What is the attraction of the "dark side" to readers/audiences today? Why is this such a popular genre?
Journals need to be posted by class time on Monday.
14 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I think the attraction that all people have to the dark side of life is primarily due to the fact that it is so out of reach. Most people cannot even imagine feeding people to kids, so when something like Time and Again is written, people are completely fascinated by the thought process of the narrator. People love to think about things that they do not understand and cannot dream up themselves. I know that i really thought that this story was interesting because of the feeling that something was up the whole time i read. The attraction we feel is evident when one considers the reaction that America had to the saw movies. Part of that facination is putting ourselves in the characters' shoes. We wonder if we could really push ourselves that far to survive. How far would we go before we finally broke? Questions like these are not only part of how we deal with these wierd, twisted stories, it is also how, deep down we can relate with that twisted facination.
I think that part of the attraction has to do with the fascination with emo. It seems like everywhere you go anymore, there is someone with some kind of emo characteristic about them. When people think of emo they think about the music that these people make and that is exactly why it is so popular all over. These people are looked at as "idols" and thus are imitated which is the reason it is all over the place these days. Another reason is just the fact that it is such a mind twisting thing to think about. People like it when there brain is at work, whether they realize it or not. When you read these dark stories it makes you think and try and figure out every detail of the story. This makes a story more enjoyable. That is somewhat the same reason action movies and murder mysteries are so popular also. The dark side makes you think and shows you a side you yourself don't believe is possible for you to do on your own.
Curiosity killed the cat... It is that same fatal curiosity that can be found in us. The very same curiosity that makes seek out the darker nature of this world. The same curiosity that may bring us to our final demise... People can not help it. Where there is a dark corner or an unlit hallway there is also a possibility of glimpsing the unknown or the untold. Imagine your favorite horror film. How many times do you find yourself yelling at the protagonist urging him to retreat to the comfort of what is sure and safe? How many times does he listen? ...and how many times does he find it necessary to continue on into the dark without any though of gain or progress? It is this need to know that confines us to endure the consequences of our ill-advised actions. Human beings by nature seek to uncover the truth of nature. It is the by the writings of people like Poe that people find a window into this dark and this still unknown world.
I think the reason for why people are attracted to the dark side is that they are able read about something they themsleves would never think of. So when authors start writing about feeding people to pigs, the readers get a glimpse into the darker side of a human mind that completely escapes them. Many people would never dream of feeding people to pigs, yet here is a man that is doing it. It bewilders people's minds. They love to think about all the reasons and answers why someone would do such a thing. When they cannot find the answers, they keep reading the story. The fact that people have to think to find the answer just intensifies the need to read the story. One result of the dark side is that people are able to put themselves into positions that they normally would not be in and it makes them wonder how far would they go.
I think that the dark side is so popular because people love abstract thinking. Dark literature is very different from the stories we are used to with happy endings. Many of these types of stories are too predictable. Readers want new and interesting stories that capture their attention and make them think. I believe that dark stories also offer more suspense than other stories. Suspense is like an addictive drug. A reader can’t just stop after a really tense part in a story. They have to continue reading to find out what happens. I thought Time and Again was great because I could never even dream up anything like that. Stories like these frighten people and give them sensations that they don’t often experience in literature. Additionally, in a story like Pancake’s, the reader is forced to think in the frame of mind of the killer to find out what is really happening. ☺
In my opinion, we are attracted to the dark side because it is something different for our everyday lives. We get to venture into a world unlike our own. It's intriguing to read about things that would never really happen to us. This genre can both give us an escape for the ordinary or make us appreciate our real world. When reading about a world of fantasy, like in Underworld or Van Helsing, we encounter a world of adventure that is much more interesting than our own. No one actually falls in love while fighting against villians, let alone vampires, but it seems more intense and romantic in a weird sort of way. On the other end of the spectrum of the dark side are the horror and ghost stories. In Time and Again, we read about a serial killer and that's frightening. But then after we've finished reading, we think "Luckily that'll never happen to me." Horror stories make the world we live in seem safer, more normal, and even though it isn't always true, we can make-believe that bad things only happen in the stories.
Almost everyone has said the same thing, and I agree. People would never dream up a lot of things in stories like Time and Again. Nobody likes to read books where you can predict the ending from practically page one. So I think that most people are attracted to the unpredictability with all the sick twists in books of this genre. Matt's example of saw is a really good example. Most people wouldn't even dream of doing the things that some people have to do in those movies just to survive. Stories like that do make you wonder just how far you would go.
I think people are attracted to the dark side because it sparks their curiosity, its something that they can’t completely understand and is different form their ordinary life. I think that people can’t help but be fascinated with a world that they themselves could never imagine being a part of or that fills them with the excitement of suspense and curiosity. A good example of this are horror films, there you are immersed in this dark world and the climax of the movie is about to happen the music is playing your heart is beating faster your eyes are wide open not wanting to miss a thing just waiting for something to happen. It’s this intense moment that people love. We love wondering about the inner workings of the human mind and why some chose to do what seem to us outrageous or sometimes morally wrong things. I think it’s the mystery that will always keep us coming back for more.
I think that people are attracted to the "dark side" because most people only come in contact with it in stories, not in real life. If the "dark side" was seen by all or most people daily it would not be so interesting. Writers like Poe and Pancake let people use their own brains to figure out what the story means by themselves and that’s another reason why these stories are so addicting. In Time and Again most of the story did not make any sense to me the first time I read it but I could tell that there was something weird happening. Then after reading it again and after the class talked about it I understood exactly what was happening. Somebody who can use all of those little clues and put them together into a story must be very talented. The attraction to the dark side is so popular that almost half of the movies and books that come out today have the same twisted and dark plots.
I think that we are so attracted to the dark side of things because it is something that is different then what we are used to. Its not the everyday occurances of life. Its more exciting and suspenseful. Kind of like, something like this could possibly happen to you as a reader, but then it is a long stretch for it to actually happen. I think that it is just that little possiblility that it could happen to you that stays in the back of your mind as you read it. I know that when I read or watch suspense movies about the dark side I sometimes catch myself thinking that the "bad" guy is actually going after me. Like I said before, I feel it is so popluar becuause it excites the human mind and keeps the reader of viewer hooked the whole time because you never know what is going to happen next.
I have to agree with Matt. I think that people really enjoy looking into the minds of crazy people. The fact that most "normal people" wouldn't even think to feed people they have killed to pigs adds a ton of shock appeal to it. People love to be shocked and that is why they are drawn to the dark side. (Everytime I see that phrase I think of Star Wars.)
I think i agree with everyone else. People are attraced to the dark side because it is different. When someone gets killed in areally cool way everyone likes it. They think it is cool and fun to watch. The dark things keep you awake. You want to see more and want to see what happens. Also, when something is weird it is different, we dont like seeing the same thing over and over again.
I agree with pretty much everything that's been said but oh well here goes. I think people find it interesting to go into someone's mind to see the terrible thoughts that we can't possibly fathom. None of us, hopefully, would think of such dark and terrible things, like feeding people to pigs, but it makes me personally interested in finding out whats gone on in a person's life to make them that warped. The human mind is so fascinating and the "dark side" is such a far stretch from everyday life.
14 comments:
I think the attraction that all people have to the dark side of life is primarily due to the fact that it is so out of reach. Most people cannot even imagine feeding people to kids, so when something like Time and Again is written, people are completely fascinated by the thought process of the narrator. People love to think about things that they do not understand and cannot dream up themselves. I know that i really thought that this story was interesting because of the feeling that something was up the whole time i read. The attraction we feel is evident when one considers the reaction that America had to the saw movies. Part of that facination is putting ourselves in the characters' shoes. We wonder if we could really push ourselves that far to survive. How far would we go before we finally broke? Questions like these are not only part of how we deal with these wierd, twisted stories, it is also how, deep down we can relate with that twisted facination.
haha feeding people to kids i meant pigs... oops
I think that part of the attraction has to do with the fascination with emo. It seems like everywhere you go anymore, there is someone with some kind of emo characteristic about them. When people think of emo they think about the music that these people make and that is exactly why it is so popular all over. These people are looked at as "idols" and thus are imitated which is the reason it is all over the place these days. Another reason is just the fact that it is such a mind twisting thing to think about. People like it when there brain is at work, whether they realize it or not. When you read these dark stories it makes you think and try and figure out every detail of the story. This makes a story more enjoyable. That is somewhat the same reason action movies and murder mysteries are so popular also. The dark side makes you think and shows you a side you yourself don't believe is possible for you to do on your own.
Curiosity killed the cat... It is that same fatal curiosity that can be found in us. The very same curiosity that makes seek out the darker nature of this world. The same curiosity that may bring us to our final demise... People can not help it. Where there is a dark corner or an unlit hallway there is also a possibility of glimpsing the unknown or the untold. Imagine your favorite horror film. How many times do you find yourself yelling at the protagonist urging him to retreat to the comfort of what is sure and safe? How many times does he listen? ...and how many times does he find it necessary to continue on into the dark without any though of gain or progress? It is this need to know that confines us to endure the consequences of our ill-advised actions. Human beings by nature seek to uncover the truth of nature. It is the by the writings of people like Poe that people find a window into this dark and this still unknown world.
I think the reason for why people are attracted to the dark side is that they are able read about something they themsleves would never think of. So when authors start writing about feeding people to pigs, the readers get a glimpse into the darker side of a human mind that completely escapes them. Many people would never dream of feeding people to pigs, yet here is a man that is doing it. It bewilders people's minds. They love to think about all the reasons and answers why someone would do such a thing. When they cannot find the answers, they keep reading the story. The fact that people have to think to find the answer just intensifies the need to read the story. One result of the dark side is that people are able to put themselves into positions that they normally would not be in and it makes them wonder how far would they go.
I think that the dark side is so popular because people love abstract thinking. Dark literature is very different from the stories we are used to with happy endings. Many of these types of stories are too predictable. Readers want new and interesting stories that capture their attention and make them think. I believe that dark stories also offer more suspense than other stories. Suspense is like an addictive drug. A reader can’t just stop after a really tense part in a story. They have to continue reading to find out what happens. I thought Time and Again was great because I could never even dream up anything like that. Stories like these frighten people and give them sensations that they don’t often experience in literature. Additionally, in a story like Pancake’s, the reader is forced to think in the frame of mind of the killer to find out what is really happening. ☺
In my opinion, we are attracted to the dark side because it is something different for our everyday lives. We get to venture into a world unlike our own. It's intriguing to read about things that would never really happen to us. This genre can both give us an escape for the ordinary or make us appreciate our real world. When reading about a world of fantasy, like in Underworld or Van Helsing, we encounter a world of adventure that is much more interesting than our own. No one actually falls in love while fighting against villians, let alone vampires, but it seems more intense and romantic in a weird sort of way. On the other end of the spectrum of the dark side are the horror and ghost stories. In Time and Again, we read about a serial killer and that's frightening. But then after we've finished reading, we think "Luckily that'll never happen to me." Horror stories make the world we live in seem safer, more normal, and even though it isn't always true, we can make-believe that bad things only happen in the stories.
Almost everyone has said the same thing, and I agree.
People would never dream up a lot of things in stories like Time and Again. Nobody likes to read books where you can predict the ending from practically page one. So I think that most people are attracted to the unpredictability with all the sick twists in books of this genre. Matt's example of saw is a really good example. Most people wouldn't even dream of doing the things that some people have to do in those movies just to survive. Stories like that do make you wonder just how far you would go.
I think people are attracted to the dark side because it sparks their curiosity, its something that they can’t completely understand and is different form their ordinary life. I think that people can’t help but be fascinated with a world that they themselves could never imagine being a part of or that fills them with the excitement of suspense and curiosity. A good example of this are horror films, there you are immersed in this dark world and the climax of the movie is about to happen the music is playing your heart is beating faster your eyes are wide open not wanting to miss a thing just waiting for something to happen. It’s this intense moment that people love. We love wondering about the inner workings of the human mind and why some chose to do what seem to us outrageous or sometimes morally wrong things. I think it’s the mystery that will always keep us coming back for more.
I think that people are attracted to the "dark side" because most people only come in contact with it in stories, not in real life. If the "dark side" was seen by all or most people daily it would not be so interesting. Writers like Poe and Pancake let people use their own brains to figure out what the story means by themselves and that’s another reason why these stories are so addicting. In Time and Again most of the story did not make any sense to me the first time I read it but I could tell that there was something weird happening. Then after reading it again and after the class talked about it I understood exactly what was happening. Somebody who can use all of those little clues and put them together into a story must be very talented. The attraction to the dark side is so popular that almost half of the movies and books that come out today have the same twisted and dark plots.
I think that we are so attracted to the dark side of things because it is something that is different then what we are used to. Its not the everyday occurances of life. Its more exciting and suspenseful. Kind of like, something like this could possibly happen to you as a reader, but then it is a long stretch for it to actually happen. I think that it is just that little possiblility that it could happen to you that stays in the back of your mind as you read it. I know that when I read or watch suspense movies about the dark side I sometimes catch myself thinking that the "bad" guy is actually going after me. Like I said before, I feel it is so popluar becuause it excites the human mind and keeps the reader of viewer hooked the whole time because you never know what is going to happen next.
I have to agree with Matt. I think that people really enjoy looking into the minds of crazy people. The fact that most "normal people" wouldn't even think to feed people they have killed to pigs adds a ton of shock appeal to it. People love to be shocked and that is why they are drawn to the dark side. (Everytime I see that phrase I think of Star Wars.)
I think i agree with everyone else. People are attraced to the dark side because it is different. When someone gets killed in areally cool way everyone likes it. They think it is cool and fun to watch. The dark things keep you awake. You want to see more and want to see what happens. Also, when something is weird it is different, we dont like seeing the same thing over and over again.
I agree with pretty much everything that's been said but oh well here goes. I think people find it interesting to go into someone's mind to see the terrible thoughts that we can't possibly fathom. None of us, hopefully, would think of such dark and terrible things, like feeding people to pigs, but it makes me personally interested in finding out whats gone on in a person's life to make them that warped. The human mind is so fascinating and the "dark side" is such a far stretch from everyday life.
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