how dark do you like your tea?
Do you ever really stop to think about the things you put in your body? How often do we look at our food consumption and think “gods, I need to eat better”? And how about your brain? Do you ever think about what the media you put into it does to it? Do you make those sorts of choices conscientiously or are you the type to just “catch whatever’s there”? And does the media make the person? Or does the person choose the media based on their personality.
I have an obsession with horror movies/novels/comics. Do you think it’s because I have a dark outlook on life? Or do you think that dark outlook was caused by the obsession?
For the record: I definitely was cynical long before I became a fan of horror. I didn’t really get into horror until my 20s. Although I enjoyed a lot of darker, “gothic” things and many horror novels in high school I was simply not the type to watch a lot of movies. I grew into that, as I found myself with less time but also more jaded by the experiences life had brought me. I often get to a point where all I feel is empty and I’ll do just about anything to try and jumpstart some sort of emotion – any emotion. That was why I started watching horror movies seriously. I wanted to scare myself back to reason. Unfortunately, all it’s really done is numb me to most fears. Although I’m easy to startle, it’s almost impossible to actually scare me.
Well. Unless you know my triggers.
I still watch horror, though, even if the scary factor has worn off. Why? Because they reflect my views of life far better than ordinary drama or comedies. (I actually despise most comedies.) I especially find “chick flicks” to be trashy and fake and impossible. Life isn’t like that. Romance is laughable to me. I believe in love but romance is a sick veneer set out to fool the innocently hopeful and I won’t waste my time watching/reading about it.
But horror? Horror presents such fantastic ideas of real hope and real love. It presents facets of real human emotion, not just prettified happily-ever-after shit. For example? Here are some of my favourite lines from horror/thriller films:
“I don’t want her to fucking cope, I want her to be okay!” (28 Days Later)
“People don’t always tell you what they are thinking. They just see to it that you don’t advance in life.” (Hannibal)
“Congratulations. You are still alive. Most people are so ungrateful to be alive. But not you. Not anymore.” (Saw)
“At the end of time, a moment will come when just one man remains. Then the moment will pass. Man will be gone. There will be nothing to show that we were ever here… but stardust.” (Sunshine)
“You’re all gonna die. The only question is how you check out. Do you want it on your feet? Or on your fuckin’ knees… begging? I ain’t much for begging! Nobody ever gave me nothing! So I say *fuck* that thing! Let’s fight it!” (Alien3)
“Why? Why are the innocent punished? Why the sacrifice? Why the pain? There aren’t any promises. Nothing certain. Only that some get called, some get saved. She won’t ever know the hardship and grief for those of us left behind. We commit these bodies to the void with a glad heart. For within each seed, there is a promise of a flower, and within each death, no matter how small, there’s always a new life. A new beginning. Amen.” (Alien3)
“Life is a game. So fight for survival and see if you’re worth it.” (Battle Royal)
“Do know what’s really scary? You want to forget something. Totally wipe it off your mind. But you never can. It can’t go away, you see. And… and it follows you around like a ghost.” (A Tale of Two Sisters)
Cherry Darling: “I’m not that optimistic. I feel like I’m sinking down a drain and I can’t get out.”
Dr. Dakota Block: “She’d say, ‘when you’re stuck in that spiral, you reach up’.”
Cherry Darling: “What if there’s nothing up there?”
Dr. Dakota Block: “Just reach up.” (Planet Terror)