I watched a suspenseful movie last night with some friends, it was not my first choice but I was trying to be a team player, but it got me thinking about why there are some movies, including suspenseful ones, that really bug me. The reason why I don't like them is because I feel like the movie makers are trying to manipulate my emotions to feel something very specific aka fear, surprise, etc by doing certain things with the filming and music etc.
After thinking about that though, I noticed a flaw in my logic. All movies (and media) pretty much want to manipulate our emotions. They are telling us a story and want us to feel certain things while we watch them, so why does it bother me so much in certain types of movies? I mean one of my favorite scenes** from the LoTR is the one where Pippin sings to Denethor while Faramir is fighting the orcs. The music in that scene is evocative and my emotions fall in line with what I think was intended, disgust at Denethor, and sadness at the futile nobility of Faramir's obedience. But that manipulation doesn't bother me, in fact I am impressed by it. Thus, I decided that what bothers me is that it is trying to inspire emotions that I don't want, namely fear, and so I can't enjoy the movie. Instead I spend my time finding plot holes so that I never become invested and they can't make me care.
So, in conclusion, it's not the manipulation of emotions that I object to, but the emotions they are trying to create.
*Say that 5 times fast.
**Note this scene portrays Denethor accurately but the way in which they trashed Faramir's character is disgraceful!
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