Submitted by Any-Low9727 t3_1194l92 in television
As a man, it quite confuses me as to why shows like You and documentaries/shows about serial killers that are about stalking, abusing, and killing women are so prevalent.
I've never seen these shows so maybe I'm missing something, but if you like these shows/this kind of content, can you explain why?
It's one of the darkest facets of human nature so the motivations fascinate us. Like most horror, it's a way to explore the emotions behind real fears in a safe way
Along with true crime, they are popular with women most of all. I think there are a bunch of reasons. The shows confront something in society they fear, a legitimate threat they have to think about day-to-day. I am guessing it's cathartic watching it play out in the safety of their living rooms. I think "You" has the added element that Joe is not a bad looking fellow and he's also charming. You kind of see how someone could fall for the Ted Bundy type tricks.
Also, my partner and I are big into horror and there was an article I read recently linking the enjoyment of horror with something called "benign masochism". Basically something that would be normally be unpleasant, in this case fear, feels good when you know you are safe. Another example is eating really spicy foods. I can see this being a factor with these shows too.
People are fascinated by what scares them. I kind of chalk it up to how men will watch war movies. The threat of having to go to war is a lot more real for men than women with selective service and such.
Being stalked or sexually assaulted or being targeted by a serial killer who hates women is more of a threat to women. So it's a more visceral fear to explore for then.
It's kind of odd because I hate to hear about that stuff. But I live with an elderly religious woman. She can't handle cursing at all. Her daughter had to stop watching shows on HBO and such because she'll always complain about how much the cursing bothers her. But half the time I go by her room I get to hear about awful stuff done to some poor woman being described by a narrator.
I watch the murder channel on occasion (ID Discovery) and it is quite literally mindless repetition of a formula. Content-wise, it's like a mystery and horror movie wrapped up in one.
You is campy and funny as shit.
But i think the answe to the overall question of the post is that the darkness within humanity is a pretty interesting topic to explore.
It's the scarier type of horror because of how real it is.
The fact that normal people and lives are mostly (for your sake and mine) free of said darkness does raise some curiosity.
There’s a line where joe says something like “I’d be a good dad” as he does something insane cracks me up.
As with all interests or genres, everyone has a different experience. But....
1 - they're telling about human nature 2 - cautionary tales, one can learn a lot about protecting themselves by learning basic commonalities of past crimes. A major lesson, IMO, is how girls are often conditioned to value manners / politeness over their instinct but that's to their detriment. 3 - personally, I was a young teen when a friend was murdered and then peripherally knew a few women that were victims of what was believed to be a serial offender. These events were all during formative years and tackling fears meant learning as much as one could. The murdered friend ended up as a case being unsolved for many years, so there was little real info in her case but much to learn from the global community.
The same reason mystery and suspense novels have always been popular.
The human mind is primed to pay very close attention to Caution Tales about horrible things that happened to other people (even fictional ones). We've been learning from each other by listening to stories for thousands and thousands of years, and the thrilling, scary ones are often the most attractive and memorable.
When I watched "You" for the first time , it creeped me out. But I was also hooked to the show. The Fall is the same. Paul Specter really made me feel disgusted, but it's a great mystery/thriller.
I think people love good thriller.
Murder mysteries have thrived for centuries now because they remove the main witness, so a particularly adept sleuth is required to solve the case. Whenever a woman is the victim, she's usually a pretty girl and everyone knows she's not really being killed, so it's nice to look at the pretty girl.
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Depictions of dangerous, murderous people have been popular since the Greek tragedies all the way through Shakespeare and into today. I don't need to watch TV shows about people who punch a clock and pay their bills; I'm already doing that. I want to see something more gripping and out of the ordinary and where the stakes are high.
Learning and developing life skills through entertainment is evident in many species.
After years of the media portraying women as victims it's not surprising that people are attracted to these types of shows. It could be a way to develop empathy or strategies for self defence.
I personally enjoy biopics that present the true story as though it was a fictional crime drama. This removes the real world bias and allows you to consider events or motivations that lead to the person acting in the way they did.
why are slasher films so popular and we root for the bad guy? It's because humans love to see the 'bad guy' in action and see how good overcomes him, or not.
Humans are attracted by the Abyss !
> I've never seen these shows
You honestly SHOULD start by watching one.
They aren't. No shows are popular. You are confusing "do well enough to make a lot of them" with being popular.
The most watched show on television is FBI which get 5% of the U.S. as viewers. I'll repeat that, the most "popular" show on television only appeals to 5% of the population.
No shows are popular. They just get enough viewers to be considered successful.
[deleted] t1_j9kdet6 wrote
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