CRIME ENTERTAINMENT: GENERATIONAL OBSESSION

Why do we find peace and obsess over segments about crimes? And why are millennials the number one consumers of horror films?

Evolution has sharpened human survival instincts, developing us to enjoy the thrill of surviving danger.

There’s something appealing about watching a show and get so into it. It’s an escape: the problems and stress aren’t personal to us. It’s a release to consume content like this because our whole brain focuses while trying to figure out who did what, solve the puzzle and just feel accomplished when the show is over. We enjoy close calls to danger as the stories of each character unfold upon us.

Our fascination with horror starts at a young age from a simple kids game: hide and seek. We home in fear in a safe environment. We know it’s not a real threat yet, get an adrenaline rush. Crime-based entertainment is meant to act in the same way.

It’s like rollercoasters: Enduring and a strong symbol of amusement and entertainment.  Think about it: people go on a long drive journey, pay a substantial amount of money and wait from 2 to 4 hours in a line just to get on the game a 90-second ride.

But rollercoasters have a more complex impact in society: people who enjoy these rides like the emotions they get from a rollercoaster in a mostly safe environment but still going through a fearing moment

Truly a lot of the movies and shows we watch, even the ones not related to crime and murder, a lot of them have to do with stories that are meant to upset us. Feeling those emotions, thinking about things that are scary, sad, painful is like a new way of being relaxed after the shows are over and we move on with our lives.

Entertainment in any form is an escape and sometimes following up with a story and feeling a part of it can give us balance. How many times have we heard about people that are either doing well at work or in their personal lives but cannot manage to do both? Well, maybe if we got more hooked to a certain show we could unburden ourselves there, rather than taking these emotions to a different environment. We simply love horror cause it’s fun and a stress reliever.