(no subject)

[andrewducker]

Every so often people try to get me to watch films with spidrs in them, o nthe grounds that "It's funny not scary", which seems to ignore the fact that "scary" is an entirely subjective construct.

Last night I was in Blockbuster and eight-legged-freaks was on the overhead tv. I watched a few minutes of it and commented to Erin "Dammit, I wish I wasn't arachnophobic, that looks fantastic."

She tried to persuade me to hire it, but I turned her down. I got a little ratty, as I was tired. She didn't really understand, but then she hasn't seen me pressured by people for the last 10 years.

Last night I woke up 3 times in a cold sweat and couldn't get back to sleep for about 10 minutes each time, because I was having spider nightmares.

Now I'm awake, what I saw of the film seems silly, fun and kinda cool. At 3 in the morning, in the dark, with a cat moving noisily around the flat it wasn anything but.

Comments

[kimberly-a.livejournal.com]

I have a very close friend who is arachnophobic, and people seem to think it's funny. Some of his friends played a joke on him by putting a huge plastic spider in the freezer compartment of his refrigerator once, and he spent hours running around the apartment in a panic until his house-mate got home and took the spider out for him.

Everyone else tells this story as a big funny joke. Donald doesn't seem to find it so funny. And I've always interpreted it as really quite mean.

My husband is terribly afraid of snakes. I don't think he would find it so funny if someone pulled the same joke on him, and used snakes instead.

[ex-digitalis869.livejournal.com]

I know the feeling.

I'm terrified of horror movies of any kind, and yeah, i know that three a.m. feeling. I've had people actually force me to watch something, when i've been stranded somewhere without a ride. It really, really sucks.

[rainstorm.livejournal.com]

i can totally understand everything you say. i have been told "get over it" a thousand times and when i say "i can't" they refuse to believe me and say i'm just being pathetic. at least i don't scream whenever i see one. i even managed to go close enough to kill a couple.. and some people don't see that as a good thing - they say "why not just catch it in a glass and let it go?! that's so cruel!" believe me, i don't want to kill them (in the rational part of my head. the irrational says "killkillkillkillget it out get it out get rid of it i don't care how" but..).

spiders scare me like little else does. the way my heart hurts inside because it's suddenly taken a huge leap.. that's not funny.

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

It IS a funny, silly movie, but phobias really don't recognize the difference. Scary IS subjective, as you say.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'm actually less phobic than you are or if my dreams are simply more cooperative, but I've never had spiders in dreams or nightmares.
However, there is no way that I've consider seeing that particular movie - real spiders are far scarier than media ones, but I don't need that sort of stress. I love watching nature specials, but when they get to long close-up scenes of a spider capturing and devouring its prey I close my eyes.

[wordofblake.livejournal.com]

I've had the same problem with things that are 'gross'

"Is this film gross?" says Gordon
"No" people say, meaning "well it is but it's obviously fake so nobody would be grossed out"

I mean I read the Sandman sections with Mazikeen in with my finger over her face.

anyway, do not see Eight Legged Freaks, it's funny and cool, but they are spiders (and in my opinion scary ones)