Shock Value

Since I was little, I've enjoyed watching suspenseful/scary movies on occasion. Last night I went to see the remake of It with a friend at the theater. I had seen the original a long time ago, so I knew what to expect, but my friend had not. Every time Pennywise the clown would appear and lunge at someone she would grab my shoulder, so even if I wasn't surprised by what was happening on the screen, she would surprise me. Then we would laugh at how ridiculous it was, and it would happen all over again. 

Scary things happen in the real world every day: unstable leaders of countries threaten nuclear action, actual wars are fought,  domestic and international terror attacks are now regular occurrences, severe natural disasters strike and become more prevalent, demagogues threaten democracy by taking away citizens' rights under the guise of protecting them, pandemics health crises rise, domestic and various other types of abuse occur in every community, species become extinct and the corals reefs become bleached, etc.

With all that is going on these days, I welcome the escape into fictional worlds where a clown terrorizes children in a little Maine town, or a group of ordinary people tries to survive against all odds in the zombie apocalypse, or the army of the dead marches towards a continent full of warring kingdoms (plus dragons and magic). Yes, it is important to be aware of what is happening in the world and do things of substance, and not just retreat into fantasy worlds all the time. We are not living in Ready Player One  or Idiocracy just yet, but we're getting there. So I'll take my little momentary escapes here and there.