This writer recently watched the horror film “Weapons.” The story is centered around a community that loses a whole classroom of students but one. As the movie continues, suspects come and go and families grow restless. However, the “who” in this movie isn’t as important as their ending is. Spoiler alert: the bad guy gets what they deserve. Karma saved this film and it definitely won’t be the last.
Psychological Treat
The film “Carrie” from 1976 is a well-known example of this phenomenon. The protagonist is bullied and harassed throughout her childhood and teenage years. When she suddenly gets demonic-like powers, she uses them to physically punish her abusers. Like in “Weapons,” the antagonists meet an extreme, violent end.
For most of the plot, the audience is forced to watch Carrie get bullied. It’s expected that the audience wants the abusers to feel the same pain she did. Based on the idea “an eye for an eye,” the ending is satisfying because the abuse comes full circle. Our brains do not need to do much work here. We see evil people, they are punished, we feel good.
Movies can be reflections of society. Seeing the “bad guy” get punished for his behavior is mentally satisfying. As an audience, we secretly yearn for those moments. It’s very simple: karma reaffirms our belief that society will take action when it needs to.
Movie Magic?
What happens when the karma is all a film has? Take the “John Wick” franchise for example. (No, this writer isn’t hating on it.) The entire premise of it is that Keanu Reeves is avenging his dead dog and stolen car. While those are arguably valuable, this writer argues that the story could’ve ended after one two-hour session.
Yet, there are four movies of John Wick going around eliminating people. Yes, one can argue they’re the “bad guys,” but that’s it. The franchise relies on the idea that there will always be a karma-starving audience. Without karma, John Wick would just be another retired hitman.
Get Physical
From what this writer has seen, movies with karma tend to use it in a physical sense. Take what happened to President Coin in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2,” or any antagonist in the “Kill Bill” franchise or even Regina George’s injury in “Mean Girls.” With the popularity of these films, it seems something about body karma just works.
Maybe it’s built into us as the audience. It’s a never-ending cycle that spans across genres. We take a bite of karma, and no matter how good the film is, we’ll keep watching for another taste.
What do you think about movie karma? Let us know @VALLEYMag on Instagram!
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