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Poll Do You Feel Drawn to Disaster / Fantasy Movies?

Are you drawn to disaster/fantasy movies?

  • Yes

    Votes: 79 49.7%
  • No

    Votes: 45 28.3%
  • Depends

    Votes: 35 22.0%

  • Total voters
    159
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Not drawn to movies, watch them but when I want or not, but I am a news junkie. There was a time I could not watch enough news, channel switching to see everything, sometimes up to 12 hours a day. With medication and help from my family I have slowly withdrawn from this and can now get by with only 4 to 5 hrs a day of news. any lessand I get a creepy feeling that there is danger coming for me and I can't see what it is. Strange that I know it is a symptom of my PTSD but it still eats at me until I have to watch
 
I obsessed about 2 forms of media; info on up to the minute as possible surveillance and communications technology - I surfed the www 2 hours/day looking up anything to do with that; I was a techno sales rep for 15 yrs... and at home,
war movies turned up loud with the surround sound on. I stopped doing both after about the first 6 mos. Right now watching Beverly Hillbillies.
 
I used to be drawn to any/all types of gruesome movies. I've watched every "Halloween", every Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street stuff) movie; movies about possession, evil, ghosts, haunting - but only the heavy, really scary stuff.

Also, I had an extreme fascination/draw to war movies, particularly about Vietnam. I watched Platoon probably 30 times - when it was on our cable channel years ago, I watched it over and over and over - often back-to-back for hours. Watched both Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now many times.

Now, however, I don't like ANY of those types of movies. Anything like that, especially about possession and evil, really triggers all kinds of strange fears. I remember I went to see Blair Witch Project and didn't sleep for 3 days.

I like action/drama/adventure now.

-Dylan
 
Well I love movies like The Day After Tomorrow. But nothing like the thriller movies. I used to love to read anything by Dean Koontz but can't concentrate on books any more. To bad because I have always loved to read.
Judy
 
yes deffo.

i love anything different and fantasy like harry potter and narnia and lord of rings.

i hate any films that are staulking/slash horror such as halloween uncut etc

i like horrors involving vampires werewolves and supernatural horros but not anything like texas chainsaw masacre.

i dont like anything pointing towards abuse, rape or helplessness or being restrained . my boyfriend put one on at the beginning of our relationship unaware of how upset i would get and i got very aggressive with him and stormed out.

i have been told to stay away from a film called irriversable. its got a graphic rape scene in it so i advize everyone to do the same
 
And Horror!

I love,love,love!!!!! horror movies. Disaster movies. End-of-the-world movies. Also any books or tv with the same themes. Good fantasy is a staple- in any format. G.K. Chesterton (an author) said "Fantasy stories don't exist to tell you dragons are real. Fantasy stories exist to tell you that dragons can be defeated." For me, the same sentiment applies to horror, disaster, apocalyptic, cops&lawyers etc. The bad guy ALWAYS gets his come-uppance. There is ALWAYS at least one survivor (or 2 to begin human population again). I need to experience the defeat of all kinds of monsters- from dragons to serial killers- because I didn't get justice in my real life. In my real life, the monster just died. He never paid in any way for the things he did to me. So I find this stuff very cathartic. My friendsandrelations don't really get it. They can't see why I watch and read some of the stuff I do. I'm glad they don't get it. I bet you guys get it, even if you don't do it yourselves. red
 
I have found that I read more than I used to and seem to concentrate on books dealing with trauma of some sort. The things I enjoyed watching on tv no longer hold my interest.
 
I have a tendency to want to watch thrillers when I'm by myself. I didn't even notice this until my bf (who I live with) pointed it out.
 
Drawn to war/fantasy/supernatural

I'm a carer, but this thread really reminded me of my husband's extensive movie interests.

My husband has a vast collection of war and military movies...I think he's familiar with every one made, including foreign ones, which are some of his favorites. It doesn't matter which war, although he's partial to the WWII movies about the RAF. His PTSD is not a result of military/combat experience.

It always seemed strange to me...I thought that those movies would be triggering, as some of them are rather dark. He tried to explain it to me. It sounds like these movies are somewhat comforting for him because real life feels like a battle for him; however, in real life, society at large doen't see the battle going on, like being in a war all by yourself. In the war movies, the darkness of the situation is recognized and experienced by a larger group. As Meggymish said, "...I'm very drawn to realistic war movies, especially ones that show the effects of combat on the soldiers. I think this is because some of my own trauma involved things that usually only soldiers in combat have happen to them."
Also, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Narnia, supernatural, and anything quirky/campy are big with him. He hates movies that "celebrate urbanity." We both tend to prefer British and Canadian movies and tv to the mainstream American Hollywood productions.
Great thread!
Ace
 
I voted "depends". Prior to trauma, I watched disaster and fantasy movies. Now I am drawn to war movies. don't know why but I suppose I could be dealing with my stuff in a "removed" way.
 
I used to be into war movies, especially when I was in Iraq. now i steer clear of anything that has death or killing as a main plot. just adds to the feeling of death is around the corner. plus it's just not good to be desensitized to that material for anyone.
 
This is something I've noticed in myself for awhile now, and wondered if anyone else feels drawn to disaster and fantasy movies. It came up in therapy today and my psych said it made sense that I was drawn to these kinds of movies, because in viewing them I'm working on my stuff - but at a remove. I can't, for example, watch a lot of crime shows because they're too true to everyday life and triggering for me. But I sometimes like to watch certain kinds of disaster/monster movies (but not slasher/horror ones!!), and I love The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter films, because they're not so ordinary. Yet, in such movies, I get to see characters dealing with out-of-the-ordinary challenges, and usually the plot resolves positively. Anyone else?
Mostly disaster. Anything to break the norm, and cause chaos. Not good though.
 
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