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His Soul Shatters at About 0:23: Spankwire, Self-Scaring and Hyberbolic Shock

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Controversial Images

Abstract

In a nondescript bedroom, four friends (three males, one female) sit together in front of a computer screen and wait for a film to begin. Expecting to be scared by what they’ll see, the quartet film themselves with a web-cam. Music plays and the friends begin to squeal and exclaim, offering a shocked commentary on what they are watching. One young man excitedly walks in and out of frame while another stares wide-eyed at the computer screen in front of him. He doesn’t move even when the young woman tries to pull his face towards hers. After a minute and a half, the film ends with much laughter and the exclamation ‘Oh. My. God!’

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© 2013 Julia Kennedy and Clarissa Smith

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Kennedy, J., Smith, C. (2013). His Soul Shatters at About 0:23: Spankwire, Self-Scaring and Hyberbolic Shock. In: Attwood, F., Campbell, V., Hunter, I.Q., Lockyer, S. (eds) Controversial Images. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137291998_15

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