(no subject)

[oyceter]

*sniff* Last day of work today. Very strange. Sigh, am going to miss the bookstore, but I have people's emails, and must remember, it is just down the street. And also must remind myself that I don't have to shelve books next week! Woot.

But it was very nice, and everyone said bye, and they even had a cake and a card. I feel very appreciated now. It is nice knowing that they thought I was quite a wonderful employee -- counteracts the ughness of ibanking. Also, heh, I like having my ego stroked (I told this to the boy and he responded by stroking my hair. "That's not where my ego is!" I said.). I also bought another giant load of books. I probably have enough non-fiction to last me through the year. Sigh. And then I had to return everything I had borrowed, half of which I haven't even finished yet, which made me remember that I can't just pop in there and borrow stuff anymore. Best library ever.

Then the boy and I went to see Shaun of the Dead and left half-nauseated, half-amused. The first part was great, absolutely hilarious, but then it starting hunkering down and really being a zombie movie, which is when I started getting nauseous. So yeah, that's about all the zombie movie I can take. That got me thinking: I instrinsically dislike horror. I can't off the top of my head think of any other genre that I intrinsically dislike. I mean, I am indifferent toward mystery but can be persuaded by good characters or humor or the like. Obviously I enjoy romances (depending on the quality of the writing). I tend toward scoffing at thrillers, but again, it depends on the level of characterization mostly. Also, a lack of comparing one's hero to an aging Indiana Jones helps (*cough*DanBrown*cough*). But I will not watch or read or listen to horror.

Unless, of course, the horror is extremely minimal, and even then, I dislike the horror elements (yes, I closed my eyes through half of Sixth Sense). I think perhaps the big exception to this with me is Buffy, in which case I take the scary portions, like Hush or Conversations with Dead People, because the rest of the show is wonderful. Basically, when it comes down to it, I'm incredibly squeamish (ergo the general un-excitement about thrillers) and really hate being scared. Slightly frightened I can do, but I don't want to be given nightmares or the like.

So I wonder if people who don't like romance or sci-fi or fantasy or mystery have this same sort of visceral reaction. And I wonder what it's to? The pseudo-historical settings in fantasy? The magic? The intrinsic not-of-this-world-ness? A story focused on emotions? It's strange thinking about it, because obviously I enjoy the genres and as such, can't quite bend my head around what other people would find off-putting.

Comments

Well, you did ask....

[jennyo.livejournal.com]

*grin* Visceral reaction to romances from me as non-romance fan: "People in love are cloying and boring! All their emotions are the same and they think being in love means they can be selfish losers! Give me a thriller any day!" I'm not a fan of goopy, fluid horror myself (I never need to see the viscera, thank you), but I like being creeped out, not as much as I love the mechanics of plot and the rising tension in a good hardcore thriller.

For me, a thriller w/a side of dark comedy is just, the best thing ever, because in the ones I like, it's competent people kicking ass and taking names, clever little twists, a sense of urgency, scares and thrills, and kinetic motion, including stuff like spy sex. Plus that really dark, almost gallows humor...mmm.

Re: Well, you did ask....

[oyceter]

Ooo, thanks. I find it interesting that I'm always chirping on about "Characters! I have to like the characters!" while my boyfriend will be more about "Nothing happens. This is boring. They just sit and talk." Though we both have a thing for caper movies and spy gadgets. Mmmm, spy gadgets.

People always talk about how you can't judge an entire genre as good or bad, but sometimes something poorly done in one genre will hit all my buttons, and while I can admire a well-made horror movie (er, if I actually got my eyes open through all of it), it would most likely never earn its place on my favorites list.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

I also hate, hate, hate horror movies. I hate being scared intensly. I love movies like Sixth Sense and Signs - but only afterwards. If it's just a creepy slasher movie, I hate it hate it hate it. I watched (and loved) Signs with my roommate, and spent most of the movie cowering under my sweatshirt, insisting she warn me when the scary parts were coming. :shudder: I don't know why I really hate them so much. I mean, I know it's not real; I know it's nothing that can actually affect me in any way in the real world. And yet, I can't stand watching them - they turn me into a child cowering under a blanket refusing to look at the screen (at least inside. Sometimes I'm stoic ;).

Question, then: if I hate horror movies, will I hate Shaun of the Dead? Because I really wanted to see it - I love British comedy, and I love the idea of zombies...

(And by the way, I share jennyo's reaction to romance.)

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Thansk for the warning. I passionately loathe horror movies, and if the second half is not spoof, I'm so outa there. (I'd been thinking of taking my boy to see S. of the D, , but my spouse can do that now.)

I think the thing I despise and loathe the most about horror movies is the structure, in which ordinary people do extraordinarily stupid things in order to put themselves into danger (let's all go into the haunted house, and yeah, we'll split up, and carry lights that break easily!) and they are helpless against the horror. I hate that , I hate it, hate it.

I like thrillers like the Bourne movies and suchlike because the main character, when faced with horrific sitches, can go in and kick butt. What a catharsis!

[ladystarlightsj.livejournal.com]

Good luck at your new job, I hope it goes well!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I, too, am unfond of horror. I don't mind dark stories, but when things are geared to making me spooked, I go away and read something else. Half the time I'm spooked and don't enjoy it, and the other half I'm just bored.

I'm unfond of romance as a genre for the reasons jennyo mentioned: that the people tend to bore me, that their emotions make me want to gag, that they act like idiots. Also that the typical concept of romantic love or even normal human behavior is not the same as mine, often in an offensively exclusive way. I'm perfectly happy with books with romantic plots, if the characters are interested in something other than Happily Ever After With Each Other and it's something I'm interested in, too.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Unless, of course, the horror is extremely minimal, and even then, I dislike the horror elements (yes, I closed my eyes through half of Sixth Sense). I think perhaps the big exception to this with me is Buffy, in which case I take the scary portions, like Hush or Conversations with Dead People, because the rest of the show is wonderful. Basically, when it comes down to it, I'm incredibly squeamish (ergo the general un-excitement about thrillers) and really hate being scared. Slightly frightened I can do, but I don't want to be given nightmares or the like.

Was about to write my own post on this, but alas no time, have to make dinner, then veg, before getting up for work tomorrow.

At any rate - I'm the same way. Very squeamish. I can't watch Zombie movies. The best I could do was Angel's Habeas Corspes (and even that I watched partly through fingers.) I watch all the operating sequences in Nip/Tuck either through fingers or just listen. And, nope, can't handle being scared. I remember my mother asking me why
I liked Buffy, "I thought you hated horror"? And I said, it's not the same, doesn't scare me. Angel - bugged me for a while at first, but then it became less scarey/monster of week and more character driven.
So could handle. It's why I was never a fan of X-Files (too scarey and gross in places), never saw the original "Alien" and had to be dragged to the original Star Wars (because I was convinced as a child it would be scarey like the Star Trek episodes I'd seen.)

Doesn't help that I have a vivid imagination and tend to embellish.
Or a visual/picture memory - so I remember whatever I see and experience on a screen like it's placed in my brain. So while I enjoy reading some horror here and there, or some films and shows, I can't watch a lot of it. I'll avoid the Grudge, new SMG film, for instance, the previews alone bug the heck out of me and give me nightmares. I know it will bother me. Took me a week to get past The Ring. And I'm hesistant about Shaun of The Dead due to the gore factor. Still haven't made it through George Romero's original Night of The Living Dead or 28 Days, and haven't gotten over the mistake of seeing the original Nightmare on Elm Street in the 1980s in College. Me and gross-out horror are non-mixy things, much to many a friends frustration.

[oyceter]

I half-liked Shaun of the Dead -- the first half is hilarious. Then they sort of get to the bar, and the movie becomes an actual zombie movie, with gory deaths and whittling down of survivors and the like, which really depressed me. So... it's hard to tell, because the first half really is very, very good.

[oyceter]

I think the thing I despise and loathe the most about horror movies is the structure, in which ordinary people do extraordinarily stupid things in order to put themselves into danger (let's all go into the haunted house, and yeah, we'll split up, and carry lights that break easily!) and they are helpless against the horror.

Oooh, I think that's a really good point. I think my dislike of them is also related to my dislike of disaster movies -- there's this inevitable stripping away of humanity or somesuch, in which characters are picked off by dinosaurs or tornadoes or zombies, and I don't find that entertaining. I mean, I get it when it's about making a point (Lord of the Flies), but other than that, it just depresses me.

Also, I am a perfectionist at heart and like doing things by the rules, so when the horror movie characters do things that are obviously against the rules like going to the basement alone with a flashlight, it makes me very uncomfortable and squirmy.

[oyceter]

Thanks!

[oyceter]

*nods* I like romances beceause I like watching people fall in love. The like is naturally dampened when the people a) are idiots b) have jewel-toned eyes or c) are misogynistic (or if the writing's so bad I can't get through the first paragraph). But for some reason, the dramatization of falling in love appeals to me. I wonder why.

[oyceter]

I was writing the post and thinking, hrm. I love Buffy and Angel. What makes them not horror in my eyes? Ditto with X-Files... it scared the hell out of me (which I didn't like), but I watched mainly for the relationship between Mulder and Scully. So I guess you could say my brain tried to turn the horror show into a more character-driven one. Ditto with Buffy and Angel. The scary elements aren't very interesting to me, unless they are psychological ("Damage"), but I watch for the characters.

Gah, I didn't even bother to see The Ring -- my roommate saw it and summarized it for me, and even that made me nervous and jerky for a week.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of the horror genre either. Don't like scenes of gore and mayhem, and have absolutely no desire to see films like Shaun of the Dead. (Maybe my dislike of horror is the reason I had trouble reading the first Sandman graphic novel - the graphics were gross.) I actually have never thought of Buffy and Angel as horror; there are elements of it, true, but the shows are so character driven and the story so engrossing it doesn't register on the horror radar for me. I think what I don't like are the movies that are just gory for gore's sake. I see enough blood and ick at work, thank you very much. ;)
I like romantic movies etc, if the characters and their relationships are reasonably believable. I guess I feel that there is enough crap in the real world for me to deal with, so I really don't need to pay to see it on screen.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

YES! about the rules. And I don't even mean social rules, but the simple rules of common sense.

no haunted houses for you

[(Anonymous)]

remember when mary, bertha, and i tried to drag you to a haunted house in 4th or 5th grade? and you snapped at us and made such a big fuss over it? hehe....

(anlee)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I love Buffy and Angel. What makes them not horror in my eyes? Ditto with X-Files... it scared the hell out of me (which I didn't like), but I watched mainly for the relationship between Mulder and Scully. So I guess you could say my brain tried to turn the horror show into a more character-driven one. Ditto with Buffy and Angel. The scary elements aren't very interesting to me, unless they are psychological ("Damage"), but I watch for the characters.

I feel pretty much the same way. Psychological horror interests me more than blood and guts. Buffy and Angel rose above "let's be scared" and were more interested in character and psychology. Same with segments of the X-Files, I tended to watch it more for the interaction of the characters.
My favorite X-Files episodes aren't scarey episodes, but more character driven, with a few exceptions.

Same with Angel - I enjoyed Damage - for the psychological elements, for the same reason - I enjoyed Hellbound (an episode friends complained wasn't scarey enough for them or horrifying enough, I found sort of interesting in places due to the psychological elements and foreshadowing.) Aliens - the sequel to Alien, along with Jaws, are two horror movies that I oddly enough enjoy - why? Great characters - and the horror plays second or third fiddle to them as opposed to the reverse. In fact I can overlook the horror most of the time.

Re: no haunted houses for you

[oyceter]

Hee, yes. I did something like that at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland too ;).

[oyceter]

Yeah, I remember being pretty grossed out by Preludes and Nocturnes, especially that 24 hours story. Eep.

I enjoy dark stuff, as long as they don't feel nihilistic to me... it's a fine line to tread, and I'm sure each person's is different. But sometimes I just don't feel like reading or watching stuff that's too down.

[oyceter]

Yeah! Someday there needs to be a party in which everyone can scream at the stupid hero/heroine to NOT go to dark forests alone, or something.

Well, actually, I do that already... I've made a great sport out of yelling at the TV.

Re: latecomer

[oyceter]

Hrm, good point about those movies, all of which I like. Maybe I have more of a distaste for horror that emphasizes gore and violence.

I think there are lots of people who just don't like the trappings of sf and fantasy? Like, the spaceships and unicorns and dragons and such. I've had lots of people telling me they could never get into anime just because the way the characters are drawn puts them off (the big eyes, no mouths, chibi-ness, etc).

[oyceter]

Heh, I don't think I've seen Scream... I saw Scary Movie, which I think had a scene like that as well? Not sure...