John Lewis

English 1102
Writing Inquiry Final Paper
21 April 2014
Correlation between Thrillers and Children
Why do demons in thrillers always have an interaction with the children? Thrillers
that have demonic entities often have a unique pattern that associate the demon with the
child. The pattern raises the question what similar traits does the children have that
attracts these spirits? Could it be that children are scarier because of their imaginations?
What makes the children vulnerable? Is the spirit hereditary/shared with other family
members? Does the gender of the child determine if they will be possessed? Paranormal
Activity I, II, III, Insidious I and II, and Mama give a pattern relating the spirits to the
children and answer the questions.
Children imagination can be a creative thing where anything is possible to take
place. Because there are no limits, children can become frightening to others because
they can convince themselves to see what they imagine. This frightens some people
because they do not know if the child is imagining seeing something/someone or if there
is really something there that they cannot see, only the child can. Throughout childhood
we all have that one imaginary friend that last for about ten minutes. For some, the
imaginary friend is just another thing of the childs imagination while for others it could
very well be an entity only visible to the child. At first the imaginary friend may start off
as an idea to the parents of the child. The parent showing concerns by normally asking
the name of the friend, what he/she looks like, what is the friend like, why can they not
see him/her? If this information is not consistent, the parent(s) normally brush the issue
off. If the child shows consistent confidence in the answer without having to make up
information, the friend may not be imaginary. This is frightening for the parents because
they began to worry that their child can communicate with something they cannot see.
According to Beth Layne, an empathic psychic medium, the imaginary friend may be a
spirit rather than imagination when the child is able to effectively communicate with the
imaginary friend and appears to be happy while playing with them: The child may spend
long periods of time seemingly alone, playing with the imaginary friend, and be
completely content (Layne, Psychic Children Imaginary Friends?). While the child
is having fun playing, the parents are terrified. In the film Paranormal Activity 3, there is
a little girl named Kristi who has an imaginary friend called Toby. Toby is actually a
demon that only Kristi can communicate while he cannot be seen by anyone else in
Kristis home. Kristi and Toby spends time together playing and interacting with each
other while the rest of her family is baffled with the idea of Toby. There was a scene
when Kristis mother boyfriend was having a tea party with Kristi and Toby. Her
mothers boyfriend, Dennis, was about to sit in one of Kristis chair when she told him he
could not sit there because Toby was already sitting in the chair. Dennis apologized to
Toby even though he could not see him. Toby ended up killing Dennis and Kristis
mother, Julie.
The reason that demons/ghosts target children in thrillers or horror films is
because of the vulnerability of children. According to The Strength of Vulnerability
past experiences in a childs life results in vulnerability: young people who are at risk
are vulnerable as a direct result of the life experience that has made them so at risk
(Franklin and Gilliam, The Strength of Vulnerability). There are cases where children
experience traumatic events that causes them to become vulnerable to whatever presents
itself resulting in welcoming it in to fulfill the area where he/she is lacking. Children do
not have enough strength spiritually to go without having spiritual needs fulfilled as far as
guidance, protection, or affection. Without a sense of order children cannot function in
the world; they will not know what is acceptable and what to expect. In the film Mama a
there were two sisters that was taken care of by a demon the girls referred to as Mama.
Mama saved the girls from being killed by their father after he had killed their mother.
Mama watched after the girls and took care of them in a cabin in the woods were their
father had taken them. Being that they no longer had a mother or father they were
vulnerable to Mama, the only form of parenthood they had. Mama looked after them for
five years until they were found and taken to their uncles home. Even though the uncle
and his girlfriend were willing to take care of them they still stayed subject to Mama who
went with them. Eventually the older girl opened up to the uncles girlfriend while the
youngest one did not; she stayed faithful to Mama.
Hereditary curses serves as another pattern of children being in thrillers. The
demonic entity targets children because of a curse or early possession that happened in
the childs family line. For example, if a father was possessed by a demon his child may
also become possessed. According to Hereditary Curse if a family member is cursed
with having the same demon his/her parent had, the film will focus on finding a way to
break the curse: The existence of a hereditary curse usually makes breaking the curse
one of the primary motivators for a character carrying that curse. If the demon is
hereditary/shared with another family member, the movie focuses on finding a way to
break the curse from the family. In some movies, it is already know how to break the
curse while in other movies the characters have to find out themselves. The movie
Insidious 1 shows a little boy being tormented by the same spirit that harassed his father.
In order to bring the sons spirit back to his body the father was able to use astral
projection, which shows him falling into a deep sleep. While in a deep sleep is spirit is
able to leave his body and find his sons spirit. He successfully bring his sons spirit back
to his body, however the father is trapped in The Further where the spirits are. Instead
of the fathers spirit coming back the demon came and possessed his body. The sequel
Insidious 2 shows the characters trying to find out how to fix the issue, resulting in the
son having the same ability as his father to astral project and find his fathers spirit. Their
spirits were successfully returned to their bodies.
One pattern considered to determine if the child will be possessed is the gender of
the child. In Paranormal Activity 2 Kristi become possessed by a demon. When the
demon is released from Kristi it goes straight to Katie, Kristis sister. Once Katie is
possessed she kills her boyfriend, brother in law, and her sister Kristi, and takes her
sisters son, Hunter, and leaves the home. Paranormal Activity 3 explains why Katie took
Hunter. While Kristi and Katie were younger, Kristis imaginary friend Toby was a result
of her grandmother making a deal with a demon to result in Kristi being a vessel to give
birth to a young boy. The significance of the first-born son for the demon is to have a
seed that will keep producing off springs for the demon. This works with the idea of the
spirit being hereditary and being shared with the offspring of the possessed person. As
long as each generation has a boy, the demon will be ensured to always have a body. The
intention of the demon is to always have a body to possess because without a body it
cannot function.
Most thrillers are fictional films while some are based on true stories. Regardless
of what type of thriller it may be, it is created based on a realistic idea. The writers and
film producers are intentional about connecting real-life situations to these movies in
which the viewers emotions respond to the film, captivating them that watch. While
these patterns are applied to the movies, they were derived from reality leaving the
viewer with the question, will a demon possess me too? They are looking for a home to
be embodied.