Rubber necking is the macabre desire people have to slow down near car-wrecks to see what happened. No desire to actually stop and help, but a twisted urge to see the gore and horror of an accident. I think shows such as 'UnReal,' 'You're The Worst' and 'Flesh and Bone' rely on the same instinct. They include trying terrible things perpetrated by truly terrible characters, and not in a genre way such as horror or fantasy, but in a real life manner. The psychological damage these characters constantly present in their real lives is so disturbing to watch, and it is of course inevitable that their lives are a series of car-wrecks. The question I have is why are we so engrossed by this? What is it about seeing truly terrible acts of people acting in completely psychologically unhealthy ways that means we can't look away from the screen?
Good question, and extremely relevant topic. I've asked myself this many times. – Stephanie M.7 years ago