Week 8: Me and Scary Movies
Ok, this week's lecture, plus Halloween coming up, has led to a lot of thinking about my relationship with scary movies. I've never enjoyed watching scary movies and this week lecture helped me realized that its because I tend to be a default viewer. Scary things impact me more because I don't think much about the reality of the content or the likelihood of that thing happening to me.My husband, on the other hand, is very good at being an active viewer thinking about how something isn't real or how its extremely unlikely.
Last week, we had a recent experience where this difference between us manifested itself when we watched the movie "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" on VidAngel. Afterwords, I was super freaked out after learning about the awful things a real person, Ted Bundy, did to so many young women. My husband, on the other hand, reminded me that a lot of what was making me afraid were things I could control.
(https://pulseradio.fm/2019/04/24/extremely-wicked-shockingly-evil-and-vile-offers-new-insight-into-ted-bundy/extremely-wicked-movie-poster/)
This week, I was also fascinated as I reflected on my current fears and how they come from media I came across when I was younger. It's crazy how much sticks with us, even as we mature.
Gwen I totally feel ya. Even when I try and rationalize about the unlikelihood of something happening to me, my brain is always like, "okay but what IF..." The only time I can sit through a scary movie and not have to take several days to not be freaked out about it is if I spend the whole time making fun of how ridiculous and unlikely it all is. AKA I'm not very fun to watch scary movies with, haha.
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting how scary movies impact people differently! For the most part I am more like your husband, but every now and then a scary movie can really freak me out. I can remember once when I was babysitting in high school and I watched a scary criminal minds episode about a babysitter who got murdered. Terrible idea.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing with our lecture about fear--I am TOTALLY a default viewer. I am great at suspending my disbelief and getting immersed in the movie, which is fun sometimes, but it also means I can't handle almost anything disturbing at all. I'm curious if I would be able to tolerate scarier stuff if I gave active viewing a try!
ReplyDeleteCan I just say that you are far braver than me for even watching that! I can't stand scary movies. Even though I do think about the likelihood of things, I feel like I really empathize and feel scared with the characters. On the whole I try to avoid it haha.
ReplyDelete