The Universality of Fear

Fear is something everyone can relate to. That is why so many different genres utilize fear. Fear comes in many different forms, and can be interpreted in vastly different ways. No one can truthfully say they aren't scared of anything. Fears can range from spiders and fish (Yes, fish. It's a long story), to psycho killers or even the fear of failing a class. Different genres play on fears of their audience in different ways.

This famous painting, The Scream by Edvard Munch, is one of my favorites. You can really sense the terror coming from the image. Its colors make it especially eerie. You wonder what the story is behind the art. Paintings, and all art forms for that matter, are a great way of expressing an emotion like fear.The artist can easily get their point across. However, art is always up for interpretation by the individual viewer. Because it can be so subjective, the artist's point might not always come across the way they want it to.

Scientific magazines that have articles on fear, such as this one, Emotions and the Brain: Fear, from Discover Magazine's website, are more informative then anything else. In the article, they explain what your brain does when you feel fear, purely the physical reactions you experience. This article may benefit some people; by making it technical, it helps you detach from the emotion a bit. Some may then be able to overcome their fears by knowing the science behind it. However, the limitations this genre has are great, considering that many fears come along with some deep seeded issues that an article about the brain will never be able to fix. Fear is an emotion, and emotions run deep, sometimes not even recognized consciously.

Music is a great way to express any emotion. Besides the horror movie kind of fear, there are other, more deep seeded fears, such as the fear of abandonment, failure, or being loved. One of my favorite songs, Fidelity by Regina Spektor, talks about the fear of being vulnerable and opening yourself up to someone completely.
The benefits of music as a way of showing fear are that the artist can choose to express it in any way he/she chooses. Music can also often be interpreted in many different ways and in that way be meaningful for many different reasons to all kinds of people. It also has its limitations, in that how the artist chooses to go about expressing the fear can affect how it's received. Fear is powerful and can be interpreted in so many ways. All genres can use fear, and since everyone in the world can relate to it, it is truly universal.