The Paradox of Painful Art

by Aaron Smuts


Introduction

Is there a fundamental difference between the kinds of emotional responses we seek from art and those we seek from life? Many of the most popular genres of narrative art are designed to elicit negative emotions: emotions that are experienced as painful or involving some degree of pain, which we generally avoid in our daily lives. Melodramas make us cry. Tragedies bring forth pity and fear. Conspiratorial thrillers arouse feelings of hopelessness and dread, and devotional religious art can make the believer weep in sorrow. Not only do audiences know what these artworks are supposed to do, they seek them out in pursuit of prima facie painful reactions.