Enjoyable+Fear?

I asked numerous people on why they think people love to be scared and watch horror movies. Do you know what was the number one answer? For the adrenaline rush! You know that feeling when you're on a roller coaster and your stomach drops? That's the feeling they're talking about! You never know when it's going to happen. It just sneaks up on you, like a thief in the night. I asked two questions on my survey relating to this topic: 1. Do you like horror movies? 2. Do you get scared easily?

For question #1 more people said yes than no, but not by much. Half the people said that they weren't sure. For question #2 more answered yes than no. Again, half the people said that they weren't sure.

Let's take a closer look and truly ask ourselves what about being scared is so enjoyable? There are two theories on why people take such pleasure in being disgusted and horrified, and the first one is that you're not actually scared of the movies you're watching, but just really excited. And the second theory is that, you are willing to be frightened so you can have the adrenaline rush at the end. This statement makes sense because whenever you get off a rollercoaster that you thought you weren't going to be able to handle it gives you the greatest feeling! When you sit down on the couch and you're ready to put on a horror flick, take a moment and pause for a second. How are you feeling? Are you nervous? Excited? You might even think you're crazy for watching this, and you do it anyway. Why? Because you love that feeling of excitement in your stomach! Did you think those theories were correct? I thought so, but take a look. A study by Eduardo Andrade (University of California, Berkeley) and Joel B. Cohen (University of Florida) denied that both of these theories were wrong. "We believe that a reevaluation of the two dominant explanations for people's willingness to consume "negative" experiences (both of which assume that people can not experience negative and positive emotions simultaneously) is in order." You cannot have two feelings that are completely the opposite of eachother. To say it in one sentence, "Most viewers (of scary movies) are happy to be unhappy." Let's ask a doctor on what he thinks the reason for the desire for the butterflies in the stomach and rapid heartbeat is. Frank Farley PhD said that people are fascinated by scary movies because they aren't ordinary. In real life there isn't some maniac in a clown suit murdering a whole town. It gives the viewer a time to be unrealistic in a sense. People like to feel things that are different. So, if the scary movi﻿e is different than any other they've seen and they don't know how it's going to turn out, most likely they are going to sit and watch so they can find out. "Some people enjoy the physical sensations that can accompany being scared -- from the adrenaline rush to the racing heart to the perspiring palms. There's almost nothing else, including sex, that can match it in terms of the incredible sensory experience that the body is put through." This is just what I suspected. There is nothing else like the sense of feeling a high without taking drugs or physically harming your body. Some people love fear and pain so much that they will even hire someone to "kidnap" and "torture" them so they can have a great sense of horror. $1500 is all it takes for you to set up an interview in New York City and plan exactly how you want to be scared. It could be at the mall, movies, or even your bedroom that your hired kidnappers will come in and take you to their hidden lair for hours of thrill seeking "fun". Overall, researching this topic has really helped me understand on why humans love to sit down in front of a big screen and be completely terrified out of their minds, but still want to come back time after time.

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"Thrill-Seekers Thrive on the Scary." //Web MD// (2002): n. pag. Web. 12 Dec 2010. .

BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION: "Thrill-Seekers Thrive on the Scary." Web MD (2002): n. pag. Web. 12 Dec 2010. . [NOTE: Italicize "Web MD"]

PARENTHETICAL CITATION: ("Web MD")

University of Chicago Press Journals. "Why Do People Love Horror Movies? They Enjoy Being Scared." __ScienceDaily__ 31 July 2007. 12 December 2010 .