The Mystery of Mysteries

Sci-fi, Romance, Fantasy. These are all genres of books, movies, and TV Shows we enjoy. But aside from these genres, there are still far more others that we can still explore. An example that captures many people’s attention is mystery. Mystery is a genre which people from various age ranges, genders, and even culture are intrigued by. Whenever they see something related to the genre, they almost immediately show signs of interest and start to dwell deep into it. But the question is, why are people so fascinated by mysteries, and what makes a particular mystery more interesting than another?

Let’s start with some definitions. First, the word ‘mystery.’ According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, a mystery is “a religious truth that one can know only by revelation and cannot fully understand.” The next word is ‘fascinate.’ Fascinate means to be irresistibly attractive or appealing. Based on these definitions, we can have a clearer understanding of the topic.

Going back to the first question, “Why are people fascinated by mysteries?”. Why do we watch TV shows like True Detective, Sherlock, NCIS, etc.? The first reason is that we feel safe watching; now, what do we mean by this? Since we can quickly figure out who the antagonist and protagonist are, we know which side we’ll root for, and it makes us feel ‘calmer’ because we don’t have to feel nervous that the antagonist will suddenly do an evil deed. Second, the unknown. When we read or watch something about mystery, we mainly watch to solve the crime or mystery along with the protagonist or, particularly, the detectives or the police involved in solving them. As they find more clues and evidence, we start to put the pieces together to figure out who committed the crime or how it was committed. It’s like going on a rollercoaster but with a twist. Mysteries are a thrilling ride of knowing the unknown. Lastly, the final reason is that we are not involved with this. We are not the detectives nor the murderers in the story. This makes us enjoy mysteries effortlessly without having to worry about what’s going to happen to us.

Now onto the second question, “What makes one mystery more interesting than another?” This, I’d say, is by how mysterious or perplexing the case is. For example, Jack the Ripper. He is famous for his murders committed with so many unknown elements that yet to be found. Now, let’s compare this with a mystery with more clues and evidence to direct to what happened. People would show interest highly towards the case that is yet to be unveiled, while the other will be less intriguing. Basically, like how we are interested in mystery, we are more fascinated by things that are far off to be solved.

Mystery is a genre that people from all around the world can enjoy, however, there is still no proven reason to tell us why people are so interested in it. It is still a mystery why mysteries are fascinating to people. And like every other mystery, we have to look for an answer for it.

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Some Mystery TV Shows to Check Out:

• The Order

• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

• The Blacklist

• Lupin

• The Society

• Sherlock

• Dark

• Criminal Minds

• The Outsider

• Who Killed Sara?

• Detective Conan

• Danganronpa

• Psycho-Pass

• Un-Go

• Partners for Justice

• Voice

• Life on Mars

• Signal

• Mad Dog

• Tunnel

+ More!