What hap-pens in practice is evidence of this: we take delight in viewing the most accurate possible in1ages of objects which in then1s~lves cause distress when we see them (e.g. the shapes of the lowest species of 6 3,2 EARLY.HISTORY animal, and corpses)
At first I had trouble understanding Aristotle's point here. Then, after one or two rereads I didn't think this take remained true today, mainly because I was so hung up on the idea of taking delight in imitations of objects that cause us "distress." My initial thought was that nobody would like replications or pictures of images they don't like, but the more I thought about it I've realized that our society may actually have a fascination with replications of distressing objects. The best example that came to mind was how prolific images of skulls are in our world today. While a real life skull, with the exception of being seen in museums or even class rooms for historical/educational purposes, would be offputing to many, replications of skulls have become increasingly popularized. From skulls being popular images as jewelry, to popular halloween decorations/costumes, to being used in hazard/warning signs, skull imagery can be seen everywhere, today. While this is only one example (another prominent example that comes to mind is how gruesome cartoons can be, which people like, even though the real life image wouldn't be appealing), I found it fascinating how this claim has remained so true throughout history.