Yasmin Bahat 2.

Engelsk aflevering

06.02.2012

Scary Movies
The terrible horrors of the real world are frightening and overwhelming. The only escape of these horrors is found in the imaginative, unreal and fear inducing world of scary movies watched in gloomy, dark theatres. This contrast in how fear is experienced is portrayed in the short story Scary Movies written by Stephen Amidon first published in 1995. Furthermore the theme, which the story deals with, is the division between Afro-Americans and whites in the U.S and how this split results in fear. The beginning of the story starts with setting a mood of fear. This is shown in this example from the text: It was 1968, a banner year for fear Every night seemed to bring fresh images of horror and violence. Vietnam, race riots, assassinations, angry protests by long-haired kids not all that much older than me. (page 1, ll. 2-6), this is a description how fear was a dominating factor in the everyday life that the narrator led. By starting the story this way, Amidon succeeds in setting a predominant negative mood with a focus on fear. After this introduction Amidon begins describing his and his friend Kevins first experience with fear at the Roxy Theatre. After the boys get seated the first feeling of fear comes when they notice that they were the only white people at the Roxy (page 2, l. 34). This is the first indication of the division between races which was the norm during 1968. The boys are used to living in an all-white community. The new scene which they now find themselves in frightens them very much. Their fear is described this way in the story: And so, trapped at the Roxy, Kevin and I sat in stunned silence and growing dread. (page 2, ll. 48-49). They feel trapped. And they fear the other children in the theatre simply because they do not know them. But then, after a tense, frightened and dreadful atmosphere, something changes. A new and different kind of fear settles in and wipes out the fear of the other children. The moment the scary movie starts playing everyone focuses on the movie. When the movie becomes too frightening all the other girls and boys express their fear very loudly, which is very alien for the two boys, who are used to sitting quietly through movies. But it is through the wild and expressive reactions from the other children, the boys realize that their fear is unnecessary. This is shown in this example from the text: I realized that Kevin and I are safe here, that as long as the kids around us were able to vent their terror at the screen then

Yasmin Bahat 2.a

Engelsk aflevering

06.02.2012

we would be all right. (page 3, ll. 87-89). All this creates another kind of fear, a fear different from the scary real world. The significance of the Roxy Theatre is undeniable, because it adds another level to the word fear: But now, sitting in this cavernous old theatre, surrounded by hundreds of raucous kids, we found ourselves becoming genuinely frightened by what we saw. The fear at the Roxy was infectious. (page 4, ll. 96-98). Thus it appears from the text, that The Roxy and the scary movies unite those who would normally be divided from each other, simply by giving them some good fear in common. The sense of commonness is seen through the narrator eyes. The narrator is written in first person from Amidons point of view. This adds another level to the the story, because his presence in the story supplements a dimension of truth. Readers get an understanding of fear through the narrators, Amidons, point of view. It is Amidons reflections that the readers experience. It is also through Amidons reflection that the difference between the two kinds of fear is sharpened at the end of the story when Martin Luther King is assassinated. Everything changes. Other images began to appear men crouching on a hotel balcony, a row of burning buildings, armed police scouring rooftops for a sniper. (page 4, ll. 125-128). The chaos from the beginning is now back in the story. The war between the divided races rages on and another level of real-life fear is added to the story. Therefore, trying to dim this fear, the narrator does the only thing he knows will help, he goes to the Roxy. But something has changed, the other kids are not frightened by the movies anymore, they do no react to the scary scenes on screen. Even during the most climatic scenes, the only response was utter stillness, utter silence The good fear was gone from the Roxy now, replaced by the real thing. (page 6, ll. 184-187 and 191-192). Reality has become too much, too overwhelming. No amount of fear from scary movies can make the horrors of the real-world disappear. The good fear has died and the real fear has taken its place. What once united these children from different races has gone, and instead the cruel dominating fear has divided them once again. Amidon writes in the end of the story that, Knowing who the real monster at the Roxy was, I snuck out through the emergency exit and walked quickly back to my side of town. (page 6, ll. 196-198). While in the middle of the scary movie, the boy suddenly realizes who the real monster is. The monster is him. He is the monster. The last line, where the narrator walks back to his part

Yasmin Bahat 2.a

Engelsk aflevering

06.02.2012

of town, clarifies the great divide between the Afro-Americans and the whites further. The message is that the terror of the real world cannot be ignored, because in the end, they are far greater than those of a silly scary movie. The shared understanding of the insignificance of skincolor when sitting in a dark theatre is ruined by the overwhelming situation outside. The joyful fear the children experienced does not matter anymore, not when the race problem in the real world is far too big and overpowering.