Cultivating curiosity: Day 1🎇

Hey guys! How's it going? I'm starting a new series on here called cultivating curiosity. Essentially, it's going to be a summary of any interesting news piece or factoid I have discovered, linking the article that piqued my interest. I just think it would be cool to share these stuff others and to cultivate our curiosity collectively 🤗😁

THE REFLECTION OF SOCIETAL FEARS ON HORROR MEDIA

Everyone (or mostly everyone) loves a good horror movie. And there's good reason for that. Horror movies allow us to experience cathartic, out of life experiences that releases tensions and expresses fear and vulnerability in a safe way. Jump scares on a big screen sometimes tend to make jump scares in real life a little less scary.

But in order to craft the perfect horror movie that will have an audience shivering in their seats, movie makers have to know the audience - and be the audience. This is exactly how we see the pattern in horror media that shows exactly what scares people through each generation.

Every generation has something they're anxious or afraid about, which is often directly related to current happenings in the world.

For example, in the early parts of the horror media, horror was used almost as an escape from the gruesome wars happening in those times.

As the cold War progressed, horror motifs turned more subtle. Alien invasion movies(linked to the new space exploration initiatives) , "don't trust thy neighbour" and movies expressing distrust, fear and deeply rooted horror at the human condition was at the epicentre of horror.

After that, slasher and ghost movies became more common, a metaphor for peoples fear of the unknown, the new technological age, expansion of cities, loss of community, stranger danger and rapid modernisation.

As the World settled in the early 2000s, horror movies turned more meta and most horror movies were simply of interest due to newness.

Even in today's media, horror acutely represents what we as a people are collectively terrified about - wasting our lives, losing ourselves(analogue horror such as the back rooms and Mandela catelogue), ai and technology, the male gaze and female objectification (Jennifer's body), parasitic and viral infections , issues around race and class (nope and get out) as well as the continued themes of invasion and the unknown of space, etc (a silent place and that's not my neighbour)

The link between horror media and societal fears is a fascinating one that gives us precious insight into the psychology of people of each time.

What do you think?

Interview/article:

https://news.asu.edu/20241028-arts-humanities-and-education-horror-films-reflections-societys-deepest-fears-and-cultural

Older article:

https://www.thereviewgeek.com/howhorrorreflectssocietalfears-article/

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