| Author | Message | ||
     Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Here's a question for you. I was sitting in the hairdressers yesterday, talking about soaps with the hairdresser and her other customer (that's the kind of thing we older ladies do, you understand  ). Now, I'm not into soaps at all (the others were doing most of the talking - I was just listening in!), but I know enough about them to know that they mostly deal with disasters, heartbreak, and the more unpleasant side of life. Then I was thinking: is that not what I do too when I read (and sometimes write) horror? So, my question to you guys is, are we all sadists at heart? I know (I hope!) we don't want to see horrible things happen to people in real life, but is there some hidden subliminal urge in us which draws us to seeing horrible things happen to people in fiction? Are we really the kind of people who'd stop to see the aftermath of a road accident if we didn't otherwise channel our urges into harmless reading/writing? Sorry, that's more than one question, but I guess you know what I'm getting at. Now, please discuss ...  | ||
| Kate (Kathleen) Username: Kathleen Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 86.142.147.0 |
Depends who you're identifying with. Some of us are masochists.  | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.77.197 |
Well, as someone once said, happiness writes white on the page. There's no drama in that. The heart of fiction is about things going wrong, I guess. It's the nature of things. Life's a constant battle to keep things together. So . . . I don't think it makes us sadists when we engage in forms of entertainment which simply reflect our everyday experience. Rather, it's a form of catharsis or vicariousness. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.77.197 |
I've often wondered whether those people who are drawn to horror fiction are those who experience the tenuousness of everyday life more keenly than others. | ||
| Ramsey Campbell (Ramsey) Username: Ramsey Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.93.21.68 |
I've never been particularly taken with the kind of horror fiction that encourages us to enjoy other people's suffering - I'm more inclined to appreciate the kind that conveys the horror of it. Then again, is it sadistic to enjoy (say) Oliver Hardy's series of humiliations in, for instance, Helpmates? I certainly do. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
The overwhelming majority of human beings are decent caring individuals, who would never willingly hurt a fly if they weren't pre-conditioned to think of it as a pest and a nuisance. The problem arises from three complicated factors (this is a Stevie theory btw): (1) The survival of life instinct i.e. the hot-wired instinct for (a) self-preservation, (b) the procreation of one's own genes & (c) the survival of the particular species to which we belong. (2) The survival of intellect instinct i.e. the ingrained, on an individual level, instinct for (a) people to like you and agree with you, (b) the continuation of one's own thoughts and opinions and loves beyond one's own immediate circle of influence & (c) the survival of the individual beyond their lifetime, as evidenced most dramatically by Jesus Christ & Adolf Hitler (whose 2000 years may have just begun - the cunt). (3) The existence of the sociopathic/psychopathic impulse, those who know they are wrong (unlike Hitler - the cunt) and don't give a fuck, as evidenced in the existence of such illogical, and supremely "evil" individuals (for the heck of it) as Ted Bundy, Peter Sutcliffe, Peter Kurten, Andrei Chikatilo, Simon Cowell, etc... I rest my case. | ||
| Chris_morris (Chris_morris) Username: Chris_morris Registered: 04-2008 Posted From: 12.165.240.116 |
Good fiction is about conflict. It may be true that our attraction to fiction has something to do with conflict, specifically with a vicarious exploration of the conflicts of others -- perhaps as rehearsals for our own future ordeals? -- but I'm not sure this can be proven. At any rate, I see no evidence that an interest in fiction implies sadistic tendencies. On the contrary, I believe reading fiction encourages empathy. Seeing the world from the viewpoint of others widens one's own perspectives in a way few other experiences can. | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 129.11.77.197 |
Yes, that last point is a good one, Chris. I also think our appetite for fiction can be as much about past and present events (perhaps most especially about present events) as it is about future ones. The most appealing form of fiction for most of us surely has both hedonic relevance and the thrill of recognition. Hence, in their crude and clumsy way (and to link back to Caroline's question), the immense popularity of soap operas. | ||
| Craig (Craig) Username: Craig Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 99.126.164.88 |
"the thrill of recognition" - I'm well documented to believe this is one of the top driving forces in all our artistic desires (i.e., desires to consume art) - the anxiety of wanting, the pleasure of receiving, even when it's as momentary as wanting that actor to return onscreen, the song to hit that magical theme again, the sitcom's opening jingle to start up once more.... I sometimes crave a slasher flick, for obvious reasons: to see the slashees get slashed most terribly. But I feel no guilt - not in a world overrun by "Call of Duty"s and JACKASS sequels.... |