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Blair Witch for tweens? Evil Dead not aware of it's position in the horror pantheon? I think Raimi was trying (and succeeding) to make a movie about horror movies. That's why he made it twice.
As for the Blair Witch, the tween market wasn't even a thing back then, and it was an effort to pare the genre back to essentials, to make a flat-out scary movie.
I think it is. What do you think would happen if you refused to do your job in Nazi Germany? What I'm talking about is institutionalized evil of people who would commit atrocities, killing children, because they've been MADE TO BELIEVE that horrible things would happen if they didn't. Do you not understand this because, if not, then I'd say that your moral compass is a wee bit fucked. You also fail to take into account that, sure, there are Old Ones but would it not occur to you to question WHY you're appeasing these things and if they are all so powerful, why would they be willing to lay underground providing that people sacrificed children?!
Furthermore, don't throw that Godwin's Law shit at me because my analogy is accurate. Did you know that Dachau was the first concentration camp built 51 days after Hitler took power in 1933? That Auschwitz was made the official name of that camp in 1939 after German invaded Poland? How many years were these camps in operation and how many people were murdered by their fellow countrymen because they feared what would happen to them if they didn't? "I was just following orders" didn't work as a defense at Nuremberg and it's no fucking excuse. Your justification for institutionalized evil sickens me and tells me everything I needed to know about you.
You'd be perfectly happy to sacrifice a few teens each year to keep yourself safe? Then that's because you're a coward. "BUT, BUT, BUT THE MONSTERS WILL DESTROY THE WORLD!!!". Oh yeah, well what exactly is stopping them? And who told you that this would happen? A bunch of other cowards who would rather engineer a system of EXTERMINATION to keep their masters happy!?
People like you are the reason concentration camps were built.
Hi, you're talking to a Jew. Please go fuck yourself over a barrel.
I mean, apart from the fact that you're arguing with yourself-- all I said is that the Nazi stuff isn't exactly comparable, and besides that it's lazy to cry Auschwitz-- you're making this really unpleasant and personal for absolutely zero reason. Arguing with Evil Twin was productive and fun and in the best of spirits; arguing with you seems a lot like it'd be preferable to just masturbate with steel wool. Who shit in your fucking cheerios?
You're wrong because the "found footage" format had already been done, and done better, almost 20 years earlier in Cannibal Holocaust. Blair Witch was a found footage movie for the type of tweens that have made the Twilight movies into hits despite the fact that they're watered down shit. But I'm with you in that I'd like to see less "self-referential" Horror movie's are return to the type of purity that we saw in movies like Night of the Living Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Evil Dead.
Wait, what? Sure the found footage technically speaking was Cannibal Holocust, but I don't get the whole tween angle? Blair Witch was influential in the current "lost footage". Their is no doubt about that and further more the marketing. Probably the first film to use the internet as a powerful tool to promote a movie. It forever changed that aspect of that for sure.
Blair Witch for tweens? Evil Dead not aware of it's position in the horror pantheon? I think Raimi was trying (and succeeding) to make a movie about horror movies. That's why he made it twice.
As for the Blair Witch, the tween market wasn't even a thing back then, and it was an effort to pare the genre back to essentials, to make a flat-out scary movie.
Not sure about the first. He was making a straight horror movie. Of course in ED2 he finally got money to go hog wild. It's funny because you can see that influence in the Coen Bros early movies esp Raising AZ. Using the camera as basically a charecter.
It's not really like that at all. I mean, Godwin's and all that, but "superiors" aren't really analogous to "giant flaming gods that will destroy me and everything else if I don't kill these kids". I get what you're trying to say but this comparison isn't really equitable on a number of levels.
I think it is. What do you think would happen if you refused to do your job in Nazi Germany? What I'm talking about is institutionalized evil of people who would commit atrocities, killing children, because they've been MADE TO BELIEVE that horrible things would happen if they didn't. Do you not understand this because, if not, then I'd say that your moral compass is a wee bit fucked. You also fail to take into account that, sure, there are Old Ones but would it not occur to you to question WHY you're appeasing these things and if they are all so powerful, why would they be willing to lay underground providing that people sacrificed children?!
Furthermore, don't throw that Godwin's Law shit at me because my analogy is accurate. Did you know that Dachau was the first concentration camp built 51 days after Hitler took power in 1933? That Auschwitz was made the official name of that camp in 1939 after German invaded Poland? How many years were these camps in operation and how many people were murdered by their fellow countrymen because they feared what would happen to them if they didn't? "I was just following orders" didn't work as a defense at Nuremberg and it's no fucking excuse. Your justification for institutionalized evil sickens me and tells me everything I needed to know about you.
You'd be perfectly happy to sacrifice a few teens each year to keep yourself safe? Then that's because you're a coward. "BUT, BUT, BUT THE MONSTERS WILL DESTROY THE WORLD!!!". Oh yeah, well what exactly is stopping them? And who told you that this would happen? A bunch of other cowards who would rather engineer a system of EXTERMINATION to keep their masters happy!?
People like you are the reason concentration camps were built.
People like you are the reason concentration camps were built.
You have to admit, even though we were debating about the merits of this film (pros and cons throughout this thread), this is the first time the discussion sank to complete typical boneheaded Internet nonsense.
He was a troll, identified in the trolling forum. I believe he has been seen many times. Pretty lame to resort to crap like that. I would have wanted him banned just for that statement. No place for that in a thread that had very intelligent thoughts being thrown, especially when it was kept cool even though there were definitely two opposing opinions.
True, true. We had a good run.
At least CTM's been banned. Again.
Like I said, debating with ET was a ton of fun and helped me reinforce my views on the movie and alter them where necessary. That's why we come to boards like this, or generally seek out fellow movie fans. If it took 15 pages for some wanker to take the thread to someplace shitty, I consider that something of a victory.
Yup. I have made it pretty clear how much I hated this movie, but I still stuck around and read the whole thread because there was interesting viewpoints and interpretations. But hey, it wen't a good 14 pages before becoming Troll bait.
I stopped visiting this thread regularly a while ago, so I'm a little shocked to check back and see how deeply CTM got his hooks in here. Most other threads ID'd him immediately and ignored him.
Speaking to my own defense, I don't come to these boards frequently enough to be able to say who the fuck CTM even is, much less identify him by his posts.
I want to click on that thread and read it thoroughly but I also don't. I think I sleep better at night not knowing.
I just saw this Friday night. As a result of being so late to the party, I've only been able to read the first 8 pages of the thread so far, so forgive me if any of the points I make are redundant. (Though I can't say I'm at all surprised a movie like this—i.e., a funny, inventive, self-aware genre movie—has struck a chord around these parts, of course.)
I enjoyed The Cabin in the Woods a good deal, though I have to admit it didn't achieve the kind of giddy enthusiasm in me that it seems to have achieved in a lot of others. To be fair, I'm not much of a horror guy. I've seen a smattering of the higher-pedigree classics (e.g., Psycho, Peeping Tom, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Shining) and a few more recent efforts (The Strangers, Paranormal Activity, The House of the Devil), but it's never been a genre I've made much of an effort to explore. Even so, I'm familiar enough with a lot of the clichés it was sending up to appreciate those aspects of the movie—in large part thanks to Joshua's old "Horror 101" series from a couple years ago, which it immediately reminded me of (still looking forward to Baboon Holocaust!). In addition to getting most of the nods to genre conventions, it was well written and inventive enough, with engaging characters both above and below ground, to keep me engaged throughout, despite my relative lack of interest in horror. Both Whedon and Goddard deserve a lot of credit for crafting a movie that works simultaneously as an interesting examination of narrative themes and expectations, and as an engaging story in its own right. (Even more so, I'd say, than the similarly intentioned Funny Games, which digs a bit deeper in its examination but isn't nearly as engaging as a story.)
One aspect I found particularly interesting was the idea of the victims' freedom, or lack thereof. (Again, I apologize in advance if these points have already been discussed ad nauseam.) The "puppeteers" go to such lengths to make sure everything goes according to plan, to the point of drastically changing the victims' personalities: the learned Curt becomes a horny jock, the star football player Holden dons glasses and becomes shy and sensitive, Jules becomes a "celebutard," and the professor-banging Dana is cast as "the virgin." And yet the sacrifice is predicated on free will, on the victims not only choosing their demise but also deserving it, as punishment. The idea of a sacrificial victim going to his fate willingly is rooted in Christian theology, but what I was first reminded of when Whitford and Jenkins were discussing free will with the guard was The Wicker Man*. At the end, the people of Summerisle tell Sergeant Howie that their sacrifice requires a victim who goes to his fate of his own free will (meaning that he came to Summerisle, refused opportunities to leave, and even wound up at the foot of the wicker man's hill freely, despite the islanders' manipulations of him). That movie doesn't have the element of punishment that The Cabin in the Woods and modern slashers in general have, where the drug-doing, sex-having teens die for their transgressions while the virgin's purity earns her the right to survive. But there seems to be an element to the willing sacrifice not only of justice, but of entertainment, which explains why it's found in both slashers and something like The Wicker Man. There just isn't the same kind of tension for the audience if the victim's fate (whether "deserved" or not) is 100% inevitable. Like us, the Ancient Gods would get bored of their sacrifice if the victims had absolutely no chance of avoidance or escape. As Trav McGee pointed out, that would be tragedy, not horror.
* I'm speaking, of course, of the only version, made in 1973. People keep talking about some remake, but I know—know—Nic Cage and Neil LaBute both took a sabbatical that year and didn't make any movie together.
Finally saw this. So much win. Can't understand the backlash. Can't understand the people who admit they don't 'get' horror who go on to try to quantify this. It's for fans by a fan, and call me an elitist (no really, call me an elitist) but everything doesn't have to swing down the middle and have Ice Cube playing a hapless dad trying to be a good father to a brood of adorealbe kids. Sometimes you just want to see a parody of a Cenobite killing a bunch of middle management beurocrats.
Hmmm, I see no reason to draw that line in the sand. I love the film, it tickles me as a horror fan in a way that makes some of the complaints about it hard for me to really understand, but it's not fair or accurate to suggest such a strict dichotomy between "getting horror" and wanting middle of the road mainstream pablum. There's a lot in between and I doubt most of the people criticizing the movie wanted or expected it to be ARE WE THERE YET, so I'm not sure I see the point of framing things that way.
Yeah, I'm with Dan on this one. While I really don't agree with the bulk of the criticisms leveled at Cabin in this thread, I think that they're far more legitimate than the comparison to Are We There Yet gives them credit for. In the "didn't like it" side of the thread, I don't think a single person wanted this film to be reduced in its ideas and explorations, and made into something light, fluffy, and disposable that does all of the heavy lifting for them.
Re: Cosboy's post and the "free will" theory. Well said, and I agree. More than that, I also had The Wicker Man kicking around in the back of my head when I saw this for the second time; might make a good double feature. It's interesting, though, that Hadley and Sitterson exert so much more direct influence over the proceedings in Cabin than Summerisle and his subjects do in The Wicker Man; for all of the ways that the island inhabitants manipulate Howie, they certainly are banking more on him making the wrong (or in their view, right) decisions of his own volition. So I think that the justice and entertainment idea works, but it's taken at a different angle in Cabin; sure, the Ancient Ones don't want their sacrifice to be boring, but clearly they don't mind the technicians rigging the game to get the result that they clearly crave. Meanwhile, the islanders are much more comfortable leaving things to chance (more than the Ancient Ones are).
Yeah, I'm with Dan on this one. While I really don't agree with the bulk of the criticisms leveled at Cabin in this thread, I think that they're far more legitimate than the comparison to Are We There Yet gives them credit for. In the "didn't like it" side of the thread, I don't think a single person wanted this film to be reduced in its ideas and explorations, and made into something light, fluffy, and disposable that does all of the heavy lifting for them.
Re: Cosboy's post and the "free will" theory. Well said, and I agree. More than that, I also had The Wicker Man kicking around in the back of my head when I saw this for the second time; might make a good double feature. It's interesting, though, that Hadley and Sitterson exert so much more direct influence over the proceedings in Cabin than Summerisle and his subjects do in The Wicker Man; for all of the ways that the island inhabitants manipulate Howie, they certainly are banking more on him making the wrong (or in their view, right) decisions of his own volition. So I think that the justice and entertainment idea works, but it's taken at a different angle in Cabin; sure, the Ancient Ones don't want their sacrifice to be boring, but clearly they don't mind the technicians rigging the game to get the result that they clearly crave. Meanwhile, the islanders are much more comfortable leaving things to chance (more than the Ancient Ones are).
As long as we're adding additional layers of symbolism and metaphor to this movie, I have to admit that your description of the Gods makes me imagine the sacrifice as something akin to a fox hunt: the point of it is the excitement of the chase, including the chance that the fox might escape; but things are so drastically weighted in the hunters' favor (chasing the foxes on horseback, using hounds to find them, flush them out of their dens, and attack them) that the fox can hardly be considered to have ever had a decent, fighting chance. The Gods want their prey to jump through the hoops and put on a show for them, but in the end they better get fed.
The people of Summerisle are a lot more subtle with Howie and leave a lot more to chance, but that's sort of understandable given that the stakes aren't nearly as high. If Howie escaping meant the end of the world, not just a bad harvest, I'd probably break out the "let's split up" gas and the skankifying hair dye too.
Man. Even on a shitty cam rip my friend got, this was pretty fantastic. Of course, this also meant I could see almost NOTHING when the movie was pitch-dark, so I'll definitely have to see it again when it comes out on Blu-ray. Anyway, laundry list time!:
-Regarding whether or not the kids were sympathetic, I thought they were early on thanks to the performances and the script pointing out that most of them WEREN'T typical slasher fodder. Which leads to the scenes later on where Marty is all "Uh, why are you guys out-of-character?" Kristin Connolly, Fran Kanz and (of course) Hemsworth were especially fun.
-I was totally expecting that stuffed wolf head to come to life and bite off Jules' face or something.
-I'd like to offer another theory as to what the setup of the film "represents". One of the reasons we create horror fiction is to help us deal with real-world horror, correct? Perhaps the "Downstairs" workers can then be seen as staving off the real-world horrors and destruction of the Ancient Ones with their creative bloodbaths. The "horror directors frustrated by the same story being used over and over" is a fun reading too.
-I don't know that I've seen a horror movie go so delightfully batshit in the last thirty minutes since Freddy Vs. Jason. One of the major reasons I need to watch it again is to try and spot all the monsters and kills.
-The whole cast is great, but Whitford and Jenkins definitely steal it. Whitford's exit is so deliciously ironic. I was already laughing at the scene where the Japanese schoolgirls defeat the ghost by trapping it in a frog because of how goofily sincere it was. Add in Jenkins screaming "Fuck you!" several times at them, and it becomes hilarious. They also feel like real friends and co-workers, which becomes even more haunting when you realize how much they have to distract themselves from what they're actually doing.
-Drew Goddard deserves just as many kudos as Whedon, if not more, for making this work. He directs with a sharp, keen eye, with crack comic timing and how to deliver real scares.
-The one disappointment is David Julyan's score, which feels a little bog-standard. Something more darkly whimsical might have fit the tone better. It's not *bad*, but it feels too much like a typical horror score.
Can't wait to see it again in proper picture and sound quality.
Man. Even on a shitty cam rip my friend got, this was pretty fantastic
Can't wait to see it again in proper picture and sound quality.
Sorry! I couldn't resist any longer! He was happy to share!
Seriously, what's keeping you from seeing it legally? It's still in theatres.
Time and money, unfortunately. Sometimes that can hinder things.
This is worth it.
Probably.... but I really don't have the time or money. I'm not poor or anything, but I don't have a paying job right now, so I need to save movie money for stuff in June and July. I regret my actions to a certain extent, but when an opportunity like that presents itself, you bet I'm gonna take it.
Probably.... but I really don't have the time or money. I'm not poor or anything, but I don't have a paying job right now, so I need to save movie money for stuff in June and July. I regret my actions to a certain extent, but when an opportunity like that presents itself, you bet I'm gonna take it.
So you don't have a job, but can't find the time to make it to the theater. And you're not poor or anything, but you can't hack a 9 dollar ticket? Because you're saving your money for the Avengers and Batmans that need the ticket sales 800x less than a low budget horror flick that struggled for years to make its way to a wide release?
Even if this was a good excuse (it's maybe the worst I've ever seen), this site has a strict anti-piracy stance and talking openly about it is verboten.
OK, I didn't realize that. Sorry. Should have just kept my big mouth shut.
Regarding time, I am preparing for an internship that starts in a week and a half. It doesn't pay, but it's pretty damn important. Oh, and I'm helping out with my church's clothing drive pretty much all of next week.
I'll support the film financially by buying it on DVD. If that doesn't satisfy you, then sorry. I apologize for getting so defensive about this. But I wasn't really expecting everyone else to get all sanctimonious about it. A simple "Dude, please don't talk about piracy" would have sufficed.
If you can't afford to see Cabin In The Woods, you shouldn't see Cabin In The Woods. It's sad, but true.
Noob, you only pirate the things the industry doesn't allow us to see. Too many others would be out of work on unpaid internships if not.
Movie site=movie fan
Good movie=good expense
Hollywood dribble = no discussion and we don't care.
I get it, I get it. I'll try and catch a showing next week. If I can't, I'll get it on DVD.
Mob mentality! Mob mentality! Pitchforks and torches! Rabble rabble rabble!
I mean not that I disagree with everyone or anything but I just didn't want to pile it on any more than it already has y'know
Just count yourself lucky. If Devin were still top cop around here, that post probably would've gotten you banned.
That had better be the last time. Fucking no excuse.
It will be, I promise you.
Caught this the other day at a indie/second run place. Don't have a hell of a lot to add to all this, but it was a lot of fun. I understand that feeling of overwhelming ironic detachment some people got after a certain point, but I kind of expected that. It still remained entertaining though.
The gal I was with isn't really a movie fan let alone a horror fan, I don't think (although I tell her she's really a geek, she just doesn't know it yet) but she was laughing all the way through. She is well versed in J-horror though and thought those bits were hysterical.
There was someone who said, Kermode I think, that if you love horror you'll probably enjoy it and if you don't like horror you'll probably enjoy it too. I can attest to that at least.
There's some people around a bit po faced about what this seems to be saying about their favourite genre. At least I think that's what's going on. They shouldn't take it so hard. I'd call it a parody comedy more than an actual horror film, or even a self aware retread like Scream. It's just a million times clever-er than most other things we call parody films.
You could say that's just letting it off the hook for not being perfectly coherent I guess, but I think it holds. The audience position jumps all over the place so it's sort of between the controllers, the heroes and the elder gods on average. Arguably bad, but not really the end of the world if you ask me (*cough* so to speak).
The key to the film for me is in places like when Merman Fan (I forget his name) is contemplating what the virgin is going through. Really sympathising for a moment; "All her fear and pain and torment facing the abyss and... Hey Tequilla!"
That is the average horror movie viewing in a nutshell. Even bruised fans coming to the genres rescue have to admit that. You could stop and contemplate what is being presented, even in the worst movie with the worst acting and effects. But you don't. That's not why you're there, most of the time (maybe not You, but you know what I mean). It's sitting around racking up kills and passing the dutchie. (or toking up and getting ahead of the game, perhaps running off with your own expanded universe version).
Would it be nice if a meta horror film also functioned properly as a (good) actual horror film? Yeah sure. But I'm comfortable with this not being all that interested in that. I was no more detached from this than I was from, say, Braindead/Dead Alive's last third or anything that carries the words Evil and Dead in the title. The obvious meta-ness (like the horrid dialogue buildup to the bike jump) did add a certain different flavour too it, I must admit. But I was craning to see those screens at the bit on the pier. Very happy to see Chekhov's telescoping bong come back when it did too. The barrage of craziness that followed just had me sitting back and enjoying the ride (plus I felt I missed heaps and kept running over it again afterwards).
There was one thing that really threw me for a moment. The blonde/whore actress I swear shows up in the office party scene, but with her natural hair colour. She was standing near someone tall who you couldn't see and at the same time someone says "I love your work". For a moment I thought they were going to pull the rug completely and say it's all pretend (and the tall person turned out to be Hemsworth etc). Of course they did not and it's for the best. But I swear that was her.
Take it from my wife, who doesn't like horror movies and was pretty much hiding under a blanket the whole time we watched this at a drive-in; it works as a horror movie. A lot of us are just too jaded & desensitized. I enjoyed a lot though, as that was my 2nd time seeing it.
Well my mum and plenty of kids would probably agree there (and mum would probably say the same about your typical episode of a British murder investigation series). But I don't think how sensitive someone is the only defining factor. I'm not a jaded horror fan. I won't watch any torture porn. I'm even a bit apprehensive about ghost stories, just in case they turn out to be good (rare). Cabin goes right out of its way to undermine nearly all the potentially scary situations with jokes, cut-aways to the rest of the plot etc. It's not that interested in suspense and tension for the most part and even when it is it's usually paid off with a joke that calls attention to all the meta stuff. The general tone of the piece is mostly light hearted, even if the subject matter is dark. Which isn't to say it can't scare, but it isn't really trying all that hard.
I'm sure the movie wants to have it both ways as much as possible, but if it's a choice, it chooses to sell the joke rather than the scare every time.
I don't think that's a problem, because I found the movie to be hilarious. The speaker phone bit and Merman payoff alone were worth the price of admission.
I'm sure the movie wants to have it both ways as much as possible, but if it's a choice, it chooses to sell the joke rather than the scare every time.
I agree, but I also think that's part of the point. One of the things that got my wife was when they were all partying while the virgin was being beaten to death in the background. By their own rules, they had succeeded and could have stopped it, but they didn't. Sure, that scene has lots of jokes in it, but all in all that's pretty horrifying. And another example of just how brilliant this movie is.
Well, there is the question of what they would do with her if they did stop it. Hope that she would want to join the company (after what they just put her through) herself? Not to mention how the Old Ones might not appreciate being robbed of the climax of their entertainment.
Well yeah, but the horror comes from the fact that they're partying with this on the screen. Though I guess the movie did sell that joke with the "Tequila!" line.
I'm not sure that I believe that the punchlines of Cabin supplement its horror (e.g., the casual partying of the office drones being subtly scary by virtue of how callous it is), but I do think that the film's sense of humor helps support its primary thesis (theses?) about the horror genre and horror fans. If there's anything that's true about horror fans, it's that we're all mostly willing to have a laugh at the suffering that we see on screen in films from boilerplate slashers to monster flicks.
Just caught this. FUN FUN FUN. Seriously, I'm not much of a horror fan (outside of Evil Dead) but holy shit. FUN is the first word that comes to mind. I loved everything about it. It works on so many levels. Satire/comedy/horror. So many great references and once all of the monsters come unleashed it just put a big shit-eating grin on my face. I just wish we could get an infinity amount of sequels in this world that was created. I would have loved to see all of the different scenarios that they could have come up with. I know, basically every horror movie that takes place in a cabin could be considered a "sequel"...but goddamn those control room scenes just had me on the floor.
I wanted to come back to the Auschwitz/Holocaust examples brought up on the previous page, despite the fact that they originated from a dickheaded troll (who has thankfully been banned). Largely, this is because I'm writing an essay on Cabin that I hope to complete in time for its Blu-Ray release next month; it's a two-parter, with the first being concerned with the way the film plays with horror tropes and what meaning we can derive from the film in regards to the nature of the genre and horror fandom. (I'm falling on the side that the film is an act of criticism before it's a love letter, but that it does manage to be both.) I'm at 2200+ words for the first part, but I'm nearly done. The second part is a bit more of a challenge, because it requires much more research.
Basically, what I want to examine is the end, specifically the two philosophies represented by Marty and Dana. Marty believes that if one person must suffer to preserve humanity, that's one person too many; Dana believes that saving the world is paramount. I'm attempting to examine both sides through a Jewish lens foremost, referring to the principle in Jewish law that the preservation of human life trumps nearly all religious obligations and duties ("pikuach nefesh"), but I'm also trying to dig up philosophical texts that discuss this scenario as well. So far I'm, well, lacking.
But this is the more important and weighty part of the essay, at least as far as I'm concerned. Does anyone here have any recommendations for philosophers I should check out in this endeavor? I'm kind of at a loss and really just asking anyone I can think of, anywhere I can think to do so. Personally, I don't have a good answer to the question of whether Marty or Dana is right, and I don't think that there is a good, easy answer, but my purpose is really to pick the bones clean on this one using as many scholarly sources as I can. If any of you all out there have any suggestions, I'd definitely appreciate it.
I'm guessing a stupid Wrath of Kahn reference here wouldn't help much, huh?
I got nuthin'.
I can't be of any help in terms of the reading material, but I do want to bring up the manner in which mankind practices the "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" conundrum. In terms of the film itself, I am completely on Marty's side because for the past 2 hours we've seen the powers that be deal with this conundrum in the most rote and arbitrary manner possible. There is no gravity to the grave ritual these people are conducting. They're laughing, joking, placing bets... all as a coping mechanism, one could argue. But still! In choosing the lesser of two evils, should we really be having a ball and performing it like clockwork?
Don't forget, though, how Sitterson and Hadley react to Jules' death. Somber, fearfully respectful, all that. Not that you're wrong or anything, per se, but those two take the ritual much more seriously than anyone else. The joking stuff definitely plays like a coping mechanism.
I'd suggest Nietzsche as a possible interesting philosopher for an article. There's got to be a lot written on sacrifice, both self and of others.
Thing is, the adults willingly sacrificing themselves wouldn't work. There are very specific demands, it's not just a call for blood.
