JDFP
12-Jul-2010, 04:50 PM
In another thread (the thread about "Zombies on I-84") I posted a response about being little and dad trying to scare me and my cousins for a laugh. It was always harmless except for scaring the ever-living-shit out of us from time to time, but I started thinking about it and wanted to ask...
When do you think it's going too far in scaring people? Where's the limit and how do you determine what that limit is in doing it (for example, you don't want to scare someone really badly if they have a heart condition -- that could probably be construed as manslaughter depending on circumstances).
I think that there is a line with kids in scaring them, for example. I'm sure dad probably crossed that line a few times with us when we were little but then revealed that it was just him and not Jason Voorhees or Freddy or what not trying to kill us and then we all had a good laugh about it (after we stopped shaking).
I dunno though.... I was just thinking about it. I get a kick out of the show "Scare Tactics" even though it's obviously as fake as fake gets ("Reality" shows); but think the principle is good in giving people a good fright. I'm just wondering when/where you can recognize that you've gone too far.
Note: I'm not personally intending on scaring the hell out of anyone anytime soon, I'm just wondering other people's opinion on the matter.
Here's my original post I placed on the thread about "Zombies on I-84" over in the Media section:
I dunno about headshots, but I'd say that MANY people have been hurt (and some probably pretty badly) for scaring other people too badly and thus having their asses kicked.
When I was little (around 5 or 6) my cousins were over to visit/hang out (my oldest cousin, Dewayne, was about 9) and we were playing Nintendo in my room (oh yeah, the original, none of this newfangled stuff). Dad thought it would be a funny idea to scare us into mortal fear by putting on a workman's outfit and Jason Voorhee's hockey mask (looking ALMOST exactly like him) and come running into my room.
Of course, I started crying like a baby (I was only 5 or 6) along with my younger cousins but Dewayne (being a little older) responded with his fists out of fear. He gave my dad a hell of a shiner on his arm before dad could calm us down by removing his mask.
My dad used to do little things like this all the time when we were little to scare us all. After this event though he never went quite that far again though.
(On a side note: I always thought it would be fun to show someone Romero's zombie films that has never seen them and then late at night dress up as a zombie and go out to their bedroom window outside and start scratching at it until they look just for their reaction -- knowing my luck I'd probably be shot at).
j.p.
When do you think it's going too far in scaring people? Where's the limit and how do you determine what that limit is in doing it (for example, you don't want to scare someone really badly if they have a heart condition -- that could probably be construed as manslaughter depending on circumstances).
I think that there is a line with kids in scaring them, for example. I'm sure dad probably crossed that line a few times with us when we were little but then revealed that it was just him and not Jason Voorhees or Freddy or what not trying to kill us and then we all had a good laugh about it (after we stopped shaking).
I dunno though.... I was just thinking about it. I get a kick out of the show "Scare Tactics" even though it's obviously as fake as fake gets ("Reality" shows); but think the principle is good in giving people a good fright. I'm just wondering when/where you can recognize that you've gone too far.
Note: I'm not personally intending on scaring the hell out of anyone anytime soon, I'm just wondering other people's opinion on the matter.
Here's my original post I placed on the thread about "Zombies on I-84" over in the Media section:
I dunno about headshots, but I'd say that MANY people have been hurt (and some probably pretty badly) for scaring other people too badly and thus having their asses kicked.
When I was little (around 5 or 6) my cousins were over to visit/hang out (my oldest cousin, Dewayne, was about 9) and we were playing Nintendo in my room (oh yeah, the original, none of this newfangled stuff). Dad thought it would be a funny idea to scare us into mortal fear by putting on a workman's outfit and Jason Voorhee's hockey mask (looking ALMOST exactly like him) and come running into my room.
Of course, I started crying like a baby (I was only 5 or 6) along with my younger cousins but Dewayne (being a little older) responded with his fists out of fear. He gave my dad a hell of a shiner on his arm before dad could calm us down by removing his mask.
My dad used to do little things like this all the time when we were little to scare us all. After this event though he never went quite that far again though.
(On a side note: I always thought it would be fun to show someone Romero's zombie films that has never seen them and then late at night dress up as a zombie and go out to their bedroom window outside and start scratching at it until they look just for their reaction -- knowing my luck I'd probably be shot at).
j.p.