Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. - Bertrand Russell
The malaysian entertainment industry nowadays namely movies and TVs have been bombarded with too many ghost stories, supernatural and also superstitious elements. The producers are rushing to create a lot of this spooky movies due to the relaxation of FINAS in terms of censorship. Ten years ago, there are no way these type of movies would go to the mainstream audience. Even a slight element of superstitious will be banned by FINAS. Because of this factor, there is a pent-up demand from the local movie-goers and tv audience of wanting local ghost stories. The produces are smart enough to notice these demands and when FINAS have relax the regulations, a flood of spooky movies have been released to the market. And like someone who is very thirsty and suddenly given a lot of water, the thirsty person will drink the water a lot until he will have stomach ache. The same analogy goes to these phenomenon right now. Audiences who hunger for these type of local movies wants more and more but what they don't realize is the long term effect it will have for the nation.
Fear can be a seed that is small at the beginning but can grow big. A child who been taught to fear something like the boogeyman under the bed, will carry that seed of fear until he is old but the fear is no longer with the boogeyman but the fear of something supernatural. These superstitious element have been amplified with the movies and TVs nowadays. Just imagine the impact it will have with the younger children nowadays. Children as young as 2 or 3 years old already knows about ghost and supernatural elements. I fear that these in the long term will create a society that have a superstitious mindset. A republic of fear can no longer be innovative. A republic of fear can no longer be creative. A republic of fear will stifled the progress of the nation.
