Sunday, September 23, 2007
  I'm Not Violent! I Just Want to be on TV!
Earlier today I was watching one of my favorite movies of all time called Aliens. I first saw this movie when I was about six, and I have loved it ever since then. This movie is just full of your typical blood, guts, and your usual acid-spewing aliens. As I was watching the action sequences, I tended to envision myself being in the movie killing anything that wasn’t human. I know this sounds really corny and cheesy but I really felt that way. After the movie was over, I was kind of wishing I could go out and shoot something. Now I would never shoot anyone in real life because I don’t think that’s really a smart thing to do! I guess I’m weird like that! Besides, that feeling of wanting to shoot something only lasted about 10 seconds. I guess what I’m trying to say is that TV doesn’t have a small effect on me. Even though I would never kill anyone just because I saw someone shoot someone on TV, there was still a slight effect.
 
Comments:
And here's a great example of priming: I saw the original Alien as a child (WAAAAY to young), and have had nightmares my entire life.

I've largely conquered the fear (I own all of the movies, except for the horrid AVP movie released a while back). But in my quest to conquer my inner demons, I came to realize the all-out assault the original film brings to the senses.

It's not the creature that's so terrifying, it's the ship. It's dark, dank and oddly shaped. It has a heartbeat (Ridley Scott once commented in an interview that this ship sound was his masterpiece) that accelerates when the tension within the movie increases.

And then there's the faraway screams.

Aliens is not nearly as frightening as the original. Same creatures (more of them), but all of the environmental elements are gone and the presence of the military culture makes the sequel more of a traditional action flick than a horror film.

Did you ever see the original film?
 
Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home
This blog is a companion piece to CCJN4394:Media Effects taught by Dr. J. Richard Stevens at Southern Methodist University.

Archives
August 2007 / September 2007 / October 2007 / November 2007 / December 2007 / August 2008 /

Links
  • CCJN4394 Syllabus
  • Author login

    Subscribe to
    Posts [Atom]