Everyone has challenges they overcame or yet to overcome. Once in our life we all have feared from obstacles and tried running away. An article ‘Monsters and the Moral Imagination’ by Stephen T. Asma in the book Monsters, the author argues “The monster concept is still extremely useful, and it’s a permanent player in the moral imagination because human vulnerability is permanent. The monster is a beneficial foe, helping us to virtually represent the obstacles that real life will surely send our way. As long as there are real enemies in the world, there will be useful dramatic versions of them in our head”(65). In this case the monster is our real life obstacle or challenge that is putting us in a state of being exposed to the possibility …show more content…
of being attacked or harmed. Obstacles, in reality, are monsters that we fight everyday whether they are family matters, depression, and addiction. As long as such things are present in our world we will always have a “monster” to face. Challenges could be portrayed as a monster due to the idea of not being able to forget about them, instead cope with them.
Everyday is a challenge and we experience things that we like and we don’t like. There are things we always want to leave behind and move forward; however, we cannot. As humans if we are told not to do something, we want to try it anyway to see the outcome. In the same manner, if we are told about a movie being scary we go out of our comfort zone to experience it and then later be frightened. Stephen T.Asma mentions,“Monsters can stand as symbols of human vulnerability and crisis, and as such they play imaginative foils for thinking about our own responses to mence” (62). When we watch horror movies, we force ourselves to imagine the wrong and undesirable. These thoughts in our head cause us to believe that our own obstacles are likely to cause a threat or danger to ourselves. In the same manner, horror movies can be represented as obstacles in our life that we don’t want to go through and we do it anyway to feel good about our own situations that they are not as bad as others. Stephen King also depicts, “We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality; the horror movie is innately conservative, even reactionary.”(King 16). Horror movies may put us in a mindset where we feel safe and more comfortable with our own situations but explore our options in worse situations. It gives us an example of what people did in their fright time and how we should confront each and every
situation. Furthermore, human beings are always eager to know what is outside of this world or about things we do not know. Hogan states, “Monsters will always provide the possibility of mystery in our mundane “reality show” lives, hinting at a larger spiritual world; for it there are demons in our midst, there surely must be angels lurking nearby as well.” (Hogan,38). This quote proves that the shows that we watch indicate that there is another world of devotion which makes us think that if there is evil, there must be a paragon of virtue. This relates to how we think our lives are surrounded by a lot of conflicts such as health issues and family problems. If there are complications there must be some things that really brighten up our day. Family disputes is one of the monster that most of us face. Arguments between parents has a really bad impact on children. Even though parents do not mean to hurt them but kids soak everything and potentially start to feel insecure, frightened and stay depressed. Parents might feel that they are raising their child right, however, they do not see the damaging effect they are causing for their children when they fail to keep a relationship with their partner. There are things that can be changed in a couple such as self control, and resolving a disagreement in a positive way so that kids do not have to face a monster called depression. We all endure something in our everyday routine. Whether it is contemplating the future, school, social life, daily news etc. When our brain overthinks or disputes about our existence we undergo mental disorders like depression, anxiety and panic disorders. The author expresses his views saying, “I think that we all are mentally ill” (King,16). Delusions are a real life condition that everyone fights everyday. If someone doesn’t like the way they look and stays away from human contact that person may face the monster of Social anxiety. Depression is a monster that exists endlessly because it hinders the person to talk to someone in the eye because of the fear of them getting into more depressed situation. Depression has the ability to be a monster because it is a disorder that can make a person lose interest in activities and cause critical damage in their daily life which can potentially lead to death. Every situation we experience in life makes us stronger and smarter. Everything we undergo is a lesson to become a better person. Asma states, “ In order to discover our values, we have to face trials and tribulation, and monsters help us imaginatively rehearse. Imagining how we will face an unstoppable, powerful, and inhuman threat is an illuminating exercise in hypothetical reasoning and hypothetical feeling.” (63). The author expresses that we all have to suffer misery in order to find out who we are as a person. Asma also mentions that we can prepare ourselves by thinking about how bad situations could get. This proves that monsters are the distress and suffering we go through in our day to day life and these situations make us a better and stronger person. These miserable situations help us undercover our values and morals. Watching horror on the TV or anywhere else prepares us to go through the obstacles and how we should take everything in a positive way. Everyone has obstacles to face. Horror movies can be represented as our daily life problems that we face and teach how to be ready for the real world problems. Moreover, as human beings we try to explore things out of our comfort zone and see the results whether they are monstrous or not. Every disease, health issue or anything that we don’t like the way it is can be portrayed as a monster. Going through all these challenges and problems will only have us brave and better for future. Henceforth, everything in life serves a purpose and as long as we have obstacles such as depression and family issues etc. surrounding us, we will always have a “monster” to confront.
The article Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King distinguishes why we truly do crave horror movies. Stephen King goes into depth on the many reasons on why we, as humans, find horror movies intriguing and how we all have some sort of insanity within us. He does this by using different rhetorical techniques and appealing to the audience through ways such as experience, emotion and logic. Apart from that he also relates a numerous amount of aspects on why we crave horror movies to our lives. Throughout this essay I will be evaluating the authors arguments and points on why society finds horror movies so desirable and captivating.
“Why We Crave Horror Movies,” an essay by the legendary Stephen King, explains two challenging concepts to understand: why people like gory horror movies and how people are able to control their darkest desires. “I think that we’re all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better – and maybe not all that much better, after all.” King opens the essay by addressing the hard truth- we are all insane. People have dull lives, and often it’s the little bit of crazy within in us tha...
I have provided a clear evaluation of his essay in an organized way using the appropriate standards of evaluation. In understanding why humans “Crave Horror Movies” even when some people get nightmares after watching them we find the importance of our emotions and fears. We find those emotions and fears form a body of their own which needs to be maintained properly in order to remain healthy. We see how emotions can be controlled though viewing horror movies. Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror Movies” is a well written essay with convincing analogies, comparisons, and urban humor.
Time and time again, writers have used the ideas of monsters to express specific themes throughout the stories. May it be good versus evil or overcoming all odds. Subsequently, Patrick Ness tries to play with the ideas of monsters, but not in the way that one may seem. In his book, “The Monster Calls” Patrick Ness uses the monster as a symbolic metaphor to convey that humans are not perfect beings, always contradicting themselves based on ethical fallacies. Humans need to realize the wrongdoings they commit based upon justifying their own moral rights, atone for them, and move on. This is shown throughout the book by the monster’s representation as a Father type figure, (his own entity) to teach the main character, Conor how to deal with his emotions and move forward in life.
When I was young I would always watch “scary movies” with my sister. For this reason, Every night I would have nightmares after each movie. By all means, I’d end up on the other side of the bed or on the floor. Given that, Stephen King claims his short story “ Why We Crave Horror” is to crave horror by facing our fears and, re-establish our feelings normalcy by getting used to the horror towards something that is called the human condition provided that, he is right about his claims. By all means, His three claims are “To show we can,that we are not afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster”. “ We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality”. “ If we share a brotherhood of man, then we also share an insanity of man”.
Stephen King, a very well-known writer and director, has a passionate voice when it comes to anything dealing with horror. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” King calls us out for knowing that we love the adrenaline rush and how we are so captivated by horror movies. He explains how we watch horror movies for the level of fun. King proposes that we go to defy ourselves; to see how far it can push us and that is what makes the experience so interesting. We lock our inner psycho from reality and feed it with the demonic, bloody violence found in horror movies. Doing this suggests that horror movies are our fix for our psychotic thoughts. Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror Movies” portrays that we are all insane in some weird way through
The best choices in life are the choices were you and other people know that it is the correct thing to do. The choices we make affect and change our lives for the better or the worst. People should always think about their choices and think about what they will do and how they will affect their self. People make decisions based on what they think and what they care about. In life there are many baffling choices but they can be determined by their conclusion and their opportunity. Steve Harmon was not part of the robbery when it happened.
The line between not guilty and innocent is not always clear. Sometimes the court system can be flawed. The question is: does acquitted mean innocent? This question is brought about in the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers, when Steve Harmon, the main character, is on trial. He is acquitted, however, is he really innocent? Steve Harmon is guilty of being the lookout but is not responsible for Mr.Nesbitt’s death, because he was in the store, he was identified by other participants, but he was out of the store before Nesbitt died.
Overall these three excerpts did well with analyzing what a true monster is viewed as in todays society. Not they are scary and less like us, but that they are just like us and live among us and go through everyday life living among us. The way that a monster is depicted through the media is a surefire way to keep minority groups oppressed through physical attributes , sexuality and race being portrayed as something monstrous and nothing more .
Monsters are towering, fierce beings best known for causing nightmares and battling heroes. Tales are told of their devastating power, but also of their agonizing defeats. Monsters are symbols of the inherent evil of human nature and of the dark truths of the natural world. Monsters are also challenges, tasks a hero must complete. Sometimes monsters are the ultimate measure of a hero’s worth, other times just another step in a hero’s journey. In the book Bulfinch’s Mythology, Thomas Bulfinch writes that “Monsters, in the language of mythology, were beings of unnatural proportions or parts, usually regarded with terror, as possessing immense strength and ferocity, which they employed for the injury and annoyance of men.” Although independent of what they represent, Monsters come in numerous builds and multiple figures, like humans.
Throughout history monsters were very present taking different shapes, sizes and meanings. Monsters can evoke fear but also stimulate our minds to be prepare in case of crisis. Monsters and the Moral Imagination wrote in 2009 by Stephen Asma a professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago. He portrayed several reason onto why monsters arise. During this particular time, US was going through the post 9/11 era, the war in Iraq and the economic recession. Through these rough decades American were very scared of upcoming threats and was in need of a relief. Asma argues that this fear of attack and feeling of helplessness gave rise to the monster culture in Tv series, movies and Arts. His
Monsters come in many forms, shapes, and sizes. Some of these creatures are grotesque and unearthly, while others appear no different than innocent next door neighbors. What defines a monster can turn drastically from the purely physical to exclusively psychological. There are many ways to create physical monsters; from stitching together stolen body parts to unleashing a curse, and many ways to abuse and neglect someone until they have reached a mental breaking point. Regardless of circumstances, there seems to be one universally understood truth, cruelty creates monsters. While it may not always be an outside force creating such unfortunate situations for these to-be monsters, wickedness and callousness can always be found surrounding these creatures.
People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified. Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned.
We live in a world where creatures have abilities that can blow our minds, however we are ignorant of this. We live in a world where a constant power struggle is occurring between these secret species, a struggle that most human beings have no inclination of. We live in a world where people who know the truth are sworn to secrecy, and those proclaim this truth are considered crazy and locked away; to be sane is to be ignorant. Well, that is what I would love to be true. In actuality, I am fascinated with the topic of monsters; I love them all: lycanthropes, Frankenstein’s monster, witches, fae, necromancers, zombies, demons, mummies, and my favorite: vampires. This fetish has been manifested in the movies I view, the televisions shows I watch, and the books I read. When my obsession with reading is crossed with my obsession with monsters the result is a bookshelf containing more vampire novels than most people would consider healthy. I have discovered that every vampire novel varies vastly; no two books are ever alike. For example, the Twilight Series, the Anita Blake Series and the Vampire Chronicles Series have different legends and lore, different relationships between vampires and society, and different genres, theme, and purpose; this array of novels display most clearly the range of audience for vampire genre can cater.
We all have cravings, be it for snacks or sweets, there is always something we desire. We crave horror in the same way. In Stephen King’s essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he argues that people need to watch horror films in order to release the negative emotions within us. King believes that people feel enjoyment while watching others be terrorized or killed in horror movies. King’s argument has elements that are both agreeable and disagreeable. On one hand he is acceptable when claiming we like the thrill and excitement that comes from watching horror movies; however, his views regarding that the fun comes from seeing others suffer cannot be agreed with because the human condition is not as immoral as he claims it to be.