Sex, Drugs, and Boredom

Why we should take entertainment more seriously than we do.

by Peter G. Stromberg

The Psychology of "Twilight"

Why we are fascinated by big teeth.

Published on September 28, 2011 by Peter G. Stromberg, Ph.D. in Sex, Drugs, and Boredom

Here's a little secret about human beings: We find the raw emotional stimulation of sex and violence and intoxication so compelling, such a turn-on, that we either spend our lives trying to get more of these things or making sure we avoid them. Oh, almost forgot. There is one other possibility, the ever-so-popular "have your cake and eat it too" alternative-get the stimulation, but also control it.

Thus all human cultures that I have ever read about have institutions that both allow for and limit strong emotional stimulation. You can take this drug but not that one. You can have sex with this person, but not that one. You can read about violence or watch it on a screen, but you can't actually commit violence.

Which brings me to today's topic, vampire stories for children. Vampires hit two of the big three sources of arousal-sex and violence-which virtually guarantees an avid following. On top of that, vampires have large canine teeth, almost the perfect sex/violence combination. Do you know how the ancestors of human beings established dominance over one another? The same way that non-human primates today do: mostly by displaying their large canines. It's sort of built in to you that large canines are scary. And then there's the other part: canine teeth are also hard shafts that penetrate the body. You get the picture.

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Somebody who can spin a good vampire yarn, and pitch it for children and adolescents (somebody like Stephenie Meyer, say) has a license to print money. Most (unfortunately, not all) children and younger adolescents can only experience sex and bloody violence in their imaginations, and through vampire stories our culture is happy to provide them the opportunity to do so. As I have noted, this is a big part of what human cultures do: they channel our raging desires into acceptable and sometimes even productive activities.

In a recently published collection called The Psychology of Twilight, a group of psychologists and other academics (like me) try and figure out why something like the "Twilight" series is so appealing and what sorts of effects it has on people. Unfortunately, for most folks analysis about why people like sex and violence isn't as appealing as sex and violence itself. But if you have made it this far in this post, you may be one of the odd ones. Check it out.

For more, please visit Peter G. Stromberg's website.