Now, I'm going to say this again. People in horror movies are seriously stupid. Of course, if they were NOT stupid we would not have a movie which is exactly why this trope exists in the first place.
SOMEBODY has to get the ball rolling. Somebody has to prove an easy target. Somebody does not necessarily have to be just one person. Whether it's the teenagers in Jaws who swim around with a shark fin who should have the bejeezus slapped out of them for allowing the REAL shark to eat someone else or the ex-husband in The Stepfather following said stepfather into what basically amounts to an abbatoir, horror movies wouldn't be horror movies if horror movie characters didn't pass around the idiot ball.
Idiot Ball: A plot device in which a character's stupidity fuels action. Sometimes this leads to a life lesson. Not in horror movies. Not related to Happy Fun Ball.
She's got TWO idiot balls.
This sort of thing occurs in movies to make us, the audience, say "Why the hell did you DO that, you ass?" I'll TELL you why they did that. To make us talk about the movie when it's over. To get us to tell our friends about the stupidity that occurred so that others will go see the movie. Of course, if this is OVERused, no one will go see the movie, resulting in a flop.
So. What is it about horror in particular that makes stupidity fatal? It's simple. As I've said before, horror movies, particularly slashers, are often morality tales and if you ever read Highlights magazine, you know all about Goofus and Gallant. Goofus, obviously, does stupid shit and will likely get punished and/or hurt for it. Gallant does the right thing and is, thus, unharmed.
Oh, look. A personal injury lawsuit in it's larval stage.
In horror, we have the assholes who willingly choose to swim in shark and/or piranha-infested waters. The stupid European backpackers who traipse across the moors in England during a full moon or take a trip to irradiated ruins. The douche-nugget that lets a previously undiscovered houseplant drink his blood.
In first place for horror movie stupidity? The scores of victim wannabes that take field trips to Camp Crystal Lake.
Population: Minus-150 Million
It really makes you wonder if there has ever been any press about this place because, seriously? Any other place in the world with this much mutilation mayhem would be cordoned off by the local, if not federal, authorities and NOBODY would be getting in there unless they had a badge. But, noooooo. Idiot teenagers keep finding their way into the camp and keep getting their heads turned into juicy campfire burgers. They hear the stories. They talk about Jason all the time. They KNOW what goes on there. And, yet, they go back time and time again.
But, again, we would have no movie without these fools so, what are we to do? Cheer for them! Make your voice known! And their rallying cry shall be "WHYYYYYYYYYY!!!"
Hail to the fools! Hail!
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