# Victims in horror movies.



## Veho (Aug 29, 2013)

You know the trope. People (usually the first victims) in horror movies are notoriously genre-blind, have never ever heard of the sort of thing that's preying on the general populace at any given moment, and are blissfully oblivious of the signs that should warn them something is amiss. Thus we get scenes of people trying to "help the injured" zombie, waving aside the weird teeth and curious sleeping arrangements of their host (after all, European nobility is _supposed_ to be eccentric, no?), approaching killer robots convinced it's some sort of ad campaign, and playfully slapping the guy in the hockey mask (holding a rusty chainsaw/machette/meat hook/spoon) on the bum and commenting on the "nice costume" or telling "[insert name of roommate; actually maniac]" to "quit fooling around". 

Cue gruesome murder. 

And we point at the poor fool and laugh, cringe or facepalm at their blatant stupidity, and ask ourselves and the filmmakers, "ok for crying out loud, haven't these people ever seen a zombie/vampire/slasher film in their lives, don't those things exist in that universe?", bemoaning their blissful but ultimately fateful ignorance. Forearmed with all the genre knowledge and related trivia, we would never be so unprepared, so naive, so caught with our pants down, hand extended and neck exposed. "If I were in their shoes..." 

What _would_ you do if you were in their shoes? This video got me thinking: 







Video here.​

I don't think I would run. I _know_ raptors don't exist, and I _know_ that thing isn't real, and after the initial shock at seeing something that big jump out from behind a corner, gasp, double take, weakness in the knees, I would most definitely walk closer to check out the "cool costume". And the "awesome special effects". And go and see what it's all about. And, secure in the knowledge that "that sort of thing only happens in movies", I would get messily devoured. 

Yes, I am the oblivious horror movie victim, I am the "this can't be real" sort of guy, my first response is to go poke at it with a stick (or more likely a finger, whichever gets me more dead in the case it's actually real). I fancy myself rather intelligent - not a complete idiot in any case - but if a horror movie scenario burst around me unannounced, I would bite it like the most oblivious blonde in the tallest, spikiest, unsuited-for-running heels you have ever seen. You'd watch me and go "come on, nobody could be _that_ dumb." 

Methinks I should start paying more attention to the news. 

What about you?


----------



## Ethevion (Aug 29, 2013)

If it was a raptor, I'd poop my pants. If there was a guy in a mask holding a blade, I'd be cautious.


----------



## Gahars (Aug 29, 2013)

Scream had this right all the way back in 1996. We make fun of the characters for doing stupid shit like running up the stairs instead of taking the front door, but when push comes to shove...


----------



## DinohScene (Aug 29, 2013)

Xtro.

Nuff said.


----------



## FAST6191 (Aug 29, 2013)

Veho said:


> I _know_ raptors don't exist


Eh hem
http://www.raptorresearchfoundation.org/education/raptor-world

On the other hand http://xkcd.com/242/ is true and the reverse engineer within would get me killed as I went to examine the giant robot.


----------



## Maxternal (Aug 29, 2013)

Reminds me of a certain squirrel. My brother tried to shoot an arrow at it with his bow. Arrow got stuck in the tree branch. Squirrel came completely out of hiding to examine what the heck was stuck in his tree. My dad was a much better shot than my brother.

You'd think humans are smart enough to know the difference but like all the people gathering around as the alien war machine emerges from the ground in War of the Worlds, our curiosity gets the best of us and we don't start running until it starts killing people. (and even then, not until it really kicks in that someone REALLY just died and that running is the correct reaction.) Unfortunately for the gene pool, the only ones who survive that first encounter are the nut cases that we would normally make fun of for being afraid of everything and anything.


----------



## wrettcaughn (Aug 29, 2013)

Maybe I assume too much...but I'm willing to bet that the guy in that video was pretty sure velociraptors were extinct as well...

It wasn't the fact that some big thing jumped out from around the corner.  A good portion of his reaction was exacerbated by all the other people running and screaming.  How many people's first reaction would be "totally hidden cam show"? Second reaction?


----------



## Maxternal (Aug 29, 2013)

wrettcaughn said:


> Second reaction?


"Why does it hurt so much ?!!?!?!!!!"


----------

