(W)hatever(T)unes(F)ilms: Thoughts: Don't be Afraid to Laugh

WTF?

WTF indeed! We stand for Films, Tunes, and Whatever else we feel like (not necessarily in order!) Professor Nonsense heads the 'Whatever' department, posting ramblings ranging from the decrepit, to the offbeat, to the just plain absurd! The mysterious Randor takes helm of the 'Tunes' front, detailing the various melodic messages he gets in earfuls. Weekly recommendations and various musings follow his shadows. Finally, our veteran movie critic, Lt Archie Hicox, commands the 'Film' battlefield, giving war-weathered reviews on flicks the way he sees them. Through the eyes of a well-versed renegade, he stands down for no man! Together we are (W)hatever(T)unes(F)ilms!

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Oct 31, 2011

Thoughts: Don't be Afraid to Laugh

Do you remember that episode of “Doug” where everyone in Yancey’s class gets all hyped up to see that scary movie? And as it happens our eponymous hero gets all woebegone because he thinks he’s the only person who closed his eyes in a sweat-induced flight-or-fight moment when it came to the “big reveal” of the monster lurking in the shadows?

Well, that dynamic pretty much sums up my history with horror movies.

I used to hate them. I hated anything that was even remotely frightening. I used to actually run out of the room every time the face-melt scene from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” happened. I even had this ritualistic prayer I’d whisper to myself every time I went to bed to ward off the nightmares that would inevitably accrue after viewing something particularly unsettling.

I always thought that people who enjoyed horror films, especially slashers, were suffering from some kind of sick compulsion. Some kind of vicarious violence fetish.

But if recent films like “Zombieland” are any indication, there is a lot more to the horror genre than this.

For those of you who know me, you know that my story doesn’t end there.

And if you’ll permit me to continue towing the line here, I’ll finish up that little anecdote about Doug Funny and the scary movie. Do you remember how he finally dealt with his little fear of the movie monster?

Well sure, he just opened his eyes. But he did more than that. He laughed at it.

He laughed because it turned out to be a lot less frightening than he thought it would be. His expectations did not swing with the reality of a man in the rubber suit. He laughed because it looked fake.

Still, there’s more to facing your fears than merely dismissing them as so much silly unreality. Because the human imagination can be a powerful engine. It can be so vivid, so lifelike, so unrelentingly visceral that no matter how unreasonable something is, our minds make it real.

Nobody can argue that the realism gap in films has closed to a very narrow margin. In other words, just because something isn’t real doesn’t mean it can’t have the same effect as seeing something that is.

In this context, it’s not hard to appreciate the steeling effects of gallows humor; especially when it comes to the horror film.

Laughter is one of the most effective means of disarming a provocative situation. And, if you’re like me, take some time to consider the following films in case you’re still not sold on things that go bump in the night. Bodily dismemberment and ridiculous mutilations may not seem very therapeutic but trust me, it works. And always remember to laugh in the face of death.

Happy Halloween, folks!