King vs. Walker essays

King vs. Walker essays Fear is the essence of the unknown. In an article by Stephan King called Why We Crave Horror Movies, he claims that we all crave an inner fear. He claims that we all crave for the worst, and at times this seems to be a scary truth. However, in an article by Alice Walker, Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self, her fear is of not being accepted by people as an externally beautiful person. Although they may at first seem different, both authors are actually talking in contrast about the same thing. Fear is present in us in two forms: fear of the unknown, which King indulges in his writings, and the fear, which always lives within you whether good or bad as Walker writes about. As King writes, We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality; the horror movie is initially conservative, even reactionary. Freda Jackson as the horrible melting woman in Die, Monster, Die! Confirms for us that no matter how far we may be removed from the beauty of a Robert Redford or a Diana Ross, we are still light-years from true ugliness. (456) When we are afraid, it gives us a feeling we experience as false sense of helplessness. We are never helpless. Fear is the decision to relinquish our powers. The relinquishment is always a conscious act. If we subject ourselves to see a horror movie purposefully our reaction is to fear the worst, then afterwards we feel more comfortable because the worst is over. When we prefer to be afraid, it is always because we wish not to be responsible for our actions. I imagine anyone who's enjoyed a Stephen King movie has experienced a similar moment where, if only briefly, horror and reality blur. The unsettling force of King's powers of persuasionmaybe there really are monsters outside the windowmay have sent some readers scurrying back to the more secure, safe place in there lives. Others, like myself, get hooked on the intensity of bei ...