How Do Horror Movies Affect Your Brain?
By Laura Ciucia and Kiara Gonzalez
Did you ever hear the phrase: your actions have consequences? Whether you think about it or not this phrase is related to watching horror movies because they can have very big consequences on the brain.
Your brain reacts to every little thing even if you don’t feel it. These reactions can be positive or negative. If you want to find out how and why your brain reacts this way to horror movies then keep reading to find out more!
What Your Brain Thinks While Watching a Horror Movie
While watching a horror movie, you know that what you see isn’t real. Unfortunately, that’s not what your brain thinks. Your brain thinks that everything your eyes see is real. For example, Edward Araujo is a sixth grader who enjoys horror movies. He says that “Halloween” is the scariest movie that he has ever seen, especially when Michael dies. What he doesn’t realize is that his brain believes that what he is watching is real and wants to warn him against danger.
According to the site Psychology Spot, the brain can’t tell that what you are watching isn’t real. “When we watch a movie, we know what we are seeing isn’t real. Yet, sometimes the scenes are so realistic they keep us in suspense throughout the movie, and we seem to experience first hand the feelings of a protagonist.”
Don’t you think that it’s weird that you know what you watch isn’t real, but your brain doesn’t believe that? Well that’s why it reacts in a way that we might not understand. Like when someone screams that sends an alarm to your brain that something is wrong or someone is in danger. And when that happens in a horror movie even though it is fake acting, your brain won’t believe that. It will want you to take cover to protect yourself.
Why We Keep Watching Horror Movies
Sure horror movies can be scary but if they are so terrifying then why do we keep watching them? Well the reason that we keep watching horror movies is because 1) they help us face our fears and 2) they can be pretty emotional and they can relate to either happy, sad, or frustrating things that we did throughout life that can be pretty touching.
I once saw a movie that was emotional. It was a movie called “Hachi”. It was about a dog and his owner, which reminded me about me and my dog, so that was pretty touching movie to me. It wasn’t scary, but it helped me process my own relationship and feelings about my dog.
Psychologist Jennifer Delgado states, “Another theory hints at the fact that horror or violent movies help us manage our own fear.” When you watch a horror movie and when you see that nothing happens to you while facing the scariest part, you will no longer have fear about what you see. So, it helps you work through your fear.
Delgado also writes that “Basically, we like these movies because watching them is like getting on an emotional roller coaster.” This proves that horror movies help us face our fears, which is something we humans apparently really enjoy.
HPCMS Students and Horror Films
Instead of you guys only hearing what we thought about horror movies, we wanted to know what you thought about them. So, we sent out interviews to the whole school and got some unexpected answers in return.
Your brain reacts to every little thing even if you don’t feel it. These reactions can be positive or negative. If you want to find out how and why your brain reacts this way to horror movies then keep reading to find out more!
What Your Brain Thinks While Watching a Horror Movie
While watching a horror movie, you know that what you see isn’t real. Unfortunately, that’s not what your brain thinks. Your brain thinks that everything your eyes see is real. For example, Edward Araujo is a sixth grader who enjoys horror movies. He says that “Halloween” is the scariest movie that he has ever seen, especially when Michael dies. What he doesn’t realize is that his brain believes that what he is watching is real and wants to warn him against danger.
According to the site Psychology Spot, the brain can’t tell that what you are watching isn’t real. “When we watch a movie, we know what we are seeing isn’t real. Yet, sometimes the scenes are so realistic they keep us in suspense throughout the movie, and we seem to experience first hand the feelings of a protagonist.”
Don’t you think that it’s weird that you know what you watch isn’t real, but your brain doesn’t believe that? Well that’s why it reacts in a way that we might not understand. Like when someone screams that sends an alarm to your brain that something is wrong or someone is in danger. And when that happens in a horror movie even though it is fake acting, your brain won’t believe that. It will want you to take cover to protect yourself.
Why We Keep Watching Horror Movies
Sure horror movies can be scary but if they are so terrifying then why do we keep watching them? Well the reason that we keep watching horror movies is because 1) they help us face our fears and 2) they can be pretty emotional and they can relate to either happy, sad, or frustrating things that we did throughout life that can be pretty touching.
I once saw a movie that was emotional. It was a movie called “Hachi”. It was about a dog and his owner, which reminded me about me and my dog, so that was pretty touching movie to me. It wasn’t scary, but it helped me process my own relationship and feelings about my dog.
Psychologist Jennifer Delgado states, “Another theory hints at the fact that horror or violent movies help us manage our own fear.” When you watch a horror movie and when you see that nothing happens to you while facing the scariest part, you will no longer have fear about what you see. So, it helps you work through your fear.
Delgado also writes that “Basically, we like these movies because watching them is like getting on an emotional roller coaster.” This proves that horror movies help us face our fears, which is something we humans apparently really enjoy.
HPCMS Students and Horror Films
Instead of you guys only hearing what we thought about horror movies, we wanted to know what you thought about them. So, we sent out interviews to the whole school and got some unexpected answers in return.
As you can see, the majority of students, 52.9%, who responded to the survey said that they liked being scared. Instead, some students said that they feel horror movies are terrifying and the rest weren’t so sure. You can look at all students answers by looking at the data above.
Now you know why our brain reacts the way it does while watching a horror movie and why we keep watching them! Did you like this article? If you ever see us in the hall or in the cafeteria, then you can give us an idea for another article. Well, until next time… .
Power Words With Definitions:
Phrase: A saying or a quote.
Consequences: The result of your actions.
Protagonist: The main person of something or a situation.
Interviews: Asking people questions about a certain topic.
Reacts: A response or action to something.
Emotional: Related to a person’s feelings or emotions.
Suspense: Feeling excited or anxious about what may happen.
Realistic: Something that is true to life.
Now you know why our brain reacts the way it does while watching a horror movie and why we keep watching them! Did you like this article? If you ever see us in the hall or in the cafeteria, then you can give us an idea for another article. Well, until next time… .
Power Words With Definitions:
Phrase: A saying or a quote.
Consequences: The result of your actions.
Protagonist: The main person of something or a situation.
Interviews: Asking people questions about a certain topic.
Reacts: A response or action to something.
Emotional: Related to a person’s feelings or emotions.
Suspense: Feeling excited or anxious about what may happen.
Realistic: Something that is true to life.
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