¶ … Crave Horror Movies," the author presents his take on why a vast movie-going public likes entertainment which is intended to terrify and which many people find offensive. He uses a cause-effect style to discussion the phenomenon. His argument is that we go to horror movies because we want to show that we can conquer our fears, we want to reaffirm the normality of everyday life, and we want to get a thrill out of celebrating an innate, human insanity. In essence he is arguing that these movies are visceral entertainment, not unlike a genre at the opposite end of the movie spectrum, romantic comedies.
We go to romantic comedies because we like to laugh at the foibles of others (making our own pale in comparison), to experience the thrill of love vicariously, and to experience the entire life cycle of a relationship without enduring our own heartbreak in the process. Watching actors onscreen make mistakes that we have all made is a relief. It lets us know that we have participated in a universal human experience and laughter follows that catharsis.
Romantic comedies set the heart pounding in the same way that horror movies do. They take you on a ride, where conflict looms at one moment and tranquility sets in the next. Where horror movies promise safety as their respite, romantic comedies offer moments where the leads find themselves compatible or share physical affection.
Going through love as a spectator is also a protective measure. Just as with horror movies, we can take comfort in knowing that, no matter how turbulent a viewing experience we have, we are not living the action we see on screen. We can go home to a safe and happy house or back into the arms of a loving relationship (or perhaps an equally peaceful single life). All the demons, monsters, and scheming exes will remain on the celluloid.
Sociology and Feminist Theories on Gender Studies Postmodern Feminism in "Cherrie Moraga and Chicana Lesbianism" In the article entitled, "Cherrie Moraga and Chicana Lesbianism," author Tomas Almaguer analyzes and studies the dynamics behind Moraga's feminist reading of the Chicano culture and society that she originated from. In the article, Almaguer focuses on three elements that influenced Moraga's social reality as she was growing up: the powerful effect of the Chicano culture, patriarchal
In "Piaf," Pam Gems provides a view into the life of the great French singer and arguably the greatest singer of her generation -- Edith Piaf. (Fildier and Primack, 1981), the slices that the playwright provides, more than adequately trace her life. Edith was born a waif on the streets of Paris (literally under a lamp-post). Abandoned by her parents -- a drunken street singer for a mother and a
Art Spiegelman's Father Vladek and Vladek's Words in Maus -- Volume I: My Father Bleeds History (and does not crave cheese) The Jews, both Polish and German, are mice, the Nazis take the guise of cats, and the gentile Poles play a subsidiary role in the Holocaust narrative of Maus as pigs. In Art Spiegelman's graphic novel depicting his generations' reaction to the World War II suffering of Jews and
The corruption which has been imputed to the drama as an effect, begins when the poetry employed in its constitution ends: I appeal to the history of manners whether the periods of the growth of the one and the decline of the other have not corresponded with an exactness equal to any example of moral cause and effect. (54) In this message Shelley connects the universal idea that poetry, once
Because research on romantic love has increased markedly in the past few years, undoubtedly stimulated by the widespread interest in close relationships, Hendrick and Hendrick examined five different measurement approaches to love, including those of the researchers noted above (1989). Hendrick and Hendrick state, "These theories appear to have considerable overlap, but they also deal with different phenomena as well. Modest claims of one theory's superiority over another are beginning
Looking at shrubs, the girl exclaims that shrubs are: slaughterous red, luscious and fantastic... something bewildering, even shocking... To me a rhododendron was a homely, domestic thing, strictly conventional... these were monsters... too beautiful I thought, too powerful; they were not plants at all." (70) It turns out that these had been planted by Rebecca, her pride and joy. The lesson of an 'over-natural' and therefore deviant female sexuality is being
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