Center of Gravity

disturbing the peace

Horror is the only genre where you need to ask if people watch it. Like, yeah, you can ask people if they like westerns or if they like sci-fi, but with horror it’s “do you do it?” in the way that someone “does” drugs or like, long-distance running. Me, I love horror. I love it so much that whenever I start a movie that’s not horror, I worry I’m wasting my time. On the other side of the fence are those who would never even touch it, the types that cover their eyes when a spooky trailer plays in the theatre. Wildly different reactions for something as seemingly inoffensive as genre. It’s not just about getting scared; there’s something deeper at play. What makes horror so divisive?

I think it boils down to expectations. Horror changes the status quo. This isn’t a choice, it’s a factor; horror isn’t horror unless it breaks the rules. Every narrative has threats and challenges—that’s what makes a story a story—but in “normal” movies there’s a framework to follow, a safe range of allowable threats. Horror is about the failure of that safety. Not just physically, but in a wider meta-sense, psychologically, spiritually, and morally. This can be very upsetting for the audience.

He must’ve been sick in the head!

Horror reveals who we really are. The genre is extreme, and extreme situations make for extreme decisions. You really want to know who someone is? Make them fight for their life. This is a shortcut to character writing that, admittedly, exhausts itself after a while, but otherwise makes for a raw study. Life is gonna throw the unexpected at you. Horror allows us to simulate the worst-case scenarios, to ask ourselves what we would do if we were backed into a corner. You can’t find that kind of intensity anywhere else.

Also, life is really messed up! I don’t say this to be edgy—I just mean that, as much as there is good, there’s a whole lot of bad. Aging, death, rejection, sickness—these are all very real horrors that we experience every day. Horror is about discussing these concepts, creating space for us to hold them at length and consider how they fit in the grand scheme. It’s easier to talk about what scares us when we dress it up—not to deflect, but to define. In doing so, we create meaning around the senseless streak of violence that is life.

These are just some of the reasons why I like horror so much. I struggle to understand why people don’t see it the same way. My visceral response to someone who doesn’t like horror is a not-insignificant-but-i-swear-im-working-on-it amount of disdain. Like, come on. Don’t you want excitement? Stakes? A story with teeth?

But yknow what’s worse than people who totally avoid horror movies? People that do watch them but don’t get them. My blood boils when I hear comments (not always about horror, but especially about horror) like “that was so messed up”, or “they must have been on drugs when they made that” or “what even was the point”. My friend. Do you really think that someone made this for, oh, no reason in particular? You truly believe they wrote, directed, and produced an entire goddamned feature film just to show how quirky and weird they are? You’re telling me, right now in this AMC parking lot, that an entire crew put thousands of hours into a project because someone got high and went oooh let’s make a movie! This’ll really freak Philip out! Philip, specifically, won’t ‘get’ it, and he’ll say, ‘what even was the point’! He’ll think it’s soooo weird! That’ll get him yeah give me a fucking break. Of course not. People make art because they’re trying to communicate something difficult and meaningful. If you don’t at least TRY to get it, 99-1 that’s on you and your inability to think outside your miserable little—

the charitable perspective

So I’m coming at this with a lot of energy and I acknowledge that. Let’s take a deep breath. On a basis of personal values I try not to judge people on taste. There are, I suppose, valid reasons to stay away from horror.

One. Horror movies can be traumatic as hell. That’s the point, but yeah, sometimes that’s too much. People process things differently. Some people heal by moving on and never looking back. Others heal by slowly patching up, one horror movie at a time. If horror movies make you feel literally unsafe, then yeah absolutely stay away. Let’s all find peace in our own ways.

Two. Horror movies, like I mentioned, deal with really gritty concepts that we’re already exposed to on the day to day. Say you live with a chronic illness. Chances are you don’t want to sit through a 3-hour long metaphor about it. Maybe you’re not in the mood to “be seen”. Maybe you want to do literally anything else. Valid.

Three, the scare factor. Jump scares are so fucked up because they put you in the position of the character; if you’re immersed enough, you’ll have a nigh identical reaction as if you were right there. That can be deeply unpleasant if you, say, don’t want to feel like an axe murderer is coming at you from the screen. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and sometimes, it’s not even mine! I’ll tell you a secret: As much as I love horror movies, I can’t watch them too late in the day because they will very much keep me awake all night. I’m not immune to the scare, I get it.

So okay maybe I’m realizing that people who don’t watch horror at all (still weird but okay) are forgivable, and my real beef is with people who refuse to get on its level/understand it. Actually, that’s a greater issue I have with people and the way they experience art on a broader scale, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves now. I’m running out of time let’s wrap this up.

do you watch horror movies?

I used to think there was a yes-horror/no-horror binary but in writing this, I realized that’s so not the case. I have this friend who won’t touch Scream (too violent) but whose favorite horror movie is Hereditary (but it was done so well!) and that’s on personal taste. In any case, genre is a blurry line anyways, right? There are elements of horror in so many movies that I wouldn’t explicitly call horror (8th grade, Uncut Gems, Pan’s Labyrinth) that this is all kind of an exercise in futility.

I also thought I’d walk out of this with some sweeping insight about people who like horror eg we’re artsier, smarter, cooler, just better overall (jury’s still out on this for now), but I got nothing. I like horror for the metaphor, the philosophy, and the gnarl. Some like horror for the release. Others like it for the control. Comfort vs anxiety, catharsis vs grief, smart vs stupid, horror offers a million contradictory things.

Maybe this whole rant is less about finding an answer and more me trying to find a way to talk about one of my favorite things without shutting the conversation down before it starts. Do you watch horror movies? Hell no? Oh okay have a nice day sorry for asking VS Oh that’s interesting why not? Have you ever seen even one? What kind of stories do you like? That vibe. Horror is complicated. People are complicated. Taste is messy. That’s alright! But if you do watch horror—like, really watch it—then you don’t need to hear it from me. And if you don’t? That’s your lane and you deserve respect no matter what kind of movies you enjoy.

(Coward.)