Why are you afraid when watching a scary movie? When something scary happens on the screen, why do you jump? Is it because you are in danger? Of course not – it is just a movie!
Suppose you are watching a scary movie, but you tell yourself, “I am watching a story filmed for entertainment, especially to create fear and excitement. There will be scenes created specifically to scare me, but I know that is not really happening to me.”
That would take all the fun out of the movie, wouldn’t it?
The film is structured to draw you into the story, to appeal to your emotions making you see yourself as one of the characters in the movie. When you remind yourself of reality, the fear is reduced, or may be removed. Your thinking is primarily what your emotions are responding to, therefore, reducing the film’s efforts to engage your fear.
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