[Week1-2]Reflection-Why do I actually like horror film again?
On my introduction blog, I said the reason why I enjoy horror film is because I like to have the extreme elements in horror film, jump scared, unknown of the coming future, disfunction characters... As Amy expects, after reading Linda Williams's article Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess, I did find some explanation of my feeling toward horror film as the way Williams talks about "excess". I agree with Jonathan Dollimore that people are actually all pervert deep inside the heart. Human has the whole civilized rule in order to balance the order of the world, however, in the world of art, we can release all the crazy thoughts we want without restriction. The idea of horror film and the 2 other genres Williams discusses in her article remind me of the concept in another book I am reading for New Media class, our world is a whole simulation, we are all simulacra (Simulations by jean baudrillard). The horror film world is also a simulacra of a more cruel and excess society.
One interesting argument in Williams's reading is the way she thinks that the horror film are more popular than the other two excess genres is because the realistic of horror genre is less important than the Pornography and Melodrama (just based on how I understood the paragraphs). on Page 10, she discusses that all of the 3 genres can be defined as some type of fantasy, but because the Pornography and Melodrama are both "reply on certain conventions of realism--the activation of social problems, and representation of real sexual act, they seem less obviously fantastic" (10, Williams). It is interesting that audience tend to treat horror as fantasy and found it more intriguing to watch but not as much as the other two even though the horror film world is less believable and less near our real life. Based on the psychology knowledge I have, people have the tendency to make everything under their control because they own their life, no one else should rule them in unnecessary cases. And we all want the answer of the world to find the release. but in the mean while, some people tend to enjoy the horror film which show all the unbeilable and out of control scenes. Human are such a contradictory species.
In Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974), one thing that brings out my attention is when the killer with mask hang the leading girl on the hook inside his hunting room and when he killed the guy, the camera did not show the bloody scene directly, but there are some cover in front of the major scene. I wonder if that is a director choice or the special effect technique is not that advance to create those expected scene. Either way, the blank of the direct bloody scene actually provide the audience an opportunity to imagine it by themselves. Personally, I won't feel scared by seeing bloody scene, but more scary of the disfunctional and disturbing personality of the characters showing some unexpected moves in the movie. Like the class discusses in zoom meeting on Thursday, the kitchen scene in the film seems to be the best part because there aren't showing any over bloody plot but only human conversation with disturbing moves. The contradiction of seemly real but fantasy plot in horror film is the most creepy thing for me to watch. I find that scary but enjoyable at the same time because my brain want to see how far human limit can go.
As what we also mentioned in class, enjoy watching illegal movement doesn't mean we will do something illegal in real life. If there is no production code, people might create even more crazier films... However, I believe the reason why we won't do insane behavior is not because we don't want to, but because we cannot do (in order to live in peace on earth and be civilized). Maybe everyone's thought can go as crazy as all the pervert in the films...
One interesting argument in Williams's reading is the way she thinks that the horror film are more popular than the other two excess genres is because the realistic of horror genre is less important than the Pornography and Melodrama (just based on how I understood the paragraphs). on Page 10, she discusses that all of the 3 genres can be defined as some type of fantasy, but because the Pornography and Melodrama are both "reply on certain conventions of realism--the activation of social problems, and representation of real sexual act, they seem less obviously fantastic" (10, Williams). It is interesting that audience tend to treat horror as fantasy and found it more intriguing to watch but not as much as the other two even though the horror film world is less believable and less near our real life. Based on the psychology knowledge I have, people have the tendency to make everything under their control because they own their life, no one else should rule them in unnecessary cases. And we all want the answer of the world to find the release. but in the mean while, some people tend to enjoy the horror film which show all the unbeilable and out of control scenes. Human are such a contradictory species.
In Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974), one thing that brings out my attention is when the killer with mask hang the leading girl on the hook inside his hunting room and when he killed the guy, the camera did not show the bloody scene directly, but there are some cover in front of the major scene. I wonder if that is a director choice or the special effect technique is not that advance to create those expected scene. Either way, the blank of the direct bloody scene actually provide the audience an opportunity to imagine it by themselves. Personally, I won't feel scared by seeing bloody scene, but more scary of the disfunctional and disturbing personality of the characters showing some unexpected moves in the movie. Like the class discusses in zoom meeting on Thursday, the kitchen scene in the film seems to be the best part because there aren't showing any over bloody plot but only human conversation with disturbing moves. The contradiction of seemly real but fantasy plot in horror film is the most creepy thing for me to watch. I find that scary but enjoyable at the same time because my brain want to see how far human limit can go.
As what we also mentioned in class, enjoy watching illegal movement doesn't mean we will do something illegal in real life. If there is no production code, people might create even more crazier films... However, I believe the reason why we won't do insane behavior is not because we don't want to, but because we cannot do (in order to live in peace on earth and be civilized). Maybe everyone's thought can go as crazy as all the pervert in the films...
Cool post! I also noticed the comparative lack of gore in Texas Chain Saw Massacre. There still exists extreme violence, but it seems like the scariest/most extreme element of the film was just the existence the freaky family with the child-like murderers, mummified grandpa, etc. Do you think the enjoyment that comes from viewing these less violent aspects still relates to one's desire for control?
ReplyDeleteThank you for liking my post! for the question, I think it might still relates, the indirect violence gives us more freedom to imagine what bloody scene is happening behind the camera . And because we control our own imagination, maybe we are feeling the situation is under control, and that give us pleasure?
Deletebtw, the creepy mummified grandpa really freak me out, I thought he was already dead on the balcony, and all the murderers just bring him downstair as a symbolistic presenting of the physical body of the grandpa. But then he starts to sUcK Sally's FinGeR I am like WhATTT ThE f?!!!!
Hey Jamie! I liked your insight into the contradiction of the human species--we want something gory and fantastical and perverted, but also have to be civilized (when brought to its extremes, this is called surplus repression, and is thought to be the root of all evil). I, like Sarabeth, agree with your note on the lack of gore in the dismemberment scene. I really appreciate your analysis that this lack of gore allows for the spectator to imagine something more horrible than the film creators could have put onscreen. Sometimes implications are more frightening than the literal.
ReplyDeleteI also realized when I don't see the violence on screen, I start to feel I need more, I need to see it and I want to see it, but I can't see it so I start using my imagination.
DeleteAlso, with new high technique, nowadays the special effect already can make the gory scene so realistic and directly show to the audience, in Jigsaw(2017), the last scene was crazy but how do you feel about that type of pleasure vs. implications?
If you haven't see that film, I can send you the gif on messager to let you see what scene I mean!
Really great reading and analysis of the horror genre as it relates to Linda Williams's piece and psychology in generally. It is always strange to think of horror as an attractive genre, because why would anyone enjoy watching others struggle an in pain? Maybe we humans get some sort of twisted enjoyment out of watching others in danger while we control our own safety from our living room couch (or movie theater chair when we are not in quarantine).
ReplyDeleteYou make so many interesting and provocative claims here! In response to your discussion of why we like horror and Sam's comment, I think the Susan Sontag's book Regarding the Pain of Others might be of interest to you. I almost included it on the syllabus but decided not to in the last minute. I also like a lot of your claims around the role of horror in controlling the dangerous impulses in mainstream culture. I particularly like your claim: "The horror film world is also a simulacra of a more cruel and excess society." Maybe we could discuss this question during one of our zoom meetings.
ReplyDelete