A recent conversation with a friend left me pondering the nature of imagination and its role in the world of entertainment.
We were discussing summer movies, specifically horror films, and how they seem to be experiencing a resurgence at the box office.
As someone who has spent their career championing the genre, I was excited to see people returning to theaters to watch horror movies. However, I must confess that I don't actually enjoy horror films.
It's not a matter of aesthetics or personal taste; I simply don't find them plausible. I don't believe that a supernatural being or a masked killer is lurking around every corner, waiting to strike.
My friend suggested that I must not have an imagination, as I don't seem to find horror movies frightening. But I disagree – I have a vivid and often terrifying imagination.
I can envision all sorts of worst-case scenarios, from bridges collapsing to car crashes and plane crashes. I can imagine the sensation of falling or losing control of a vehicle.
These scenarios aren't just abstract concepts; they are real possibilities that I've encountered or heard about. And that's what makes them so frightening – they're not the stuff of fiction, but rather the reality of life.
Horror movies, on the other hand, often rely on clichés and tropes to create a sense of tension and fear. The music builds, the doors creak, and the hot girl goes into the basement – it's all just a precursor to the inevitable jump scare.
But in real life, the frightening moments often arrive without warning, without a soundtrack or a sense of foreboding. It's just a sudden snap of bridge cables or a phone call at the wrong hour.
My imagination has standards, and it won't work on a premise that it doesn't believe. And so, I find it difficult to appreciate horror movies, as they often rely on contrived and unrealistic scenarios to create fear.
Everything can be a horror movie to me, except for horror movies themselves.
