Is Horror a Good Movie Genre for Children - Essay Example

Is horror a good movie genre for children? Horror provides a sense of fun and surprise for the viewers. Within the film domains, it becomes an entirely kaleidoscopic exercise. The viewers keep looking at what will happen next, and the next thing which amazes them is something that catches them totally off-guard. As for children, horror comes out differently for them. Some of them are die-hard fanatics of horror flicks while a number of them get scared by the propensity to lead towards a sense of furious sounds and pictures. These children avoid the experience in order to keep away the countering effects which come after they have watched one such movie. The need is to understand that horror can have long-lasting effects on the minds of the young ones and it is best advisable to keep them away from such shocks. It must be understood here that the horror movies produced to date have been very direct as concerns to the viewers, children here specifically. These movies have instilled a sense of ‘what will happen next’ regime within their minds. Some of them cannot even watch such movies whilst being alone. They need company in order to avoid the horror element of such flicks. Some of them start weeping and shouting in the middle of a horrific scene, thus adding to the mental agony of such a genre of movie viewing. It must be comprehended here that horror movies depict violence, manslaughter, killing, blood and nasty language. The scenes are utterly disdainful for the young audiences, since the effects are abysmal to state the least (Tamborini, 1996). The impact of such elements on the human mind is serious and when one discusses the same for the sake of children, there could be drastic issues for them, left, right and center. These children suffer trouble whilst sleeping while they also get scared in a dark room or whenever they are alone. Their confidence takes a very wrong turn and this essentially makes them feel very scared at the end of the day. The need is to have proper training and education imparted by the parents and/or guardians. Their help and assistance could mean wonders for these children who should be told that these flicks are a part of the world of fiction and nothing else at all. One should believe that horror is indeed not a good genre for children since these children go through a lot when it comes to understanding the after effects of watching horror flicks. They get scared, have severe fear within their ranks and stop meeting people who they consider closely resembling one of the evils shown in the horror movies. They also like to be very distressed once they see a lizard on the wall or encounter a straying dog on the road. They get scared and all forms of negativities start running within their young minds. Their mental make-up gets affected in a very wrong way and they often delve into thoughts which are unbecoming of kids of their age. Sometimes they start thinking of things which have got no bearing on their studies or their life in general. They comprehend that these horror movies are for real and the characters shown within them exist for real in this world. They are given more negative thinking regimes by the people around them who seem to suggest that if they do any wrongdoings, the particular characters in the different horror movies would come down to them and take revenge. These types of things hurt the very essence of building a young one’s character and that too in a very negative manner. The basic purpose of horror movies is to provide entertainment and delve into a zone which has never been explored or discovered before. It basically aims to target the middle aged adults who would usually not get scared by such antics of the film-makers. The challenge amongst the movie-goers and film-makers is that whether or not a horror film was able to excite them to such extents that they get scared. If the movie scares them, it is considered an instant success at the box office and if it does not create the appeal for which it was projected on screens, the exercise was something of a futility. Specifically speaking, horror kills the essence of being natural within the children. They remain involved with something supernatural coming towards them and forget the fact that they need to be children at the end of the day. They need to perceive, act and believe that life will give them happiness since they are like young flowers, ready to bloom with full might and effect. Unfortunately they forget this notion because there is lack of guidance on the part of their parents, siblings and other older friends. In fact, the film-makers are doing their bit by telling the audiences that parental guidance is advised for such movies (Hantke, 2004). Even the parental control option is present within the different television sets that disallow young ones to watch content that is deemed as violent for them. However the element of putting proper thought into the particular domains of action seems like a missing tangent. The need is to be proactive in such endeavors so as to save the future lives of these young ones. However nothing notable in this regard has yet been done. It is indeed a very sad saga since the young ones are unable to explore their true potentials due to the sense of insecurity and fear gulping them from all quarters. The lack of guidance doubles up their quandary nonetheless. Horror has hurt the cause of young movie-goers. It has made them feel scared of the different nuances of life. The need is to teach them where they have been misguided and what just a piece of fiction is. The role of parents, teachers, film-makers and cinema-owners is of paramount importance within this fray of understanding how children could be made to watch such films and remain normal. Then again, there must be a limit to showing blood and killing on the TV and children must not watch such things no matter what happens. There must be a law to disallow such issues to crop up at all in the first place. The law must be stringent enough to make all and sundry realize how discouraging the use of such images and scenes is for the younger audiences (Oliver, 2007). The promulgation of such laws must be made in a very strict fashion so that no lapses are seen to happen. The young ones need the help of the society and if that means the horror movies must go, go they should. Children are like flowers, they must be preserved as such. The amount of harm that these horror movies can have on their developing minds is something that must be taken note of. They should be allowed their respective space so that their minds could develop and inculcate positive thoughts to pass amongst one another. They must be encouraged to ask questions so that their anomalies are addresses in a very easy way. It is only with the assistance and facilitation of the elders that the children will find it easy to tackle such issues which come to the fore every time they assemble in front of the TV or go to a cinema to watch a horror flick. All said and done, the children would be done a huge favor if these horror movies are disallowed for them by the authorities at the helm of affairs. Works Cited Hantke, S. (2004). Horror Film: Creating and Marketing Fear. University Press of Mississippi Oliver, M. (2007). Sexual and Violent Imagery in Movie Previews: Effects on Viewers Perceptions and Anticipated Enjoyment. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Vol. 51 Tamborini, R. (1996). Horror Films: Current Research on Audience Preferences and Reactions. 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