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Horror Movies and Your Teens
Filed under: Movies, Expert Advice: Teens
Teens who watched horror films experienced an increase in anxiety. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
Today's horror movies rely much more heavily on gore, special effects and the pairing of sex and violence.
Why this matters
A seminal University of Michigan study showed teens who watched horror films experienced an increase in anxiety. Other studies about violence have shown that immersion in violent content -- and today's horror movies are pretty much nonstop violence -- reduces empathy and makes violence less impactful. Sure, our kids know that the movies are fantasy, but their bodies process the fright and gore as if it were real.
It may be a time-honored tradition for younger teens to sneak into R-rated movies, but when they sneak into an R-rated slasher or "torture porn" movie, they receive images they just won't be able to get out of their head.
Today's horror films not only focus on darker themes, but they're full of extreme violence and sex. This is a dangerous combination, especially for impressionable teens. Many are just beginning to understand their newfound sexuality, and once grisly violence is shown in a sexual way, it's impossible to break that association. This isn't healthy.
Another big issue is the number of female victims in these dice 'em, slice 'em thrillers. Remember that media -- no matter how absurd or unrealistic -- still acts as a super peer. Do we really want to normalize helpless, wailing, battered women or encourage misogynistic behavior?
The facts
- Horror movies are big business: The number of new films has increased steadily in the last decade
- Since the 1999 release of The Sixth Sense, PG-13 horror has become a teen staple
- R-rated horror movies often pair sex with grisly violence
What can you do if your teens just love horror movies? It's best to help them understand all the other messages they're getting along with the shock and gore. Before they go to see the latest bloodbath, talk to them about what's really going on:
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
5-11-2011 @ 10:56AM
rosie8896 said...I would just like to say that I have watched all the saw movies and there has never been any sex in them. A lot of people like to lay the blame on the Saw movies, but the truth is is that they are not that bad. Most of the victims are men and when there is women, the women are wearing normal clothes; not skimpy hooker clothes.
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5-11-2011 @ 11:57AM
Leila said...Gee, this article wasn't written by a hard-core feminist at all. Give me a break. I've been watching gore and horror movies since I was 5 years old, the first of which was the Child's Play movies and Jason movies (not at the approval of my mother of course haha). Not only have I grown to adulthood NORMALLY, I'm also not desensitized to violence I might see in real life simply because I saw it in a movie. Do you think children and teens are too stupid to realize what is fake and what is real?
5-11-2011 @ 6:08PM
Miataboy said...So, violence is OK, but sex isn't? God bless the USA!
5-11-2011 @ 6:42PM
David said...Well Rosiean, thank heavens those people who were very graphically being ripped apart, mutilated, and otherwise maimed and killed were dressed appropriately and didn't engage in sex. Now that would have been just too much. Heaven forbid kids see some sex, which is a perfectly normal thing, and instead got to see all sorts of blood and guts in the extreme.
5-12-2011 @ 1:05AM
Jessica said...I buy almost everything except food and clothing from online auctions. Most people aren't aware of the almost unbelievable deals that they can get from online auction sites.
The site that has the best deals is hTtp://bit.ly/Biggestdeals and I checked with the Better Business Bureau and was told that it is all legit. How they can sell gift cards, laptops, cameras, and all kinds of goodies that we all want for 50-90% off, I don't know. I do know that I bought my son an iPad there for less than $100 and my husband a $250 Loews gift cards for $48. Why would I even think about shopping anyplace else?
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5-11-2011 @ 11:43AM
g said...What's disturbing are the tendancies of our youth to be so attracted to S & M & bondage, & bizarre atrocities coupled with sex. Life is so full of painful things, why must people include in thier sexual activities???!!! Is this a product of violent slasher movies & video games???????
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5-11-2011 @ 2:26PM
Kevin Brown said...Perhaps you should take a course on human sexuality or perhaps sexual development than you would understand how silly your comment is.
5-12-2011 @ 9:26AM
Lindsey said...What??? I've been watching horror movies since I was a child -- I'm now 28 -- and I can tell you with all honesty that being tied up and tortured is not exactly how I define a good time with my boyfriend.
And, FYI, I work for the district attorney as a crime victim advocate in a major city -- after spending all day seeing the worst this city has to offer, then turning on the news and seeing it played out again, I enjoy watching horror movies as an escape...it's a lot less anxiety provoking than real life.
5-11-2011 @ 12:06PM
TERRY said...HOW ABOUT GETTING THOSE ALCOHOL SIGNS AND COMERCILS OUT OF HERE ,THERE THE REAL KILLERS FOR KIDS GROWING UP.
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5-11-2011 @ 12:34PM
Brian said..."Many are just beginning to understand their newfound sexuality, and once grisly violence is shown in a sexual way, it's impossible to break that association."
Ya about that... you're an idiot. Of course it's possible to break the association between sex and violence since A) Not everyone makes such a ridiculus connection and B) Teens aren't killing each other right and left. A truly stupid comment if ever there was one.
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5-11-2011 @ 12:41PM
Daniel Ciminelli said...This same question about censorship happened in the 50's with horror comics, only this time no one is asking for a total abolishment of the medium. Why? Is our tolerance higher nowadays? Yes, I would say so.
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5-11-2011 @ 12:57PM
SkyBlue said...Well, I guess it's easier to blame the movies (and TV) rather than go to the real issue. Where are the parents? Parents should understand their children enough to know if they're capable of watching and comprehending a horror movie. I've been watching them since I was 4 or 5, and I always understood that they were just movies and not real life. Anyone too sensitive or impressionable shouldn't be watching. Don't ruin them for the rest of us by reducing everyting down to a (weakling) common denominator.
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5-11-2011 @ 1:16PM
Tess said..."Since the 1999 release of The Sixth Sense, PG-13 horror has become a teen staple"
The mention of this movie in this article is kind of jarring. It is nothing like the horror movies being cautioned about in this article. If a movie has to be mentioned, I think a more worthy movie to mention would be Scream in 1996. It wasn't PG-13, but as the article points out, sneaking into movies is part of the thrill for the underage scary movie fan. Scream redefined and revitalized the teen slasher movie industry. The Sixth Sense just gave the movie industry M Night Shyamalan.
This isn't the biggest deal, but it does make me doubt the author's knowledge of the subject.
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5-11-2011 @ 1:21PM
ksn8908 said...i looked on the list of "alternative" options...they have the exorcist listed. im sorry but the language alone is enough to make it a no no until your at least old enough to get into a rated R movie
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5-11-2011 @ 2:15PM
dm28fla said...Feminist agenda is boring. Horror movies are sexist? Just shut up already.
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5-11-2011 @ 2:33PM
Kevin Brown said...Yes pretty silly article. Horror movies are not harming anyone. R-rated horror movies are for adults, not children. PG-13 horror movies are watered down and intended for the tweeny-bopper crowd (I don't watch PG-13 horror movies because of that reason.) Sometimes I find an R-rated horror film with a disturbing mixture of nudity and violence, so I don't watch that movie again. Who wrote this article, chicken little?
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5-11-2011 @ 4:41PM
Holly said...The same person who wrote this article is typical of the fear-mongering censors who have been around for years. I'm 64 and used to sneak up after my parents went to bed to watch the horror flicks that came on at midnight. I never changed into a vampire, a werewolf or Jack the Ripper or even had nightmares. My sons are 42 and 26 and if they wanted to watch horror or slasher films, they could. The films never gave them nightmares and hasn't turned either into psychotic killers or made them disrespectful of women. Tweens and teens aren't 5-year olds and have known for a long time that the Big Bad Wolf isn't real. Study cited is a ridiculous waste of money. Who's anxiety level doesn't rise when watching something scary? This writer is one of those "raise your kids in a cocoon" types which translates to "raise your kids to be neurotic".
5-11-2011 @ 5:22PM
Kevin Brown said...Gotta agree with you Holly, I would be more concerned about kids having no compassion or common courtesty towards others or even their obsession for their ipods and cell phones (and quite frankly I am not all that worried about that worried about that stuff since kids will be kids and we were all a little insane at that age.)
I am a college professor and usually I find that the young people I have that are into the horror stuff tend to be the smarter, sharper students (a lot of them with a rebellious streak I find commendable)
5-11-2011 @ 2:58PM
Vicki Cleghorn said...My sister-in-law, whose daughter is 2 yrs younger than my son, started her daughter out watching horror movies at age 13 (her first one was The Ring) so she'd have someone to watch them with! I never did because I feel the violence in those movies always made me sick to my stomach, literally. My dear, sweet sis-in-law made fun of me, calling me a baby (so mature) and said they're fun. I seriously worry about people who think violence and gore is 'fun'. She said that my son was going to be a geek. Will, sweetheart, the 'geek' shall inherit the earth.
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5-12-2011 @ 1:54AM
mr boogee said...Liberals just don`t get it. Horror movie are FUN movies! Everybody loves a good scare. The current events in America {obama, high gas prices, uemployment, home foreclosures} ars scarier than anything screenwriters can dream up. If you don`t like `em, don`t watch `em, but stop telling us what we can-or can`t watch!
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