From Wikipedia -- Symphorophilia is a paraphilia in which sexual arousal hinges on staging and watching a disaster, such as a fire or a traffic accident.
The term was coined by John Money in his 1984 paper Paraphilias: Phenomenology and classification, formed from the Greek root "συμφορά" ("symphora").
A special form of sacrificial paraphilia, for which a suitable name is symphorophilia (being erotically turned on by accidents or catastrophes), culminates in an arranged disaster, such as an automobile crash. Like a game of Russian roulette, it may end in death — alone or with the partner. However, flirting with disaster, rather than suicide and murder is the trigger responsible for autoerotic arousal and excitement. Being the daredevil who will live to risk a love-death again is an essential part of this paraphilia.
As a photographic print is the positive made from its negative, so also the positive of self-crashing is arranging for a disaster to occur on the highway, and then watching the carnage from a pre-selected observation post. Disasters other than on the highway may be arranged — catastrophic fires, for example. For those members of the general public who have a touch of sadomasochism in them, disaster as an unrehearsed event is often a large part of the appeal of entertainment stunts and sports, from the circus to stock-car racing.
My commentary: I think this is a very dangerous fetish. The idea that someone could intentionally create a horrific accident so that they could get off is disturbing and incredibly scary. And this fetish is REAL. It'll make you think differently next time you see a terrible accident where multiple people may have died. You may ask "did someone plan this?"
I wonder if supervillains have this. Would explain all that spandex also.
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
Did you watch Unbreakable? Seems to fall into this category.
ReplyDelete......dhole
Knew we'd hit the "Crash" scenario.
ReplyDeleteAll these that you are posting are disturbing.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that rush from doing the forbidden where there's the chance of getting caught, but er, this is a whole other scenario.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the blogfest info. around. I should check that out.
Wow. Beats bugs crawling on your genitals, but definitely a fetish made for a villain.
ReplyDeleteHopefully this is particularly rare.
ReplyDeleteYeah, my first thought also was "Crash." Was that the one? I forget who was in it, but it was some people who got off on car crashes. Disturbing.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a good plot for a story.
ReplyDeleteI think some movie directors have a form of this fetish...
ReplyDeleteMina rocks! Everyone should check out her blog. (:
No way! I've worked with someone who (among other things) had this issue. Thankfully said person never caused the disasters, but would often watch the news and stay glued to the TV if they ever reported stuff like that.
ReplyDeletethese posts are educational and scary!
ReplyDeletemost fetishes seem to be dark and twisted and dangerous...sad!
will check out fest, thanks for ending on a high note!
Interesting post, but the scary fact is that it is true. It's a disturbing topic. One that makes us squirm.
ReplyDeleteThat is one freaky fetish.
ReplyDeleteHow many people suffer from this - or enjoy it? Is porn for them watching a movie with a car wreck. That's actually funny. Jimmy has locked himself in his room with a stack of demolition derby videos.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it takes all types.
Scary to think there are people who would plan a catastrophe like that.
ReplyDeleteCreepy. How can people can excited by such things.
ReplyDeleteSo...the Final Destination franchise catered to this demographic? Or would the disaster movie genre be more appropriate?
ReplyDeleteYeah that is seriously creepy.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for pimping my blogfest, Michael! I'm flattered! (And mildly disturbed that you combined the promotion with this fetish. But mostly flattered!) ;-) Hey, I just saw a repeat of "Criminal Minds" that featured an "Unsub" who did this...damned if I remember the particulars, as I believe I fell asleep mid-way through. (This being middle-aged business is exhausting.)
ReplyDeleteMina's Resurrection Blogfest!
Very, very disturbing. That is all.
ReplyDeleteThat is just terrible. I have no other words.
ReplyDeleteParaphilia is a messed up fetish. Reminds me of that one movie where the characters got aroused after staging car accidents, titled very appropriately, CRASH.
ReplyDeleteI think there was a scene with that fetish in Wild at Heart. I think that's what it was called. That movie haunted me for a long time. Disturbing.
ReplyDeleteThat's insanely creepy. There was quite a large incident near me over the weekend, and now you've got me wondering ...
ReplyDeleteJamie
Um...yuck.
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