What is so funny about making someone scream, jump, or hopefully pee their pants? The infinitely wise Steve Carell explains on the Ellen Degeneres Show that when you scare someone, “It is a person at their very essence.”
As human beings, we are naturally curious. We like to predict, observe, and discover. Out of all of the animals in the animal kingdom, we alone have managed to produce the best scientists, explorers, and philosophers (how about that?). And what better discovery to make than one’s genuine reaction to a simply unexpected stimulus?
How about we put the scientific method to the test and conduct a few experiments?
Ask yourself these questions as you watch the following video:
- How do you predict the the victim will react to the scare?
- How did the victim react?
- Why did I react the way I did?
Why did you just laugh at someone else’s pain, and better yet, why did she laugh at her own pain? Did you notice that the more unexpected the reaction, the funnier it is? A scream is a decent scare yield, but falling to the floor! Well, that’s golden.
Now, as fun as playing with science is, I want to get down to the philosophy of the scare—the “person at their very essence.” What is so fun about genuine, yet harmless fear? What is this, as Ellen herself puts it, “safe kind of scared?”
It is learning about another human being. As much as you may say, “I’m not a people person,” let’s face it—getting to know people is an integral part of life. It’s what facilitates friendship, romance, admiration, and even detestation (admit it--as a culture, we have fun criticizing others).
Getting to know each other is what we do. And when the pretense of a calm, collected, and confident person is stripped down to a screaming, defenseless mess, bonding takes place, and we are all, once again, merely human.
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ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that you applied the scientific method into your article and how one could analyze fear that way. That as well as how showing when people are afraid you see another side of them that is more instinctive. The Joker says something similar in the Dark Knight, and so I found it interesting to draw comparisons. Your last few paragraphs I find very controversial, you take a commanding tone at a part where not everyone will agree with you. Some people would find experimenting with people in such a way as cruel and insensitive. Particularly the last paragraph I find the most disagreeable, where you assume that everyone can be reduced to screaming. I know several people who are more likely to attack someone who jumps out and scares them than scream.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback. I'm glad you liked the scientific method part, because I wasn't sure if it worked. I like the connection that you made to the Joker! I'd love to get that quote if you can find it. In the last few paragraphs, I was experimenting with humor in my post, and I realize that I did make some generalizations. I'm glad to get your opinion on how it came across. I realize that scaring others is sometimes a sensitive issue, and that pranks can often be considered cruel. However, I wanted to focus in this post specifically on why we enjoy it. I'll definitely keep your ideas in mind as I go into more depth on the subject in my paper.
DeleteThis was a very interesting and original take on fear. I never thought about scaring someone as seeing them at their very essence - but I completely agree with your argument. It's interesting how one of the funniest thing friends can do is scare each other, but the human emotion people dread the most is fear itself. Even watching a scary movie with friends can help you to get to know them better. You see what they're scared of and how they react, which can be a funny bonding experience. I thought your video proved your argument, by showing how a harmless "scare" can result in laughing on the floor. It would be interesting to explore where the line is between fear being funny and fear being actually terrifying and scarring.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I love your insight about how fear can be one of the funniest things, but also the most dreaded. That's definitely what I want to focus on in my paper--the duality of the emotion and why we have turned it from a reaction to danger to a source of entertainment. I also liked your insights about getting to know people through fear. I believe that you can get to know a person on a deep level if you've experienced fear together, or if you've seen how they react to fear. It also shows that when you scare a person, you are close enough to them to tease them. I'm planning on taking your advice to explore the line between funny fear and terrifying/cruel fear.
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