Summary
Overview
Jordan Harbinger and Dr. Coltan Scrivner explore the science behind morbid curiosity, examining why humans are drawn to horror, true crime, and disturbing content. They discuss how this fascination isn't a moral failing but rather an evolutionary adaptation that helped our ancestors learn about threats safely. The conversation covers the psychology of horror movies, the appeal of true crime (especially among women), how childhood scary play builds emotional resilience, and why video games don't cause real-world violence despite decades of moral panic.
Defining Morbid Curiosity and Early Misconceptions
Dr. Scrivner shares how he discovered that despite morbid curiosity being universally experienced, virtually no scientific research existed on it. He challenges the traditional view held by film critics like Siskel and Ebert that people who enjoy horror content are morally bankrupt or lack empathy. Instead, he defines morbid curiosity as simply an interest in things that are dangerous, whether real (true crime) or fictional (horror movies), and argues it's fundamentally about learning rather than depravity.
- Morbid curiosity was unstudied scientifically despite being universally experienced
- Film critics Siskel and Ebert dedicated an entire episode to condemning 'women in danger' slasher films, even doxxing filmmakers
- Gene Siskel spoiled Friday the 13th endings and published addresses of the chairman and lead actress to encourage harassment
- Most slasher films featured 'final girl' tropes where women overcome terrible odds through intelligence and endurance
- Morbid curiosity is defined as interest in or curiosity about things that are dangerous
" I thought, surely people have studied this. And when I started looking into it, there was just no science on this. And this was not that long ago, maybe five, six years ago, seven at the most. So I thought, okay, this is interesting as a grad student, right? I found this thing that everyone knows about, but nobody has studied it. That's a gold mine. "
" If you like it, you're a bad person. In particular, they thought that people who liked it hated women and were very sick people. And it shocked me because these were two again like of the best film critics in the world and they couldn't separate their personal viewpoint of what they thought of the people who liked the films from just rating and critiquing the film itself. "
The Horror Formula: Vulnerable Heroes vs. Powerful Villains
Dr. Scrivner explains his research using AI to analyze hundreds of horror movie plots, discovering that horror uniquely features extremely powerful antagonists paired with vulnerable protagonists—the opposite of action movies where heroes are formidable. This imbalance creates the distinctive horror experience, as seen in classics like It with children facing supernatural threats. He uses Predator as a counterexample: despite having a perfect hunting machine as villain, it's not horror because Arnold Schwarzenegger and his armed Green Berets are too capable.
- Horror is the only genre where the villain is distinctly more powerful than the hero
- The vulnerable protagonist paired with overwhelming antagonist creates the horror formula
- Predator isn't horror despite perfect villain because protagonists are too formidable with weapons and training
- Horror protagonists only fight back when cornered, like prey animals as a last resort
- Studies show people imagine gun-wielders as larger and stronger due to cognitive mapping of danger
" In horror movies it was distinctly a very powerful bad guy powerful villain so Pennywise and It right and that was really unique to horror it's the only genre where the hero is not very strong not very capable or at least is very overwhelmed by the villain. "
" It's teenage camp counselors and then Jason or whatever is out there with his hockey mask on, chopping them into little pieces. And you're right. It's like the most feminist thing ever. Maybe watch the ending next time, Ebert. "
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