Interesting premise and hello. :)

My 2 cents...

Perhaps these violent forms of entertainment act as an outlet for our violent tendencies. We live in a society where we face repercussions for acting upon a violent idea in our heads. Still, is it a sense of morality that has been ingrained in us that stops us acting violently or the fear of facing the results of our actions?

If we pick up a game like GTA and drive around killing prostitutes and police, the idea itself is so over the top, it becomes farcical and a form of entertainment. For anyone to associate their violent actions with such a thing is someone looking for a way out of a bad situation when they are caught. For anyone who has seen an real act of violence or a bad accident, it becomes pretty clear that these films, novels and games do not hold a candle to real-life.

One of the reasons for killing that comes up time and time again is the need to have power or control over others. Many serial killers see themselves as deities or crucial to some grander scheme. They look upon their victims as objects rather than people; sometimes as tools for accomplishing their task. We too tend to disassociate with horror so we can enjoy it. If our actions had real repercussions, we would not do it. As thinking animals, we have that capacity to make that decision. A few of us sometimes lose that hold on reality... It may be interesting to take the motives that drive serial killers and compare them for a moment to things on a grander scale.

I guess there is the potential for anyone to kill given the proper circumstances. Horror movies or any other form of fear medium tickle that part of our minds, providing us a strange fascination of this human taboo of killing and violence. Sometimes society deems it a necessity or changes the set of morale rules to allow of acts of violence. War is still unfortunately one way to justify these actions. Still, people are trained to be able to commit these actions that we would not be able to do otherwise. We are convinced that it is the right thing to do. Not all can do it either. Tales of morality or perhaps adapting to one's circumstances? Either way it is unsettling that we can be trained to forget the identity of an enemy as human beings.

There was mention of what media provoked Nazism. The idea of Hitler's regime and the rise of Nazism seems to be a variety of factors allowing one man to turn them into reasons for war.

If you want to see a good horror film, "Triumph Of The Will" is as scary as they come. You can almost feel the strength of will pervading from the film. Unfortunately, the man with the idea for a 1000-year Reich had other motives. Still, a good example of touching upon that dark side of ourselves. Actually, Stalin scares me more. They are still finding bodies from his selective removal of undesirables.

Any of you read the book The Catcher In The Rye? It has been accused of making people kill, but it is hardly what one would call horrific.

As Meetthecreeper stated, horror provides a convenient way to feed the beast in all of us, so its thirst is slaked. To deny our tendencies for violence is to deny our very nature as humans. To provide harmless outlets for it like games,films and books is what the sensible person does.

To be honest, I find it hard to see hunting animals as a harmless outlet. Since I eat meat though, I can't deny the reasoning behind it since you actually consume your kill. It's not like hunting for food is anything new. ;)

Horror medium provides a scapegoat for people to find reasons for doing the violent things they do. It is easier to place the blame than find the real causes for a person's breakdown on reality. Anything can be the catalyst for that breakdown. Horror films are just a convenient target since they explore this darker psyche of the human mind.

S!