|
Films/DVD Asylum Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star. |
|
|
|
Films/DVD Asylum Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star. |
|
In Reply to: All well and good... posted by Daryl R on July 11, 2000 at 13:12:36:
Wow, that's one misdirected reading of my post. (Incidentally, I re-read Joe S.'s posts, and I can only conclude that you've misread them, too. I think that wanting to warn people that "Scary Movie" is not suitable for children is a commendable thing. I think that accusing others that they are not concerned with the welfare of children -- indeed, that they desire the opposite when it is obviously not the case -- is not.)So, what's the point?
1. The argument that some film, book, opera, or other cultural artifact is decadent, trash, filth, etc. is not particularly new. "Scary Movie" is not the end of society. History would suggest the very opposite.
2. We can learn from history, not just in the non-specific sense of "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it", but in the specific sense that it provides a perspective that might let us say interesting and specific things about the state of violence, racism, or sexuality in contemporary culture. Knowledge -- specific, reasoned, grounded knowledge -- is a wonderful, liberating thing.
3. As an example, there is a rather devastating critique of "The Patriot" at Salon.com that suggests, among other things, that the film articulates in a rather disturbing manner the United States' ambivalent encounter with genocide. I'm not a knowledgeable enough person to judge the historical accuracy of the review, but its a pretty decent example of an interesting, historically-informed critique.
4. The "shock" genre of film is not new. The very fact that "Scary Movie" is a parody of horror and slasher films literally announces this fact. More generally, the argument that mass culture is essentially one founded on the experience of shock, as well as its antidote, goes back at least a century. As an example, one might check out Nietzsche's critique of Wagner ("The Case of Wagner").
5. So, what is it about the "shock" genre of films that makes it so appealing? What kind of experience creates the conditions where shock, and even moreso, the repetition of shock, can be experienced as pleasurable?
--daryl
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Re: All well and good... - daryl 23:22:48 07/11/00 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
