Lets go easter egg hunting!! Image by Paul Sapiano
It is past midnight and I am desperately fumbling for the remote control with my eyes closed to get rid of the creepy advert of yet another horror movie from my TV screen. It's April, for goodness sake! Easter is but a week away, our Kate and Will's wedding is not far off either; it should a time of sunshine, celebration and scoffing Easter eggs. But no, instead, some of us will be happily heading on down to the cinema to take a proverbial dump in the pants:
Why??????
An article blog by Norman Holland (Psychology Today: Why are there horror movies?) suggests that one can find satisfaction from experiencing fear and other unpleasant emotions. As living beings, we learn from a whole host of sensory cues. Fear and other negative emotions signals for danger and from an evolutionary stand point it does us good to pay attention and learn from the situation in order to help us survive. As human beings we enjoy learning, therefore maybe we enjoy learning the art of survival through fictitious media. However, Holland suggests that it is all down to the economising of psychic energy: in an unreal situation we have no need to respond to what is happening. We can just watch and learn and go with the flow and this (apparently) can be relaxing and quite satisfying. In reality however we would be more inclined to do something, like call the police or go knock out that p***k with the mask on. This requires brain activity, extra energy and with the addition of the impending adrenaline rush that energises the fight or flight response, it is this that causes unpleasant sensations.
So having learnt all that, how come I (and others) are such scaredy cats?? I can say in my case I maybe have more of an emotional response to what I perceive, whether it is real or not, since I feel really depressed when I watch sad movies and laugh out loud at comedies. One of the appealing natures of any storyline is that it draws you in to feel for the characters, and that's a good thing as otherwise it would be really boring! However, for the more emotionally sensitive amongst us, movies, books or games invoking negative emotions is a big no-no. I'll go and hide back behind the sofa now...
Source: Psychology today
See also: Norman Holland - Marston-Milbauer Eminent Scholar Emeritus
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