In ôWhy We Crave Horror Movies,ö Stephen King (YEAR, p. 458) maintains they provide us with something we crave internally that ôkeep[s] the gators fed.ö What he means by this is that he thinks there is a darker side of human nature that is satisfied by viewing horror films. King (YEAR, p. 458) argues that our less ôcivilizedö emotions are given rare room for expression during horror films, which ôdeliberately appeal to all that is worst in us.ö In this manner, King suggests horror films keep us sane by keeping our own worst emotions and impulses at bay much like feeding alligators keeps them at bay. There are other film genres and categories that also provide us with emotional release and appeal to those emotions and impulses that represent the best in human beings. These are known as romantic comedies.
Romantic comedies typically provide two major sources of human experience and joy, laughter and romance. In our busy lives, we are often stressed by numerous factors on a daily basis. From busy personal and work lives to dealing with pain, bad news and other aspects of existence, we often forget to laugh or seldom seem to have it prompted in us by our daily routines. As such, romantic comedies provide us with an outlet to sit back, lose ourselves in the romantic escapades of other people, and vicariously enjoy pleasure from the jokes and humor associated with romantic comedies.
Romantic comedies also serve another important need for human beings. They often help heal the pain and sometimes negative emotions experienced in relationships. At any point in time in society, people are falling in love and people are falling out of love in addition to those who fall somewhere in between these categories (i.e., longing or hoping for love). Therefore, when we go to watch romantic movies, we often have the pain of a breakup eased because the film provides us with hope that real romance exists
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