Scary movies have always had their place. But as new films outdo their predecessors, is that still okay?

By Mira Neumann

The other day I was scrolling on TikTok, watching stupid videos to pass the time, when I found something disturbing. It was a summary of a horror movie called The Human Centipede. Now, I have seen a few scary movies like Scream and a bit of Jennifer’s Body. But these movies, compared to this sixty-second summary, sound like they were some type of princess movie. The Human Centipede is an inhuman movie based on a psychotic doctor who kidnaps tourists and stitches them together to create a “human centipede.” More trigger warnings like rape, suicide, graphic violence and imagery were plastered everywhere when researching about it. It shocks me how someone could make a movie so disgusting. How could someone even come up with an idea like this? On top of that, why would anyone want to watch this? Well, it seems enough people watched it for a second and third movie to come out. But again, why would someone willingly sit through a film like this? Well, it’s because people have become desensitized to things like this due to the media’s push for graphic violence and imagery.

Maybe the Human Centipede was an extreme example of this, so let’s use a different one. Nowadays, films such as The Shining, The Conjuring, and Smile have emerged as popular blockbusters. These movies are known for their shock factor and the adrenaline they bring. Such movies aren’t known for their plot or even for their characters. They are known because of their violence and graphic imagery. Take my father as an example. When he was young, around 10 years old, he sneaked into a movie called The Exorcist. To this day, 50 years later, he still recalls the infamous scene where the little girl projectile-vomits everywhere and crawls on the walls. This is a prime example showing that these kinds of movies aren’t remembered because of the depth of the narrative, character development, or even the plot, but because of the shock value. This reliance on gore, violence, and disturbing imagery is a trend that, in turn, shows a broader issue of the desensitization to extreme content and the lack of concern from society and the media.

Over time, repeated exposure to graphic violence has dulled viewers’ emotional responses, making this shocking content feel like more of a normal thing.

In the past, movies relied more on psychological tension, atmosphere, and suspense, while also creating an interesting plot with good characters that raise the stakes. For instance, the famous movie Jaws terrified its audiences with the unseen threat of a shark, allowing the viewers to use their imagination to fill in the gaps and add suspense and underlying tensions between characters, overall creating a good movie. On the other hand, modern horror often tries to stuff as much gore and violence as it can in a two-hour span, no matter how unnecessary it is. A study done by Brad Bushman and Babak Fotouhi, researchers based at Ohio State University, found that fictional violence more than doubled between 1950 and 2013. Fotouhi said, “Movies are trying to compete for the audience’s attention, and research shows that violence is one of the elements that most effectively hooks audiences.” It has now become a competition between movie companies to see how many disturbing things they can put in a movie just to make it more appealing to their audiences.

Which has now also become an issue. Because of this push for violence and imagery from the media, people have become desensitized to it. Over time, repeated exposure to graphic violence has dulled viewers’ emotional responses, making this shocking content feel like more of a normal thing. Research done by psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann, Leonard Eron, and others found that children who watched hours of violence on television when they were young tend to show a higher level of aggression when they became teenagers. Following these participants into adulthood, Huesmann and Eron found that the ones who watched a lot of violence were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts. Furthermore, research has found that exposure to media violence desensitizes people to violence in the real world and that watching violence in the media can become enjoyable and does not result in the anxious feeling that would be expected when watching such things. I have even noticed myself becoming desensitized to things like this. A popular series called Supernatural is filled with violence, gore, and terrifying scenes, often showing things such as decapitation, stabbing, sacrifice, and cannibalism. When I first started the show, it was terrifying to see how much violence there was, but as I continued through the series, things that made me uneasy before seemed like nothing. This shows that this normalization and push for violence and frightening imagery has a negative impact on society that many have overlooked.

Normalizing graphic violence and the pushing of it has caused the desensitization of so many people and undermined the very real suffering that comes from these acts.

So what can we do about this? If people are already desensitized to things like this, why should we change it? This needs to be changed because people think that inhumane things like this are less impactful than they actually are. And doing nothing about it is simply irresponsible, considering there are kids that are now growing up exposed to this. Change needs to start somewhere, and here is how we can start. First, currently, there are minimal guidelines governing what can be included in an R-rated movie. Filmmakers are allowed to depict explicit scenes of graphic sex, violence, gore, and much more without significant oversight. By introducing more strict regulations and clearer boundaries, we can then make sure that unnecessary and excessive depictions of violence and imagery are minimized. These rules wouldn’t necessarily stifle creativity but would encourage filmmakers to be more precise about what they should add. Secondly, I believe that some forms of graphic content should be limited. For example, scenes depicting rape or torture do not need to be explicitly shown to be impactful. Filmmakers can portray these scenes through dialogue, atmosphere, or implied storytelling. Limiting these kinds of acts from films is one step closer to changing the general public’s mindset toward these things.

While horror movies and violent films have made their place in the world of entertainment, many things have gotten out of hand and are simply not necessary. Normalizing graphic violence and the pushing of it has caused the desensitization of so many people and undermined the very real suffering that comes from these acts. By implementing stricter content guidelines, setting limits on explicit depictions, and being aware of the problem at hand, we can then start to move forward with a better form of entertainment.