It’s a dark scene, and the images on the screen (whatever the size) fear for their lives. Suddenly the creature appears, do you jump? Do you scream? Did you even react? I sure as hell did, and ya know, it was kinda really fun! I guess I could have stepped out of the scene before the monster made its appearance, but for me that ruins half the fun of the suspense.
Why do some people choose to remove themselves from the suspension of disbelief to be grounded in reality. Movies are intended in my opinion to escape reality, some are based in it, while others teach, but all intent and purpose they’re fantastical stories told for our entertainment. Take the new comic book or video game based movies we’re seeing, and Disney is the granddaddy of supercalifragilisticexpialidociuos.
We all seem to wince when witnessing a sports player hit in the groin, but only some of us jump when the monster appears. Is it a lack of empathy? Is it the fact we can all relate to pain? Whatever it is, some make the conscious decision to not react to what we witness.
Next time you’re engrossed in a theatrical feature, allow yourself to get lost, it’s fun to be startled from time to time. The adrenaline rush, the increased heart rate, the rush of warmth across the skin. All perfectly natural reactions triggered by our fight or flight system. The question is, do you allow yourself to get lost (and possibly scared) in the fantasy or do you notice the cues to remove yourself from the suspense? That choice is yours, but I like to trick my central nervous system.
