Why Would Anyone Watch That?

Note: Yes, this is publishing on a Saturday instead of a Friday because I looked at a calendar that didn't follow the standard Sunday through Saturday pattern. Okay, it's a crummy excuse, but it's all I got. I only realized it today when this didn't post. Anyway...enjoy on a Saturday, I guess. 

"Why would anyone watch that?"

I see this question all the time in articles about certain movies. The statement itself is fairly judgmental, inferring that anyone who DOES want to watch whatever movie is being talked about is a complete psycho, weirdo, or worse. That's not the point of this blog, though. I find these comments funny and it takes more than that to offend me.

Because I AM the kind of person who would watch "that" movie.

I love weird, horrific, and disturbing movies.Even if I don't like a movie after I've seen it, there's a good chance that if the rest of the world doesn't want to see it, than I will. If someone tells me "You don't want to see that," than I will find a way to watch that film.

Let's take The Human Centipede, for example. If you haven't heard of it, please click the link with caution. The synopsis alone makes people say "What?"  I'd never actually recommend this movie to anyone. Besides the fact that it's so close to reality and all (snark), I understand that not everyone can handle that kind of content. For me, the appeal was in upping my threshold for gore tolerance and being able to joke about it after I watched it.

I have joked about THC to no end. Most people still won't watch it. However, my constant commentary did earn me a couple fellow viewers, and the second time I watched it, I realized that there's humor to the movie. You just have to be able to think twisted enough to see it.

Let me beat you to the punch with the "ew" comments and sum it all up: "How can anyone think like that??"

I can, and I'm not going to apologize for it. I grew up in a household where scary movies were the norm. I was reading Stephen King and Dean Koontz sometime near early junior high. I grew up knowing what was right and wrong. "Silence of the Lambs" was one of my favorite movies as a kid, but I did understand that cannibalism and murder was wrong. I'm a little dark, but I'm not insane.

I think of it as extreme movie watching. In fact, I've seen a movie that I consider worse than THC. Now there's news of what the second Human Centipede movie is going to be about, and there's a good chance it might take the top of the my "messed up movie" list.

Will I see it? Probably. Will I like it? Judging by the descriptions I've read, probably not. It may or may not beat out #1 on the list. I don't know. The point is that strange, bizarre, grotesque, and scary movies don't send me over any edge. I get a little disturbed. The images stay with me for a day or so, and then I move on.

Besides, I often follow one up with a Care Bears movie or a Disney classic, so that's got to count for something.