Abstract
The article discusses films with fantastic elements using evolutionary psychology. The fascination with the fantastic on film is a by-product of different evolutionary mental adaptations, like the interest in causality with the purpose of control that create interest in fantastic violation of naturalist expectations; the horror fear of being preyed upon by powerful agents (animals or other humans) and the fear of contamination from dead bodies; and the need to enforce moral supervision and submission to powerful others to enhance group cohesion, and these functions get a powerful emphasis by invention of supernatural agents. The prominence of supernaturalism in media is not necessarily linked to an increase in religious interest vis à vis science but could also be caused by a diminished 'heresy control' allowing media to exploit a range of innate dispositions of being intrigued by different supernatural phenomena that might be called 'heathen' because it often reuses all kinds of folk superstitions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Nordic Journal of Media Studies. |
| Volume | 6 |
| Pages (from-to) | 45-58 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| ISSN | 1601-829X |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
Keywords
- Faculty of Humanities
- evolutionary theory
- supernaturalism
- enchantment
- film melodrama
- fantasy films
- horror films