’t mean it’s worthless. There are levels of literature, depending on who they’re written to appeal to and how good the author is, among other things. You’re discarding a whole class of writers, who are not confined to any particular level.
Mary Gives Awesome Head is a succinct commentary on the postmodern condition. With sharp political overtones and a fatalistic outlook, it is no paean to authoritarianism, avoiding most of the cliches endemic to the genre’s twenty-first century canon. Like calling people fags, for instance. It’s much more of a Ulysses in that respect.
You’re right…and I never said it was. I even said that I enjoy some of Tucker Max’s stories, I just don’t consider them to be high-brow literature. And I’m fairly sure hardly anyone else does, too. Contrary to what AT said, his books, while entertaining, are forgettable and juvenile and wont stand the test of time.
Adults like to peel off the cynicism, stress and pressure of our real world lives and immerse ourselves in a good fantasy tale because it’s escapism that doesn’t require alcohol or drugs. The stories are often intricate and well written stand-ins for the issues we face daily they’re only woven into tales of magic and sorcery.
I did not read LOTR until I was an adult, but I had been exposed to lots of other fantasy tales earlier. I’ve always liked magic and wizards and stories that weave these themes into the plot. I haven’t bothered to analyze or pick it apart. I simply like what I like and imagine that I always will. Besides I have never met elves (like the ones populating the Tolkien universe) that I didn’t like.
I found the first 6 HP books charming and entertaining. I enjoyed seeing the characters grow and evolve and wanted to see how JKR was going to wrap up her tale. Unfortunately, she did a really poor job of finishing it off.
Vampires are not necessarily all the same. If you get into the dark, adult themed stuff as opposed to the teenybopper crap, vampire tales are quite entertaining and seductive. And yeah, it’s all about the sex. I’ve always been a vampire girl myself and this fascination goes way back. Again, I haven’t bothered to analyze the “how comes” and “where fors,” I just do.
Some of his stuff is very clever. I guess you have to develop an appreciation for his style and vision.
I don’t know anything about this person.
I love Renaissance faires…it goes back to that whole Robin Hood, Camelot, knights in shining armor thing that I adore. I’m not going to go in costume, but I will go.
Probably men too, but I know more about women.
