The Elicitation of Emotions: Why Do We Connect With the Fictional?

Hearts are pounding, hands are sweating, adrenaline is pumping, muscles are tightening, and breathing is shorter, faster. We are watching as the main character in a horror film clumsily makes their way around a desolate field—the monster is behind them. In futility we shout at them to react, they fail to do so and become a victim of the ruthless monster. We are horrified at the gruesome results. But why?

Noël Carrol presents three theories as to why we fear fictional tales, The Illusion Theory, the Pretend Theory, and the Thought Theory. The Illusion Theory is thinking audiences actually believe the events on screen/print/radio are actually unfolding. The Pretend Theory is the belief that the emotions elicited from events on screen are not genuine, but are ‘make-believe’ fears to fulfill the experience of the fiction. The thought theory is the belief that we imagine the scenario played out in the fiction happening to ourselves and react accordingly.

One of these solutions explains our terror or the elicitation of any emotion. Let us begin with the protagonist in the story, who is, the majority of the time, a human. Humans can connect to humans, but not to monsters. These foreign creatures have little value to us and oftentimes are the cause of suffering in works of fiction. This is why we connect to the protagonist characters that triumph over the monsters. Again, this feeling of connection oftentimes elicits emotions from the audience thereby returning one to the question of why. The clearest reason given then is the Thought Theory. We imagine ourselves in the position of the protagonist, and wish for their success, hence why we scream, even in crowded movie theatres, for them to turn and see the monster behind them. There is undoubtedly a connection, and let us consider another scenario. Why did we feel for King Kong after his death? Personification. King Kong had the humanistic characteristic of love. The audience internalized the pain of never being able to have someone they so loved. Fictions can elicit emotion, and they do it even without the audience realizing it sometimes.