What is is about children and their attraction to cinematic fear? I remember being scared of so many films when I was a kid. "Jaws" was a big offender, as was "Poltergeist", the face melting scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Gremlins" - damn you, Spielberg! Even stupid scenes would make me soil by Underoos, like the scene in "Superman III" where the evil lady was transformed into a cyborg by the supercomputer, or the scene with the mutant bear cub lying in the creek in "Prophecy". Hell, the commercial for the televised version of "Alien" sent me packing. If a scary scene ever came up when I was watching a movie, I'd run to mommy and have her cover my eyes. It was pathetic.
And now here I am, a major horror movie fan and longtime subscriber to Fangoria magazine. I love scary stuff. I think that learning to "survive" horror movies is an easy training ground on the the road to mastering the real fears of life. Obviously this is only one way to learn to conquer your fear - there are many roads in this regard. It always makes me sad to see parents who shelter their kids from absolutely everything that might upset them. I know it's just their natural parental instincts kicking in, but the kid's gotta learn someday or else they'll turn into one of those self-centered, loud mouthed "extreme sports" A-holes. No, I'm not saying you should sit down with your kids and have a "Saw" marathon, either. Just let the kid live a little.
As for my own Dragon, I'm not entirely certain. My first cinematic memory was of one of the banthas (the big furry elephants on Tatooine) from the original "Star Wars". Did that inspire my love for Mr. Snuffleupagus on "Sesame Street", or my later obsession with paleontology and frozen woolly mammoth corpses in the Arctic? Perhaps.
I think it's something else. When I was about 2 or 3 years old I lived in a trailer with my parents in a town in northern Minnesota called Ely. One night, my dad spotted a pack of wolves outside of our trailer, lurking in the darkness. Against my mother's wishes, he lifted me up to the window so that I could take a look. I remember being excited and scared all at the same time. What I remember seeing were the black shapes of wolves against the white, snow-covered ground moving swiftly in the cold moonlight. Even to this day, many of my nightmares revolve around dark, menacing shapes lurking just outside the light, waiting. . .
Maybe some day I will get the chance to (safely) scare the hell out of your kids. My dreams are still a work in progress, but they will be unleashed upon this earth one day to entertainingly torment the souls of the living. This I swear! Until that time, I will have to torment you with my blog.
As for Mr. James Rolfe and his dreams, well. . . the "Angry Video Game Nerd Movie" is currently entering its third week of filming! Dreams do come true. . .
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