The Societal Obsession of Horror
Edward Cave was a printer for the educated of London and aspired to create a medium that would encompass a variety of subjects. And in January of 1731, he did just that; Cave coined magazine (English terminology) the “Traders Monthly Intelligencer” or “The Gentlemen’s Magazine”. He intended that the magazine would arm gentlemen intellectually, a storehouse of information if you will. Although the intent was noble, the first issue was packed with stories and depictions of murders and executions. The reading public adored this new aspect of society. This influenced the world, as nations took on “magazines” to be in high demand, for its informative purposes on its varied subject, but with horror to be the prize winner.
Today, for the success of anything you see in the media to thrive, the topic of violence and friction must be of the essence.
Viral videos, for example, on Twitter or Facebook give source to the entertainment we obsess over; whether it be consciously or subconsciously intended. You’ll see police officers notoriously shooting innocent black men and women, high school fights with kids pulverizing their peers for reasons beyond validity, people daring their life by attempting to jump from their rooves into their pool with a distance of maybe fifteen feet, someone being attacked by strangers or even videos of people being decapitated. This gore spanned all medium we know of today.
On a brief occasion, you’ll witness funny videos saturating the internet on purpose to distract from this societal obsession of horror. My favorite videos to watch are from accounts on Instagram and Tik Tok, showing adorable animals frolicking in their habitat or comedians such as iamtonytalks (on Instagram), who is hilarious by the way, so I recommend you give his videos a watch then follow.
These videos get a fraction of the attention that horror-filled videos get, and although I believe I understand, I just don’t want to.
The entitlement of the human spirit drives us to pursue what we want relentlessly, not all humans but a select few that have done just that and have molded this world as they saw fit, through violence. This world today began with the ravaging expeditions of men who took their religion with great force, and dressed every nation they eyed with opportunistic possibility and Christianity. Through the horror of mass colonization, rape, and pillaging, the modern world was found, thus the society we live in thrives off the root of their beginning. And all of us, at some point, whether we’re obsessed or just curious, have come to give attention to the ugliest of situations in sight. Thus, horror is the most infamous show of humanity, and I don’t believe this can be negated, because the most followed religion in this world is represented by an old capital punishment of the Roman civilization called Crucifixion. Not that religion or it’s relatives are immoral, but it’s how certain people take the message from a higher power, that dictates a perception of said religion and beliefs.
Needless to say, these are reasons why this world and Americans are so obsessed with horror…
Doesn’t this give you chills?
I write this piece, not necessarily to share an opinion, but to rinse my mind of something so foreign to my life. I grew up knowing that anger and immoral act will never prosper, for the very lesson I’ve recently learned sums this all up; that negativity will never overcome for the science and relative fact of “Karma” will always knock itself out of play. What you put into the world is what you take out, eventually.
This is why I’ve had to remind myself, not to feed horror my time and attention. For the attention paid to any, is expensive, and I must be wise, if not frugal.
