Rhiannon Elizabeth Irons
This seems to be an age-old debate; Horror movies being the reason why real-life violence occurs. But are they really to blame for the ongoing aggression that plagues the real world?
The horror genre for years has been a scapegoat for parents and lobbyists who want to protect their children from all the nastiness the world has to offer. Too many times I’ve heard a parent say “Oh no, my child won't be seeing that film. It's too violent. I don't want them growing up like that.”
Truth is, yes, some movies are too violent for young audiences. That’s why movie ratings were invented.
Reality is, if you implement a ban on horror movies, there’s a good chance your child will still find a way to view them. Speaking a former teenage rebel who grew up in a conservative household, I would get my horror fix at sleepovers at my friend’s houses. My mother might not have wanted me to experience the horror genre, but my intrigue for it had always been there so I got creative and found a way.
I’ve been watching horror movies religiously since I was 12 years old. And now, 25 years later, my collection rivals that any streaming service. As I’ve gotten older, my tastes have changed, developing a new appreciation for different sub-genres. I’m still a big fan of the slasher movies I grew up with, and I still prefer suspense-filled horror as opposed to blood, guts, and copious amounts of gore, but there are quite a few movies that fit the latter blood splatter that land in my top 13 favourite horror movies of all-time list.
Does this mean that I’m more susceptible to becoming violent just because I enjoy watching two-dimensional characters being ripped apart by torture devices? Not at all.
The way I see it, horror movies are an escape. It's the reason they are so popular. Without leaving the comfort of your living room, or local cinema, you can enjoy watching some mad man rip apart a bunch of teenagers without any remorse and you don't have to feel guilty about enjoying it.
While watching the horror movie, our fear level is raised, our sense of revulsion of the demonic, at the same time a fascination with the idea that it somehow might have a basis in reality, we can contemplate and absorb, all from the comfort and safety of a movie theatre chair with soda and popcorn, where we put ourselves in dire danger, and walk away feeling as if we accomplished something brave and daring.
To quote Billy Loomis from Scream: “Don't you blame the movies. Movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative.”
Now, I won't deny that in the past there have been killings that have been heavily influenced by motion pictures however, the movies are not to blame. The person who has committed the crime was disturbed long before the movie influenced them. The debate doesn't land with the entertainment itself, but rather with the mental health of the perpetrator.
Horror movies reflect the culture that we live in.
In 2007 Halloween director John Carpenter went into bat for the horror genre, by saying that they don't cause real life violence. If anything, movies are influenced by real life violence. “Real life causes this, fake life does not cause it,” Carpenter said at the Tribeca Film Festival. “The reason for a lot of these movies is the culture that we live in, the events that have gone on in our world. Censorship never works, you cannot destroy an idea. You can hide, you can try to cover it up, but you can't destroy it, it will be there, and it will bubble up again.”
Apparently in that same year the FCC produced a report with findings that indicated a child is more likely to be violent themselves if they are exposed to violent media. Okay, I accept those findings, but I raise you this question; How can you censor the media?
With the internet, particular social media, and television being a predominate part of our lives, children are susceptible to over fifty-hours of media coverage a week. And I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that 99.9% of that coverage isn't about hugs and puppies.
So why do horror films get the raw deal? Why are they the first ones to be blamed for all that's happening? Why don't action movies get the same blame? Why don't superhero movies get blamed? I mean, we all know Batman doesn't kill, but he certainly leaves thugs in critical conditions, but somehow that isn't classed as anything more than entertainment. Want to know why horror cops it all. Because it's easy. Horror movies play on the most vibrant of our emotions: Fear.
Let's take a quick look at something Australian for a second. Wolf Creek. Loosely based on the Ivan Milat backpacker murders that struck fear into the hearts of Australians from 1989-1993. In 2001 - four years before Wolf Creek hit cinemas - a British backpacker by the name of Peter Falconio disappeared from the middle of the outback in the Northern Territory. His girlfriend at the time, Joanne Lees, claimed that Peter was murdered. For the next four years, her story of survival was displayed everywhere.
When Wolf Creek hit cinemas in 2005, many people thought it was in bad taste considering what had happened just four years before but despite the protests, Wolf Creek did extraordinary well. Out of the respect for the ongoing trial of Bradley John Murdoch - the man accused of killing Peter Falconio - Wolf Creek wasn't shown in any cinema in the Northern Territory. Wolf Creek is a perfect example of art imitating life.
Scary movies have such broad appeal because the theme of nightmares, the psychological thrillers and terror, raise the dopamine level of our mind, it focuses or rivets our attention and captures our, albeit, base instinct, and forces us to undivided attention.
Saying that children watching horror movies is going to equal violence is like saying that watching porn will turn your child into a sex offender. Sounds ridiculous now, doesn't it?
Truth is, if you want to protect what your children watch, then there is a simple, no fuss way to do so. Movies have classifications for a reason. If you have a ten-year-old begging to see something that's rated R, don't tell them no. Tell them they can see it in a few years, then opt for something scary that's projected at their age bracket. Fun Fact: Disney introduced horror movies to children. One of his first flicks was a horror-spoof of dancing skeletons way back in 1929. The Skeleton Dance, a Silly Symphonies animated short, was voted one of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time, by the animation industry, in 1994.
To some up with a paraphrased quote from one of my favourite non-horror movies, Clueless, “Until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there's no point in taking it out of shows and movies that need it for entertainment value.” That's all that it is in the end, entertainment.