I started wondering about this while driving to work today. First, let me say I use the term "torture porn" just as a language of convenience, since we all kind of know what it means. I don't particularly like the term. But be that as it may, why does there seem to be so much of it popping up in films these days?
As Al says in his review of Cloverfield, films are usually a product of their times. What does the proliferation of torture porn say about our times? What societal characteristic spawned this trend?
Looking at some past trends in horror films, we can see their root causes. In the thread about the fall of the slasher film, Darkmite theorizes that these films had a heyday in the 80's because of society's coming to grips with its fears of freer sexual behavior and drug use. More specifically (and I don't want to put words in his mouth. . . hell, he might eat 'em), my take on this was: still clinging to their parents' 50's morality, that looked down on drug use and kept sex a secret, kids coming of age in the late 70's or early 80's were aspiring to the free love older kids had in the 60's and early 70's, and enjoying every minute of it, but for the nagging parental instilled fear and loathing. Slasher films, wherein the kids (the target audience for such films) who participated in these activities, were "punished" for it by being the killer's victims, played on their fears very adeptly.
The trend towards a proliferation of J-horror remakes seems to me to be more of a cash in; The Ring remake did well, so let's give the public more of the same. I say this because the imagery in the J horror movies that so creeps out Japanese audiences just doesn't work as well on us, because our societies are so different in some of their sensibilities. Don't get me wrong, The Ring was very creepy in parts. But I presume (never having seen the japanese film that inspired it) that this version was very Americanized; it still had a J-horror flavor, but wasn't the purest example of the sub-genre. Kind of like Chinese takeout vs. something cooked in a restaurant in Shanghai. The later films came along because the folks in Hollywood thought "the public seems to like this formula, so let's give them more of the same." At, least, that's what I think.
But what of torture porn? I'm sure there's some element of the cash in, capitalizing on the success of Saw and Hostel, just as I'm sure most of the 80's slashers were cashing in on Friday the 13th and Halloween. And perhaps the idea of presenting gruesome, shocking imagery of horrifying violence has something to do with it, as well. But I think there's a little more to it. Cliche as this is gonna sound, I think one of the main forces behind the wave of torture porn is also one of the driving forces behind Cloverfield: 9/11. particularly if you lived in the NY or DC metro areas, you'll recall the feelings of helplessness this event caused. Something like that could happen any time, anywhere. I left work early that day, and with no real idea what to do, walked my dog to a nearby park. The streets of jersey City were all but empty. Nothing was flying (we were in Newark Airport's flight path, and it's rare you DON'T hear a plane flying overhead), except a pair of F-15's I saw go streaking past. I couldn't help but wonder: "Oh, God! Where are THEY going? Is another plane gonna fall out of the sky? What if it hits HERE? Jersey City is so close to New York. . . " And of course, the lingering aftermath and changes we've all incorporated into our lives have helped keep those fears alive. What if terrorists get a nuke? Iran seems to be building them. And what happened to all those chemical weapons Saddam used on the Kurds? Does Al Qaeda have them? What do they mean, less than 1% of all containers coming thru Port Newark, also right next to Jersey City, are inspected by Homeland Security? You want to sell Port Newark to an ARAB owned company?! And I used to be able to bypass the metal detectors in courthouses just by flashing my State Attorney's ID, skipping the long lines. After 9/11, that stopped. And I had to throw out some toiletries on my flight to Alaska this past summer because I forgot about the "no fluids in carry ons" rule. terrorists somewhere are undoubtedly planning a way around that one, just as the group in England planned to make the explosive that started this whole mess.
trite as it is to blame everything on 9/11, I think this is really the backbone of the torture porn proliferation. We all feel increasingly helpless in our daily lives (it may be starting to pass as time wears on and we start to forget, a little, but it's still there; probably always will be for those who lived it, same as the Depression had a lasting effect on the generation that lived thru that. How frugal were our grandparents? And remember the stories they told us about THEIR parents? I'm sure part of the reason I have the paunch I do is because I still hate to waste food, and I'd rather eat food I don't need than throw it out, because that's how my grand parents raised their kids - my parents - and that's what trickled down to me.). The helplessness of the victims in torture porn epics plays into this. Here's this maniac about to do terrible things to you, and there's nothing you're capable of doing to stop it. Just like we think we can't stop the Al Qaeda extremist with the pocket nuke or the dirty bomb, or the Osama sponsored and funded guy from buying that anthrax ampule from that disgruntled Russian military scientist.
I'm sure there are other theories, and I want to hear them. get 'em in under the no-Chud this weekend wire if you can. Or take the time to really chew on this one, and write something brilliant Monday morning.
See you on the new, improved Boards!
As Al says in his review of Cloverfield, films are usually a product of their times. What does the proliferation of torture porn say about our times? What societal characteristic spawned this trend?
Looking at some past trends in horror films, we can see their root causes. In the thread about the fall of the slasher film, Darkmite theorizes that these films had a heyday in the 80's because of society's coming to grips with its fears of freer sexual behavior and drug use. More specifically (and I don't want to put words in his mouth. . . hell, he might eat 'em), my take on this was: still clinging to their parents' 50's morality, that looked down on drug use and kept sex a secret, kids coming of age in the late 70's or early 80's were aspiring to the free love older kids had in the 60's and early 70's, and enjoying every minute of it, but for the nagging parental instilled fear and loathing. Slasher films, wherein the kids (the target audience for such films) who participated in these activities, were "punished" for it by being the killer's victims, played on their fears very adeptly.
The trend towards a proliferation of J-horror remakes seems to me to be more of a cash in; The Ring remake did well, so let's give the public more of the same. I say this because the imagery in the J horror movies that so creeps out Japanese audiences just doesn't work as well on us, because our societies are so different in some of their sensibilities. Don't get me wrong, The Ring was very creepy in parts. But I presume (never having seen the japanese film that inspired it) that this version was very Americanized; it still had a J-horror flavor, but wasn't the purest example of the sub-genre. Kind of like Chinese takeout vs. something cooked in a restaurant in Shanghai. The later films came along because the folks in Hollywood thought "the public seems to like this formula, so let's give them more of the same." At, least, that's what I think.
But what of torture porn? I'm sure there's some element of the cash in, capitalizing on the success of Saw and Hostel, just as I'm sure most of the 80's slashers were cashing in on Friday the 13th and Halloween. And perhaps the idea of presenting gruesome, shocking imagery of horrifying violence has something to do with it, as well. But I think there's a little more to it. Cliche as this is gonna sound, I think one of the main forces behind the wave of torture porn is also one of the driving forces behind Cloverfield: 9/11. particularly if you lived in the NY or DC metro areas, you'll recall the feelings of helplessness this event caused. Something like that could happen any time, anywhere. I left work early that day, and with no real idea what to do, walked my dog to a nearby park. The streets of jersey City were all but empty. Nothing was flying (we were in Newark Airport's flight path, and it's rare you DON'T hear a plane flying overhead), except a pair of F-15's I saw go streaking past. I couldn't help but wonder: "Oh, God! Where are THEY going? Is another plane gonna fall out of the sky? What if it hits HERE? Jersey City is so close to New York. . . " And of course, the lingering aftermath and changes we've all incorporated into our lives have helped keep those fears alive. What if terrorists get a nuke? Iran seems to be building them. And what happened to all those chemical weapons Saddam used on the Kurds? Does Al Qaeda have them? What do they mean, less than 1% of all containers coming thru Port Newark, also right next to Jersey City, are inspected by Homeland Security? You want to sell Port Newark to an ARAB owned company?! And I used to be able to bypass the metal detectors in courthouses just by flashing my State Attorney's ID, skipping the long lines. After 9/11, that stopped. And I had to throw out some toiletries on my flight to Alaska this past summer because I forgot about the "no fluids in carry ons" rule. terrorists somewhere are undoubtedly planning a way around that one, just as the group in England planned to make the explosive that started this whole mess.
trite as it is to blame everything on 9/11, I think this is really the backbone of the torture porn proliferation. We all feel increasingly helpless in our daily lives (it may be starting to pass as time wears on and we start to forget, a little, but it's still there; probably always will be for those who lived it, same as the Depression had a lasting effect on the generation that lived thru that. How frugal were our grandparents? And remember the stories they told us about THEIR parents? I'm sure part of the reason I have the paunch I do is because I still hate to waste food, and I'd rather eat food I don't need than throw it out, because that's how my grand parents raised their kids - my parents - and that's what trickled down to me.). The helplessness of the victims in torture porn epics plays into this. Here's this maniac about to do terrible things to you, and there's nothing you're capable of doing to stop it. Just like we think we can't stop the Al Qaeda extremist with the pocket nuke or the dirty bomb, or the Osama sponsored and funded guy from buying that anthrax ampule from that disgruntled Russian military scientist.
I'm sure there are other theories, and I want to hear them. get 'em in under the no-Chud this weekend wire if you can. Or take the time to really chew on this one, and write something brilliant Monday morning.
See you on the new, improved Boards!
