Personal Movie Rating: 84%
Here is my thought after watching the movie "The Sixth Sense" (1999):
*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*
People Enjoy Horror/Thriller Films for Several Reasons
The film "The Sixth Sense" tells the story of a child psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) and his patient, Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment). After spending some time together, Cole told Malcolm his secret, which was that he saw dead people walking around like the living ones as they were unaware of their deaths. Malcolm thought that Cole was delusional and considered about dropping him. However, he soon realized that Cole might be telling the truth after remembering a patient in the past who might have had the same ability as Cole. Malcolm suggested to Cole that he should try to talk to the ghosts and listen to them. After some hesitation Cole decided to give it a try. He helped a ghost to deliver a videotape to her father, The tape revealed that the ghost was poisoned and killed by her mother. What Cole did has prevented the mother from doing the same thing to the ghost's sister. Since then Cole learned how to live with the ghosts he saw. After learning that Cole no longer needed his help, Malcolm decided to return home and reconcile with his wife, Anna (Olivia Williams). When Malcolm was talking to the sleeping Anna, she dropped Malcolm's wedding ring, which he suddenly realized that he hasn't been wearing. Malcolm remembered the ghost stories told by Cole, and he realized that he was actually dead the entire time he was working with Cole. After telling Anna that he loved her, Malcolm was finally done with his unfinished business and free to leave the world of the living.
There are many horror/thriller films aside from "The Sixth Sense". People enjoy these films for several reasons. One of the reasons is that the stronger the negative emotions experienced by a person while watching horror films, the higher the likelihood that he or she will enjoy the film genre. According to the carthasis theory, horror films provides pleasure by offering emotional release and temporary escape from the actual world full of work problems, financial problems, relationship problems and so on. In other words, horror films provide a safe channel for some people to express their negative emotions. For instance, some people might scream or jump while watching certain scenes of horror films. In addition, another reason why people tend to enjoy horror films is because of the predictability of story lines. In horror films, there are a lot of predictable cliches such as the non-White character always die, inept authorities, the girl who has sex with a guy always wind up dead and so on. There is also no question about who the bad guy is as well. Hence horror films appeal to people who like control as they can predict how the films progress. Furthermore, people enjoy horror/thriller films because they teach people how to manage terror. While watching horror films, people learn to suppress their feelings, fake their calmness, or cling on to others to seek for protections. These are ways to cope and adapt to one aspect of life, which are skills that may be useful in the actual life in the future.
I am a big time horror/thriller films fan. I always enjoy watching horror/thriller films in the cinema because the screams and reactions from the audiences always make me feel better (*evil smile* hehehe). Hence, I hope Dr. Goh will show more scary/gory/creepy films in future classes.
The film "The Sixth Sense" tells the story of a child psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) and his patient, Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment). After spending some time together, Cole told Malcolm his secret, which was that he saw dead people walking around like the living ones as they were unaware of their deaths. Malcolm thought that Cole was delusional and considered about dropping him. However, he soon realized that Cole might be telling the truth after remembering a patient in the past who might have had the same ability as Cole. Malcolm suggested to Cole that he should try to talk to the ghosts and listen to them. After some hesitation Cole decided to give it a try. He helped a ghost to deliver a videotape to her father, The tape revealed that the ghost was poisoned and killed by her mother. What Cole did has prevented the mother from doing the same thing to the ghost's sister. Since then Cole learned how to live with the ghosts he saw. After learning that Cole no longer needed his help, Malcolm decided to return home and reconcile with his wife, Anna (Olivia Williams). When Malcolm was talking to the sleeping Anna, she dropped Malcolm's wedding ring, which he suddenly realized that he hasn't been wearing. Malcolm remembered the ghost stories told by Cole, and he realized that he was actually dead the entire time he was working with Cole. After telling Anna that he loved her, Malcolm was finally done with his unfinished business and free to leave the world of the living.
There are many horror/thriller films aside from "The Sixth Sense". People enjoy these films for several reasons. One of the reasons is that the stronger the negative emotions experienced by a person while watching horror films, the higher the likelihood that he or she will enjoy the film genre. According to the carthasis theory, horror films provides pleasure by offering emotional release and temporary escape from the actual world full of work problems, financial problems, relationship problems and so on. In other words, horror films provide a safe channel for some people to express their negative emotions. For instance, some people might scream or jump while watching certain scenes of horror films. In addition, another reason why people tend to enjoy horror films is because of the predictability of story lines. In horror films, there are a lot of predictable cliches such as the non-White character always die, inept authorities, the girl who has sex with a guy always wind up dead and so on. There is also no question about who the bad guy is as well. Hence horror films appeal to people who like control as they can predict how the films progress. Furthermore, people enjoy horror/thriller films because they teach people how to manage terror. While watching horror films, people learn to suppress their feelings, fake their calmness, or cling on to others to seek for protections. These are ways to cope and adapt to one aspect of life, which are skills that may be useful in the actual life in the future.
I am a big time horror/thriller films fan. I always enjoy watching horror/thriller films in the cinema because the screams and reactions from the audiences always make me feel better (*evil smile* hehehe). Hence, I hope Dr. Goh will show more scary/gory/creepy films in future classes.
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