Halloween is right around the corner I thought I would postsomething in honor of this holiday. There are of course a number of traditions that go along with Halloween including trick-or-treating, dressing up in costumes, and going to haunted houses. I’m sure everyone has experienced a haunted house or a haunted maze but have we ever thought about all the work that goes into making those attractions so scary? This article from The New York Times gives a rundown of what Halloween entails at Universal Studios and other Disney parks. Halloween has become a huge marketing opportunity, bringing profit for theme parks all over. People obviously loved to be scared but according to the article it is taking more and more to do just that. According to the article our generation has been exposed to graphic video games and movies that we’re now more difficult to scare.
To what extent do you agree that our generation is more difficult to scare? Do you think graphic movies and video games really affect us in a way that it takes more for us to be scared or disturbed? Is it really worth all the money that people put into Halloween? Is it worth it to buy a $42 ticket just to be scared for a night?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/movies/at-universal-orlando-halloween-fright-is-a-full-time-job.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2
I think it is true that it is “harder” to scare people now. It’s all about coming up with new ideas that are unique, original, and terrifying as well. People need to see things they’ve never seen before in order to get scared. I bet people that are exposed to violent video games and horror movies often are harder to scare. But I think technology could be an advantage that the Halloween park designers could have going for them. Lights, smells, fog machines, music, video effects, and all sorts of other things could be used to make scarier effects than before.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the New York Times article, I see that a lot more planning goes into these Halloween parks than I ever thought. I was amazed that they start the planning for these in early October for the NEXT year! This is a full time job for many people! And I thought spending 20 minutes making my costume was a lot of time….
In some extend that, we are braver now. We are exposed to many media now which make us see much more things than before. In some sense, this is a good thing because we get to know more things. But we have seen so many things that we consider many things as common things. We don't scare of common things that we see everyday. As a result, we are more difficult to be scare. I think not only video games and graphic movies but all the media like TV, internet, etc.
ReplyDeleteHolidays have always been an big marketing project not only in the west but also in the east. I think during holidays, people affect by others so that people will be more willing to spending more money than usual.
I agree that it is harder to scare people now. In the movie Monster's Inc., the monsters even have a hard time scaring the little kids that are five years old, let alone older adults that have seen much more! I think it kind of says something about people these days because the people that are exposed to that stuff are the ones that are harder to scare. I don't play video games or anything like that and I absolutely hate scary movies, so the littlest thing can scare me.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to read that these parks are spending millions each year just to scare people. It was also strange that they plan for Halloween a year early! I didn't know that much work and time and planning had to be put into it. I think it's cool thought that they are starting to use different techniques to scare people because like the article says, they don't want to see the same thing every year.
It seems like people are constantly getting harder to scare as technology advances. Movies and video games are getting much more realistic and gory. The designers behind movies like Saw and Hostel are having to work harder and harder to get the audience to believe that the film is "real" and not just Hollywood costume expertise. Clearly, movies and video games involve much more gore than ever before because a movie like Saw would have never been made in the 70's or 80's, but it is completely acceptable now-a-days.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Laura that people who are used to playing violent video games and watching gory movies are much harder to scare. They have just seen much more than the average critic. Film makers have to resort to new ideas and strategies, such as Paranormal Activity, to scare people. No one is used to a movie like this, which means it is more likely to be a success horror film.
Hopefully we don't become numb to everyday scary events to the point where fear is not much of an emotion anymore!
Being scared is just a form of being surprised. We are a much more aware generation than ever before therefore it is hard to surprise. The same old tricks seem to work at times, but other times just seem repetitive. The violence portrayed in something such as a haunted house has been seen in greater detail in movies and video games time and time again. Being scared is a thrill and an awakening at times. Being someone who enjoys the adrenaline and the energy, I think spending the money to attend these types of attractions is completely worth it. Halloweekends at Cedar Point is my favorite Halloween event that I have attended. Its haunted houses are very well put together, not to mention the towering roller coasters which will probably end up scaring you the most.
ReplyDeleteI agree that our generation is not easy to scare. The reason why we fear something is we didn’t see that before. However, now we have many ways to know the world, TV, newspaper, movie, we know more things than before. Because we have seen before, many scary things are not scary anymore. We even get bored if those “scary things” happen again and again. In order to entertain people and give them big surprise, movie, Halloween theme park creators are trying hard to come up with new ideas. In general, building new things in Halloween park means they need to spent more money. I don’t think it is worth putting too much money on it. Because those new things probably just for Halloween, after that day, they are useless, which waste much resource of society. However, if I am a director of park, I am probably willing to do so. We indeed can benefit a lot from it. Even though large amount of money has been spent, benefit is still vast. So it is a big dilemma which is worth thinking about.
ReplyDeleteI think it is harder for us to be scared nowadays. Everyday can be Halloween if we want. Blood, zombies, vampires are not only appears in Halloween but also in movies and video games. If more and more people facing these scare elements more frequently and even enjoy these elements, it is harder for those people to be scared. Halloween is very popular in China too. There are several very crazy Halloween parties in my home town last weekend. People from everywhere need excitement.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what all of you have mentioned. It is undeniable we, meaning our genearation, and the other new generations are and will be always harder to scare. We are already exposed to all kinds of scary things on a daily basis and haunted hause cannot just base their scares on visual effects anymore. I have always found haunted hauses something pretty rediculous in terms of paying to get scared but it is understandable that many people love it but soon they will lose their specialness since many people will not be scared by them anymore.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree that generations are growing numb to the attempts of movies and haunted houses to scare them. I truly do believe that it is because of all the violent and scary movies and video games that youths are playing these days that in a sense “turns off” there sense of being scared. If we are exposed to something scary, we may be scared at first, but then after a while we get used to it. After this, we will no longer be scared of something that is on the same level or scariness. The bar must be raised for us to be scared again. Our bodies are conditioned after all this exposure and we are not scared anymore. As far as how much money people put into Halloween, I think it is pretty ridiculous how we spend so much as a country. To pay to be scared is a weird idea to me. $42 is way too much money to spend just to be scared for one night. I personally do not like scary movies or haunted houses. Some people I guess just can’t get enough of the rush that it gives.
ReplyDeleteI remember the time I went to the haunted house in the Universal Studio; I was totally freaking out! Unlike others, I am easily to be scared. Don't even mention about the ghost movies, which makes me be afraid of being home alone and turn on the light through the whole night. I was heard that the ghost pieces in Asian focus on leading to the psychological fear, however, the Western pay more attention to graphic and horrifying. Whatever it is, I don't have courage to test.
ReplyDeleteThe generations of today know too much about mythical creatures and beasts. They are too aware of what is real and what isn’t. This knowledge prevents them from being in awe with the many Halloween decorations in place today. People just aren’t as scared of werewolves and zombies as they used to be. People are maturing faster and their understanding of the world is growing with it. My roommate and I having been watching scary movies in honor of Halloween, and have been discussing this scare factor for some time now. The real fright builds when the villain is human, an equal, rather than a monster meant to be much more powerful. It is not a physical scare that really gets to people; it’s more psychological. For example, Paranormal Activity 3 was meant to be a scary movie. Though it succeeded in scaring the audience with sudden attacks from the villain (Toby), the overall scare factor was not there. I realized that this was because the monster was given a name and that it was clearly something nonhuman. People are scared when they face something they think they are familiar with but later find out that it’s not the same thing. In other words, its this aspect of betrayal and sudden depth of unknown that truly scares people. I don’t think it’s worth looking for a real scare in theme parks (especially if the price is $42!). There're too many frightening things in our real world that do a much better job of scaring me.
ReplyDeleteWe are definitely more difficult to scare than those who came before us. In addition to graphic movies, television shows, and games, we are more knowledgeable with each passing generation. One of the ways that monsters and such frighten people is that they represent the unknown. However, we have more knowledge about the world around us than ever before; we aren't as scared of the unknown because there is less of it.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of money that people put into Halloween is horrendous, and it is definitely not worth $42 to be scared for a night. A lot of people these days lead lives that are too safe, secure, and boring. So, they seek excitement. Some people thrill seek, cliff divers, for example, while others pay $42 to feel the illusion of fear. It's a sad truth, but its the modern condition.
I think it's true to say that our generation is more difficult to scare, although I still think I 'm easy to scare, but there are so many movies, TV shows, and with the development of technology, the movies become more and more graphic, so definitly people become more difficult to scare. However, the meaning of Halloween is not to scare people anymore, and people just celebrate it. If people can have fun, they would like pay money for it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that our generation is harder to scare. I recently went to the Mansfield Reformatory haunted house with a few friends. After waiting in line for 2 hours, we finally went through. Unfortunately, the haunted house wasn't scary at all. I found myself laughing at most of the people dressed up as zombies or monsters that were chasing us with fake chainsaws. But, that doesn't mean that it wasn't a good time. I feel like Halloween is just a fun experience nowadays. It doesn't have to be scary; it can still be enjoyable just being in the Halloween atmosphere.
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