If most of us are good people why do we enjoy horror, sadistic torture movies?

[Bleed]

The compliment is much appreciated! And back at you!

A-fucking-men! Thank you! Bleed you're one insightful cat.

 

[hawkmoon]

As most of you know from my posts I'm more on the sympathetic and empathetic side of the scale. I consider myself compassionate and considerate of others. I do have a subconscious line however that stops me from putting myself in significant harm's way to help a stranger.

I'm not proud of that, but I'm honest with myself about it. Perhaps it's because I'm always thinking and almost never act or react in reflexive or primal ways, both to my benefit and detriment.

I used to love horror, especially gore.
I enjoyed Hellraiser and Rob Zombie's movies quite a lot. I still love the original Evil Dead stuff with Bruce Campbell.

A lot of that changed when I became a dad. I couldn't stomach the gore anymore. Evil Dead or Army of Darkness are fine, but I can't watch House of 1000 Corpses. It was totally subconscious, like Alex in "A Clockwork Orange."

Something happens when you have a baby. The world becomes a more threatening place. Even though I know it's all fake, I can do the on screen gore anymore.

 

[qbkilla]

As most of you know from my posts I'm more on the sympathetic and empathetic side of the scale. I consider myself compassionate and considerate of others. I do have a subconscious line however that stops me from putting myself in significant harm's way to help a stranger.

I'm not proud of that, but I'm honest with myself about it. Perhaps it's because I'm always thinking and almost never act or react in reflexive or primal ways, both to my benefit and detriments

Nothing to feel guilty about imo. As humans we need to look out for ourselves which is also looking out for our families. If we risk out life to help a stranger or work a dangerous job to help society, we leave our wife without a husband. In addition I feel the word no is one of the most powerful words in the English language, allows us not to be taken advantage of. We have all had a co worker that wants to push a portion of their work on us, a friend that always needs to borrow some cash or wants you to run their errands for them when your out. I typically decline but also make sure I don't ask for small favors all the time return.

 

[Green Miles]

IMO, we are a violent specie!!
Who are the most paid top athletes per second? Boxers right?
We are told to believe that only bad people do evil things, but in reality, many good people do the same or are a part of it!!
You see it with gladiators when peopleused to go and watch, in human trafficking when guyspay to be with a prostitute, in Nazi Germany when average person turned against their neighbors "for the bettergood"
The list goes on......
Sorry lol

 

[qbkilla]

IMO, we are a violent specie!!
Who are the most paid top athletes per second? Boxers right?
We are told to believe that only bad people do evil things, but in reality, many good people do the same or are a part of it!!
You see it with gladiators when peopleused to go and watch, in human trafficking when guyspay to be with a prostitute, in Nazi Germany when average person turned against their neighbors "for the bettergood"
The list goes on......
Sorry lol

Agree. "humans are good" is like the father of a rapist saying "but, but, he's a good kid he just screwed up."

We lock our doors at night, we lock our car when we park somewhere, women shouldn't walk down the street at night in many areas of most cities....etc. Many of the biggest philanthropists have done horrible things.

 

[Cabron]

Agree. "humans are good" is like the father of a rapist saying "but, but, he's a good kid he just screwed up."

We lock our doors at night, we lock our car when we park somewhere, women shouldn't walk down the street at night in many areas of most cities....etc. Many of the biggest philanthropists have done horrible things.

that's because they aren't actually philanthropists

 

[Wynn]

I'm sure some of you will find this interesting. A lot of us have already seen most of these movies and series.


Criminologist Reviews Serial Killers From Movies & TV

 

[BALDNAZI]

You guys are mild. I went through a phase of watching actual Mexican cartel and ISIS torture/killing videos. There’s quite a few sites you can find them. The reason? Some of it was morbid curiosity but mostly because I wanted to see what people who hate us and our way of life are willing to do to us.

I wasn’t disappointed. Speaking from an American perspective but this applies to most Western cultures, people are soft and have no idea what real hell on Earth is. Men are not excluded, in fact men have become feminized and weak, feeble versions of our ancestors.

This is why it’s easy to become decadent and walk through life virtue signaling any and every cause. I don’t think our societies will survive long if people don’t wake up to what goes on and what’s coming for them if they remain in this “lions lay with lambs” mentality. Been preaching this for years and here we are.

While our cultures teach kids about pronouns, gender fluidity and what bathrooms to use our enemies teach their kids to hate us and to kill us. Something to think about as some of you sip your lattes and wear your “I stand with Ukraine” shirts lol. Sad.

 

[Polska 2]

The psychology of it is that movies like "Passion of Christ", "Schindler's List", Saw I through XXVI, etc is that it gives the mind the ability to experience something horrific that would be traumatic in real life (and thus the fear in seeing it or experiencing it) from a safe place. The movie can't hurt them so they experience that which would, in real life, horrify and terrify them from a safe and secure point of view.

This viewing can allow viewers to "survive" a film with the same release of dopamine and pleasure chemicals the person would experience if they survived the experience in real life circumstances. They are surving the ordeal vicariously but it still has some of the same effects.

It goes even deeper than that to a primal level of disgust that originates in a part of the brain that has kept humans from eating and coming in contact with rotten meat, feces, and other objectionable things that allows them to see these disgusting things and acts without the smell, feel, etc. It's a showcase of things to avoid inside your brain.

And lastly, the curiosity we experience when we drive by a car accident and everyone has to take a look, called "rubbernecking". It's so common and instinctual, we actually have a word for it. Movies like this are a 2hr rubbernecking experience without the stiff neck and distraction of the road.

People that have truly seen horrible things or dealt with people who have committed these gruesome crimes often have little desire to see these movies while interestingly, people that have not tend to enjoy these movies.

I remember being just completely disappointed and laughably disgusted by the movie Fight Club. I was in a NYC city bar listening to guys talking tough and how much they loved the movie. I tried explaining to them that the movie was lame. But because I had broken noses, I broke noses, split heads open, and it was always miserable with much guilt afterwards. It wasn't "cool" at all. I had met people with violent multiple personality disorder. It is not cool. I could tell right away that these guys had never been in a fight in their lives or met a pathologically insane person. So they thought the movie was cool. While I lived it, they saw it from the safety of a movie theater seat.

That's the hook. And once desensitized, people need greater and greater levels of gore and macabre to illicit the same response. Ever notice that sequels within the same horror franchise get just more gore and bloody from one sequel to the next? Now you know why.

Great post

 

[Tomgrass]

Cause we need a manual what to do if times get real bad and being good and nice will not be an option. Sometimes to defeat a monster you need to became one.

 

[Muay Thai]

suppressed psychological archetypes during our biological/cultural/species evolution

 

[Hatchet]

I enjoy horror, but not torture stuff or any of that. Old school horror is best IMO (Halloween, Leatherface, etc).
But "Hostel" and things like that, not so much...