I read this in today's Boston Globe http://www.boston.com/community/moms/articles/2009/10/17/scary_fun_not_to_him/ and it got me thinking. "Frightened" is not a happy state of being in our day-to-day lives. We lock our doors at night, carry weapons, and look under the bed before we shut off the light (okay, most of us haven't done that since we were kids) all because we are afraid of a surprise intruder. So why do we seek out horror movies and Spooky Worlds and pay money in order to be frightened?
I wonder if this is our way of proving to ourselves that we can feel threatened and still survive. Is our safer society somehow robbing us of our need to feel that we can keep ourselves safe if we need to? Are we physically missing the adrenaline rushes of our hunter-gatherer days?
If being afraid is a bad thing, then why do you think we seek it out at Halloween? And find it fun, no less?
Yes, the woosification of America is to blame. :)
ReplyDeleteLL
I think we love to be scared at the movies because we have no publicly acceptable outlet for our fear and aggression (unless you count shopping). Being scared at the movies is safe.
ReplyDeleteSo, being frightened is a substitute for fear and aggression? How so?
ReplyDeleteI think we seek out 'controlled' fear - the pablum of real horror. We know going into Spooky World that 'most' of our scare-me buttons will be pushed, but we are still safe. The monster can't really hurt us. Adrenalin lite. LOL
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