Completely Desensitized to Horror?

[Panache]

OK well quite recently I have seen the Devils Rejects. I saw the original and it horrified me when I first saw. It now seeing this a few years later I thought it was funny...

Now a bunch of people I know were like scarred for life by this movie. Some guy even needed therapy for a while...Is that normal? I mean it isn't just this one either. I saw hostel and nothing not even a little scared(well except when my mother screamed on the top of her lungs and I almost crapped my pants but that doesn't count...). I saw the descent as well and not a darn thing. It's not even purely movies. I play video games and things like that and things my buds get horrified by(the darkness,doom ect...) I think are child's play. These are pretty jaded dudes too. So what I am getting at is this. Is there something wrong with not being scared by anything the people in Hollywood(or whatever...) throw at me? Is it ok I am desensitized to such things at 16 years old? Are any of you guys like this?

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]You know how sometimes you'll walk into a classroom and there'll be this really strange, kind of unpleasant smell lingering around the air? And you know how after you stay in the room for a while, the smell kind of goes away?

It hasn't. Your brain has simply been processing the same identical information for so long that it chooses to no longer acknowledge it.

Same thing here. The more you expose yourself to extremely graphic material, the less it affects you. It's why I dislike gratuitous violence; such stuff only serves to placate and numb the audience, and never does anything for the actual story.

It's also why I do not watch horror flicks. The same stories can be told without the incessant graphic content, which should be used for effect and not as a mainstay.[/FONT]

[Claire]

[FONT="Arial"]Not all horror movies have gore and violence, though...or at least not as much as certain other movies. Halloween, The Exorcist, The Shining, and the Ring rely more on emotional horror than physical disgust (although they do have moments of blood and grossness and such).

For years I was afraid to watch horror movies because I thought they would keep me up at night or give me nightmares or something. I finally watched The Shining when I was in the ninth grade and I loved it. After that, I could calmly watch all the movies I mentioned above without getting scared at all, and I loved them (except for Halloween, which was really just boring). Horror books don't bother me, either, unless I'm reading them at night.

However, there is no possible way for me to watch gorey torture/murder scenes without feeling sick. My friends wanted to watch Hostel one night, and I spent more than half the movie with my face buried in the couch. It wasn't just feeling disgusted because of the snot and vomit and guts; it was extremely disturbing to watch people getting cut up and tortured.

I don't think I can handle horror games, though. I rented Fatal Frame and couldn't even get past the first part of the game (partly because it was confusing, but trying to play it was incredibly nervewracking).

I'm still a baby when it comes to real life horror. I can't sleep without my lamp and TV on, or else I'll hear random noises in the house and over-think them. It's also pretty hard for me to not believe in ghosts, what with the stories my mom has told me about her father's house. The last time I had to spend the night there I couldn't sleep AT ALL.[/FONT]

[Semjaza]

Honestly, it sounds like your friends are a bunch of wimps.

[Guest The Blue Jihad]

[quote name='Semjaza']Honestly, it sounds like your friends are a bunch of wimps.[/quote]


Seconded.

For a genuinely unsettling movie experience, though, try the original Night of the Living Dead at 3 am, and walk past your back patio's sliding glass door on your way to bed. THAT will get you messed up.

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]Meh, never been a fan of horror films, but I tend to agree with Tony and Alex, that's Semjaza and Blue Jihad by the way, that your friends must be a bit sensetive for one of them to actually require therapy after seeing a horror flick.

Whether or not you've actually become desensitised, Allamorph summed it up the best. After repeatedly exposing yourself to that kind of media, evidently you've simply stopped responding to it normally, and that is desensitisation.[/SIZE]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='Avenged666fold'] Is it ok I am desensitized to such things at 16 years old? Are any of you guys like this?[/QUOTE]Well I wouldn't say I am desensitized to the same level, however, seeing that it's hard to forget that what's going on isn't real... It is hard to take it seriously and actually be frightened by it. Especially when so many of those horror flicks are totally predictable. XP And in the end, Allamorph really summed it up the best as to why people simply ignore such stuff.

The ones that get me the most are the movies based on a real psycho's story, it's a little hard to not get unnerved when you know that what you're seeing did at one time really happen to some poor soul. I'll admit that those do creep me out a little.

[Panache]

My friends aren't wimps. The watch horror movies on a regular basis and generally aren't affected. Actually I have found something that scared the ever loving **** out of me recently. It is called the screw tape letters from C.S. Lewis. Scary stuff in there. Anyway I was mostly worried because I watched the Devils Rejects and wasn't really bothered. I was actually gonna put this in the Music/Tv/Movies section but then I doctored it up a bit for here. I am pretty much over it now. I guess media just doesn't scare me as much as it does my friends.

[Guest The Blue Jihad]

[quote name='Avenged666fold']My friends aren't wimps. The watch horror movies on a regular basis and generally aren't affected.[/quote]


If they get scared of Doom and The Darkness, they're wimps.

[Vicky]

[SIZE=1]Horror films and gory games don't scare me. I jump when things pop out, that's about it. The last time I got scared after a horror film was watching some weird zombie thing, and my friend came down pretending to speak Klingon (a joke between the two of us, because I like Star Trek and he hates it). The combination of someone trying to speak Klingon and stumbling through the door waving their arms was... well yeah =/

The same thing also happened to me when I watched Night of the Living Dead when I was little kid, Jihad. I screamed so loud that I woke my parents up and they came rushing down stairs thinking I just got shot. And my god I stayed away from the back doors for a week.

Anyway, Allamorph hit it on the head as previously stated. You get used to it. And the fact that it's not real often makes the effect less intense.

I'll tell you the last real film to scare me: Requiem for a Dream. Beautiful, but scary at the same time. As in, psychological, like Rach said it the sort of thing that happens to real people and seeing four people's lives break down just shocked me. I can honestly, honestly say that the thought of heroin makes me nervous after that.

Psychological stuff is probably more your thing if horror doesn't do it, anyways.[/SIZE]

[John]

As for your original question of if it's [I]wrong[/I] to be desensitized to violence, I don't necessarily think so. I've naturally always been somewhat hardened against emotional responses myself, so I might be biased on this, but I don't think people have the right to judge you on which emotions you feel or don't feel.

[joshdude89]

[quote name='John']As for your original question of if it's [I]wrong[/I] to be desensitized to violence, I don't necessarily think so. I've naturally always been somewhat hardened against emotional responses myself, so I might be biased on this, but I don't think people have the right to judge you on which emotions you feel or don't feel.[/QUOTE]

seconded. Although, I'd still prefer to be able to feel fear or disgust at those movies...but that's just me... Man, did I hate the Devil's Rejects...

[Aaryanna_Mom]

[quote name='Avenged666fold']So what I am getting at is this. Is there something wrong with not being scared by anything the people in Hollywood(or whatever...) throw at me? Is it ok I am desensitized to such things at 16 years old? Are any of you guys like this?[/QUOTE]I would have to say there is nothing wrong with not being scarred. And though I find it a bit sad to see kids desensitized at such a young age, I don't see a problem with that either. Though I'll still argue that you're too young for such horror. ;)

Personally, sometimes I kind of wish I was more desensitized since I rarely watch any horror films as they tend to be too creepy for my tastes. I know they aren't real, but technology has made such huge advances in making things[I] look[/I] real that I've gotten where I'd rather not see the fake blood, gore, violence, etc.

I'm more use to watching shows where the fear came from watching the people react instead of senseless blood and gore. A good example would be the original movie The Thing. Not the silly remake mind you, but the original black and white that came out in 1951. I definately prefer horror to be more psychological instead of graphic. So I guess in the end, I'm a wimp, and proud of it.

[PWNED]

Unfortunatly, desensitation is quite crap to deal with. I'm personally a coward with psychological horror and I'm very squemish about a lot of horror films but I'm fine with this, it adds to the experience. However we are confronted with images similar to that of a horror movie on television and in the news so its easy to be desensitized.

[Panache]

[quote name='Aaryanna_Mom']I would have to say there is nothing wrong with not being scarred. And though I find it a bit sad to see kids desensitized at such a young age, I don't see a problem with that either. Though I'll still argue that you're too young for such horror. ;)

Personally, sometimes I kind of wish I was more desensitized since I rarely watch any horror films as they tend to be too creepy for my tastes. I know they aren't real, but technology has made such huge advances in making things[I] look[/I] real that I've gotten where I'd rather not see the fake blood, gore, violence, etc.

I'm more use to watching shows where the fear came from watching the people react instead of senseless blood and gore. A good example would be the original movie The Thing. Not the silly remake mind you, but the original black and white that came out in 1951. I definately prefer horror to be more psychological instead of graphic. So I guess in the end, I'm a wimp, and proud of it.[/QUOTE]

Well it's the highly psychological ones that don't bother me. It's the ones that are suppose to have a lasting impact that don't affect me. The bloody nasty ones that are like "Lols her eye popped out" I am like "this isn't horror it's violent porn." Do I like violent porn? Hellz no.

On a side note I found a song that talks about this sorta thing by Tool. Awesome!

[xPromise]

The thrill for watching horror movies was definitely desensitized.
I'd watch all of the horror movies with my (much older) cousins..
And now, I'm completely immune to such gorey and violent films.

At times, like where they jump out, my heart may jump a bit, but nothing much.

I tend to laugh at horror movies now.

Also because I remember that during the movie (if someone disappears or dies), they're just off-stage. That's helpful. :P

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][quote name='Rachmaninoff']The ones that get me the most are the movies based on a real psycho's story, it's a little hard to not get unnerved when you know that what you're seeing did at one time really happen to some poor soul. I'll admit that those do creep me out a little.[/QUOTE]Those get me the most too. >_< I watched one about some sicko in Australia that would kidnap people, and the things he did to them? *shudder*

The rest of the time, even with the blood and gore, it's hard to take it seriously since it isn't real. Though I'm not really a fan of Horror since most of the time it's kind of too predictable and boring. It doesn't help that many rely on the graphic aspect instead of real acting.

As for it being okay to be so desensitized? It's kind of hard not to with how graphic movies, games and television shows are becoming. So in that context I'd say it's probably pretty normal. XP [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Disenchanted]

[quote name='SunfallE'][COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]Those get me the most too. >_< I watched one about some sicko in Australia that would kidnap people, and the things he did to them? *shudder*
[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

That would be Wolf Creek ^ ^, some crazy dude grabed a punch of backpackers in the middle of the desert if I recal. Spose your never coming to Australia then?

[QUOTE]Originally Posted by Rachmaninoff
The ones that get me the most are the movies based on a real psycho's story, it's a little hard to not get unnerved when you know that what you're seeing did at one time really happen to some poor soul. I'll admit that those do creep me out a little.[/QUOTE]

Ohh they scare me to no end, for the reason you stated but I haven't seen that many to know if the writers exaggerate the details to make it seem more frighteneing or stick to actual facts about what happened.

As for the general question, I have a friend who is more or less like you Avenged666fold, she is not scared by anything remotely related to horror, infact she just laughs. It just comes down to the fact, someone stated before, that shes watched so much of it, it doesn't bother her anymore. I do feel bothered by the fact that she can watch such graphic things as, people in pain and being tortured [I][based on real events or not] [/I]and just laugh at them.

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR="goldenrod"][FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Well I wouldn't say it's bad or wrong to be desensitized to horror, but I certainly have no interest in watching enough shows to end up that way. XP I hate stuff like that and if that makes me a wimp... I'm proud to be one. It's annoying because I know it's not real... But it still grosses me out. >_< It doesn't scar me for life though. lol[quote name='Disenchanted']That would be Wolf Creek ^ ^, some crazy dude grabed a punch of backpackers in the middle of the desert if I recal. Spose your never coming to Australia then?[/QUOTE]I saw part of that... I had to turn it off. >_< I don't know about Beth, but I still want to visit Australia some day. I mean, we have our sickos too unfortunately and one of the more famous ones lived in Utah for a while. I'm pretty sure they made a movie about Ted Bundy. He was sick. [/FONT][/COLOR]