Cinematic Violence

In place of an analysis of The Untold Story, I will be assessing the other eight films from this term regarding of their aestheticization of violence and degree of excessiveness. In a statement before the National Commission on the Cause and Prevention of Violence, MPAA President Jack Valenti expressed his belief that "the screen must be free if it is going to flourish" (Valenti 63). Valenti advocated for a relaxing in codes regarding cinematic violence, explaining that it should be in the hands of the filmmaker to determine whether their portrayals are honest or "excessive and overweighted with violence" (Valenti 63). In "Graphic Violence in the Cinema: Origins, Aesthetic Design, and Social Effects," Stephen Prince asserts that "in significant ways, the aesthetic contract that the filmmaker must honor with viewers entails that screen violence be made to offer sensory pleasures"(Prince 17). Thus, films lie in a precarious balance between maintaining a low level of excessiveness while preserving the sensory pleasures owed to spectators.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre:

Excessiveness Rating: 7/10

While this film may have been more excessive, and subsequently more repulsive, closer to its release, there are still many indications of excess in its fabric. The film tortures its female characters significantly more than the male characters, contains excessive imagery (human face mask, arm chair made with human arms), and has implications of cannibalism and incest.

Visual Pleasure Rating: 8/10

This film is quite pleasurable to watch as the imagery is engaging, there are many novel plot points (slitting open one's own palm, grandma and grandpa in the attic), and ultimately the final girl is able to escape the horrible place.

Nosferatu:

Excessiveness Rating: 6/10

A lot of the horror that takes place in Nosferatu is implied versus seen, which decreases its excessiveness rating. There is, however, a great deal of excessiveness in queer characters, and from his physical presentation to vampirism, Nosferatu tips the scale above average for his excessiveness. In addition, since the film is silent, the acting is more excessive to indicate certain emotions that would be less articulated through everyday body language.

Visual Pleasure Rating: 4/10

The film moved relatively slowly, and we were not shown much of what would have made the film more titillating and pleasurable. I found certain scenes visually pleasurable, but all in all, I wanted to fall asleep for a good chunk of the runtime.

The Babadook:

Excessiveness Rating: 8/10

The Babadook is extremely excessive. Since most excessive emotions are expressed through female figures, and the female protagonist inThe Babadook is in mourning AND the monster is an embodiment of her grief, this film is the epitome of excess. They also kill a dog, which Alison Guenther-Pal said was the reason she could not finish the film. Killing animals (particularly domesticated pets), for many people, is deemed even more excessive than the killing of humans.

Visual Pleasure Rating: 7/10

The Babadook was visually pleasurable, with a very aestheticized color palate, and had interesting mis-en-scene (e.g., the threatening picture book). I would argue that the monster could have been a more complex embodiment of female grief, and that I left the film more confused than satisfied. To date, I do not understand why she feeds the monster and keeps it in the basement as a pet. Perhaps to replace Fifi? lol.

Ganja and Hess:

Excessiveness Rating: 7/10

Ganja and Hess contained a good deal of excessive imagery. However, while the victimized characters and their copious amounts of bright red blood are excessive, the female protagonist of the film is not. Her responses are often calculated and measured. She barely mourns the loss of her husband before rebounding to the man feasting off of his body.

Visual Pleasure Rating: 9/10

Ganja and Hess is extremely visually pleasurable. The circular mode of storytelling (alternating from present day America and presumably ancient Africa) is poetic and the colorful mis-en-scene, as Marie Kondo would say, "sparks joy." The film is, as I explain in my blog post, an interesting take on the "twoness" of the African American psyche, and does a fantiastic job of expressing this duality through it's two protagonists.

The Shining:

Excessiveness Rating: 8/10

The Shining is best known for its excessiveness. This film has everything--full frontal nudity, a petrified screaming woman, creepy kids, and an elevator's worth of blood! Not to mention the excess ascribed to alcoholism!

Visual Pleasure Rating: 8/10

The Shining is very visually pleasurable. The cinematography is iconic, with slow reveals and hidden meanings--such as the bathroom scene with the ex-caretaker alternating the position of the two men, implying that they are one and the same. The final girl(s) of this film also escape the horror, making the ending generally satisfying.

Creature from the Black Lagoon:

Excessiveness Rating: 4/10

Creature from the Black Lagoon was not extremely excessive, likely on account of the time period and intended audiences, as well as production-related restrictions. The most excessive part of Creature from the Black Lagoon was the horrified reactions from the indigenous people along with Kay's screaming during the climax (lol). I will give it a 4 for excessiveness, as I would argue that the masculinity in the film was excessive, and the monster's feminine nature also makes him excessive.

Visual Pleasure Rating: 6/10

Kay's twelve outfit changes were visually pleasurable, and her swimming scene with the monster was visually pleasing. In addition, the underwater film technology was pretty cool, as almost half of the film was shot underwater. The film was pretty beautiful despite some slower moments.

Hereditary:

Excessiveness Rating: 8/10

Hereditary is very excessive. The film depicts a deceased child in a blood chilling state of decomposer, a mother paralyzed with fear and sadness, full frontal nudity, decapitation, immolation and more.

Visual Pleasure Rating: 7/10

Hereditary is visually pleasing, with many Easter eggs for keen viewers. While the film is somewhat mundane and a bit confusing at times, the final scene makes up for it by connecting all of the loose ends. The main driving force for the visual pleasure rating is the final scene. I love it so much.

I Spit on Your Grave:

Excessiveness Rating: 9/10

I Spit on Your Grave is extremely excessive with almost half an hour of graphic rape and beating, images of vaginal/anal bleeding, and extreme sexualization of the female protagonist. The only reason that the excessiveness rating is not 10/10 is because the revenge scenes were much shorter and far less graphic.

Visual Pleasure Rating: 7/10

The driving factor for this rating is not my subjective opinion, but rather an understanding of the film's spectatorship from the literature. As Chelsea articulated very eloquently in her blog post, the film encourages the spectator to rape Jennifer with the men onscreen, with almost half an hour of this violence. Then, when Jennifer takes her revenge, it is sexualized. This revenge merely appeases the viewer as they no longer feel guilty for partaking in her rape, and are still able to sexualize Jennifer until the credits roll. Thus, I Spit on Your Grave has an above average visual pleasure rating.

Based on these ratings, we do see a correlation between excessiveness and visual pleasure. Thus, the problem still stands for filmmakers, in moderating excess while also providing a pleasurable experience for their spectators. Thank you guys for making this my favorite at-distance class! I hope everybody isn't too traumatized. Have a great summer!

Creature From the Black Lagoon

White Science and Black Magic

Carol Clover’s ideas about gender and horror can be extensively applied to Creature from the Black Lagoon. Clover, in her analysis of the occult horror film, discusses the relationship between “White Science,” and “Black Magic,” the former being founded in western rationel, lab coats, and white men, the later originating in other cultures, voodoo, spirits, and women (66). In Creature from the Black Lagoon, there is an extraordinary amount of White Science--as white doctors of science, Dr. Carl Maia, Dr. David Reed, Dr. Mark Williams, and Dr. Edwin Thompson, spend at least half of the runtime mansplaining their understandings of science (e.g., “What these rocks tell you, anyway?” “How old they are. It's called the uranium-lead test”) to their less ‘educated’ South American counterparts.

Similarly to Creature from the Black Lagoon, the occult film begins in a world governed by White Science. However, when strange things begin to happen, we see Black Magic. Black Magic in Creature from the Black Lagoon is predominantly represented by the creature who is notably two things: foreign and (in black and white) black. The creature proposes an issue for White Science, as his mere existence is in the realm of the unknown, outside of the western rationel. This leads to a sort of cognitive dissonance for the white doctors--do they remain in the world of White Science or come to terms with the extraordinary?

Old Masculinity vs. New Masculinity

As Clover importantly notes, “...the conflict between White Science and Black Magic is a deeply gendered one, constitutive of a conflict between male and female and also constitutive, within the male story, of a conflict between “masculine” and “feminine” (98). While White Science is deemed masculine, Black Magic is considered feminine. This is particularly interesting when considering Creature from the Black Lagoon through the lens of the slasher film. Clover identifies two masculinities, which she dubs “bad, old masculinity...and a new, good masculinity.“ She explains that “in the same way that the slasher film codes aggressive behavior as masculine and outfits those who engage in it, females as well as males, with chain saws and power drills (commonly positioned at crotch level), occult films code emotional openness as feminine and figure those who indulge it, male and female, as physically opened, penetrated” (101). Old, bad masculinity can be seen in Dr. Mark Williams, who carries a speargun to validate his masculinity. Dr. Mark Williams literally penetrates the creature with multiple spears, highlighting the feminine nature of the creature as that which is penetrated. We also see the creature's attraction to the feminine, as he is fascinated by Kay, and unlike his reactions to other men, does not wish to harm her in any way.The creature can thus be understood as a representation of the new, good masculinity. As Clover explains, “the redefined masculine or the “new man”...encroaches on and appropriates characteristics traditionally located in the feminine” (105). The creature is also feminized on account of, as aforementioned, his association with Black Magic. As Clover notes, “if [a figure of old, bad masculinity] were to wander out of the action genre into the slasher film, he would end up dead” (99). Mark’s rash actions, in penetrating and trying to capture the creature for his own capitalistic purposes, not only puts himself at risk of death, but risks the lives of his entire team.

I Spit on Your Grave

The Phantasy of Women as Castrated

As Barbara Creed explains in The Monstrous-Feminine, “the slasher film deals specifically with castration anxieties, particularly with the male fear of castration” (125). The concept of women as castrated figures serves to alleviate male anxieties about female figures as whole and powerful. Women are constructed as castrated to because men fear that they are, in fact, not castrated. By perceiving women as castrated, men can also alleviate some of their anxieties regarding the possibility of their own castration. As Creed explains, “...men enact on a woman's body a symbolic form of castration” (125). This castration is perceived through “...the castrated female form in film…‘the bearer of the bleeding wound’” (126). The wound being the female genitalia, and the bleeding being menstruation. This wound is also enacted through cutting or stabbing the woman to create a bleeding wound. “According to Royal Brown, the slasher film ‘grows out of the severest, most strongly anti-female aspects of a very American brand of the Judaeo-Christian mythology’ in which woman, because of her sexual appetites, is held responsible for man’s fall from innocence…[w]oman is victimized because of she is blamed for the human condition” (125). This theorization justifies the victimization of women, as their desires and transgressions are the reason that men are forced to harm and subjugate them. This does, however, indicate a sense of power in female figures, as by necessitating subjugation, there is a male anxiety that women may possess a great deal of power. In the rape scenes of I Spit on Your Grave, Jennifer is “hunted down, degraded, humiliated and tortured...her humiliation and subjugation are dwelt on and drawn-out..[o]n each occasion their attacks grow more violent” (130). Jennifer is hunted down by a pack of men, all of whom must be involved to hold her down to be raped and beaten. She is also beaten so badly that she is unable to fight back. As one of her attackers explains, he likes when women are totally submissive. Jennifer must be near to death for him to feel more powerful than/attracted to her. As Creed asserts “it seems clear that woman is actually being punished because, by her nature, she represents the threat of castration” (131). The men, fearing that Jennifer is not castrated, and thus possesses power, must completely subjugate her to relieve the anxieties of their own castration. They transform Jennifer into “a battered, bleeding wound,” reminiscent of a castrated phallus (131). As Creed explains,“the sadistic nature of the attack can only be seen as an attempt to rob woman of her terrifying -- but imaginary --powers before she can use them” (131). The men, however, are unsuccessful as in the second half of the film Jennifer transforms into a super-human, castrating deity.

The Castrating Woman

The castrating woman is a sympathetic figure “...[she is] not punished; rather, [she is] shown to be justified in [her] actions” (123). The castrating woman in I Spit on Your Grave is, of course, Jennifer, who both literally and metaphorically castrates her rapists. It is important to distinguish between the phallic woman and castrating woman, who Creed notes are distinctly different figures. The phallic woman possesses symbolic attributes of the phallus and is often ascribed masculine traits and characteristics (such as a masculine name). Jennifer, however, when seeking her revenge, becomes more feminine, weaponizing her sexuality to be able to gain the leverage to castrate. Creed notes that the castrating woman is like a Siren, mythological figures with beautiful voices who lured sailors to their deaths. “The Sirens, of course, were images of female castrators par excellence” (128). The femme castrice is, as Creed puts it “represented as fulfilling a stereotypical image of female beauty” (128). Jennifer, when later seducing her rapists does her hair, her makeup, and dresses femininely, seductively. She touches her rapists gently, coaxing them into a sense of safety and encouraging orgasm. 

Spectatorial Male Masochism in the Rape-Revenge Film

Creed also notes that “the scenes of castration and murder are presented as sensual, erotic moments characterized by a marked degree of male masochism” (128). The pleasurable nature of these castration/murder scenes complicates male spectatorship in I Spit on Your Grave, as it “offer[s] the spectator the promise of an erotic pleasure associated with the desire for death and non-differentiation….[the femme castrice] arouses a fear of castration and death while simultaneously playing on a masochistic desire for death, pleasure, and oblivion” (130). The castration and murder scenes are the antithesis of the rape scenes, as while the rape scenes are drawn out, unpleasurable, and seemingly unjustified, the murder/castrations are cathartic, relatively quick, and are paired with...well...sex.

It is interesting to note the ritualistic nature of the castration/killing scenes. After asking God for forgiveness while draped in black, Jennifer changes into ethereal white robes, lures her victims with seduction, cleanses her victims in water, urges them to orgasm, murders/castrates, and then listens to classical music or walks/boats away unbothered. This iconography connects the experiences of sex and pleasure with death. Contrastly to the abject nature of the woman as victim in the rape scenes, and the degredation and humiliation that Jennifer experiences, as Creed explains, “the death scenes of the male victims offer a form of masochistic pleasure to the viewer because of the way they associate death with pleasure” (130). So I guess I would like to ask my fellow male classmates...are you horny for death?