Jewel Ramirez

JWU 

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FINAL BLOG POST

Originally I was very nervous to take this class and had not been given the option in taking it, being chosen by my academic advisor instead. As my last blog post stated horror movies and I do not go together we are like two negatives running in the opposite direction. Throughout the course I grew more and more fascinated with linking the history a horror film was created in and researching the fears that we occurring during that time.

My favorite subject is always zombies and I love everything about them. But as we uncovered Freaks it was more interesting to learn how films can truly portray ourselves and the monsters within us. Writing that first essay was enjoyable because I got to use multiple fears within that era and truly tear apart the entire film from beginning to end. It was exceptional to look at the original films of the main monster archetypes and differentiate the changes that society has given them. I just love how everything from the start of class to finishing it all up relates back to a man who really pushed our boundaries in horror and created a whole new terrifying world can connect us to the real monsters out there, ourselves. We never self evaluate the monsters we keep hidden but are quick to judge those who express who they are or the insane ideas created to make more and more thrilling films and novels. 

Now that this class is over, I want to debunk the horror and look at these films with educated and analytical eyes to discover the true meanings behind the films we experience today. I will of course be terrified while watching but not to the same extent knowing the true fears society had during these times. I am really glad to have been able to take this class because not only is this something I would have never done before but it also gives you a new curiosity to the world of horror and thriller.

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Haunted Site

I would describe myself as a chicken or scaredy cat. When asked if I want to watch a scary/thriller movie the answer has always been no way! So when we were assigned this project I was excited but also nervous from the start. On our way to the mine our car was having trouble and I totally thought it was a ghost preventing us from going much like the priest’s car in The House on Haunted Hill. This is another reason I do not watch scary movies because every little thing makes me think about incidences like this. Everything ended up being fine with the car and as we got closer and closer to the mine the more and more nervous I became.

Once we arrived at the location it was definitely not what we expected. The mine was much smaller and the location had no front office, just the mine and men outside working. As we sat and waited I received a call once I answered it no one answers and the call ended. This freaked me out again! I was getting paranoid from every little thing happening in this place. As we started preparing to go into the mine we were given a variety of ghost hunting equipment. This was something I’ve never experienced and was super excited to see if it actually worked. We were able to do our interview before entering and it was really interesting to learn how her got started in the mines and how he felt about the Ghost Adventure episode. We had our tour with another group of people most of who were a lot older but there was one little girl within the group.

Once we were inside the mine they shut the doors and we were surrounded in darkness, my heart was beginning to race and as much as I wanted to run or hide I continued to film what he had to say. We started the tour learning about a missing girl whose body was thrown into a nearby mine and he stated that her presence was with us that day. There was an uncanny feeling in the air but that could also be from just listening to the story and empathizing what happened to his poor child.

As we went further into the mine Dave told us stories of an old man who didn’t like visitors and had old fashion ways in believing women weren’t allowed in the mine. Once we entered his “section” there was a LOUD BANG that went off, at this point all sorts of things were running through my head as I jumped and panicked a bit. It was only later did I find out that they had blown a horn to scare us into believing it was the ghost.

Much like magicians, these workers are playing with our perception and using the fact that all we can see is darkness within the mine to their advantage. This makes whatever they are saying or what they think they heard more and more believable. The more you focus on the fears of the mine itself the more you believe these phenomenons are possible. One thing I didn’t enjoy was how enthusiastic the workers were. Overly asking if we had heard the footsteps creeping behind us when there was nothing to be heard. Much like the Ghost Adventures episode where they freaked out over everything thinking it was a spirit or “tommy-knocker” when in fact it was just a raccoon and noise made by the miners themselves. Overall this was definitely an incredible experience because we were able to go inside an active mine and see this show the put on for us.

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Blog Post #7: Contemporary Horror

Cabin in the Woods was a fantastic movie to end the class with. Not only does it showcase the archetypes we discussed such as zombies, ghosts, werewolves and demons but it also reveals anxieties that are currently suppressed today.

When reading Trick ‘R Treat (2007), The Cabin in the Woods and the Defense of Horror’s Subcultural Capital: A Genre in Crisis, contemporary horror is being used as a way to protect horror and showcase it in a humorous way to emphasize the historical archetypes being used in everyday horror such as the teens having sex in the woods and how there is always one “whore” and one “virgin” within the group. The film also uses “the fool” to add a unique turn to the film by keeping him alive and aware of what is really happening. The Fool is the skeptic part within all of us and directly expresses the fear of being controlled by the government and the constant fear of being watched. It showcases how far technology can actually go to influence our decisions so easily giving off the uncanny and unnerving feeling of how far technology will can truly go.

Much like The House on Haunted Hill, The Cabin in the Woods pushes aside the women’s ideas or concerns because they don’t value her opinion until they experience something wrong themselves too late. Both films use the basement to symbolize anxieties suppressed within us in a major way by providing many haunting or possessed artifacts to choose from. Demonstrating  our current fears but also all of the anxieties that our nation has had at one point in history.

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Blog Post #6: The Exorcist

I have never been a fan of scary movies, especially this one but once I changed the focus from being afraid of possessions and focused more on analyzing the film do I realize there is nothing to fear. In the mid-1970′s women’s bodies were being criticized through politics and even through the church. The Exorcists demonstrates society's anxieties at the time through the possession of a young teen. This expresses the impurity of a young women and how women at the time were experimenting with their bodies but also with their sexual partners. This is shown when the possessed young teen yells at the men to have sex with her. This also demonstrates how men were feeling at the time with women pleasuring themselves, and only needing men for procreation. They were afraid of women taking control of their own bodies and wanting their own pleasures to be first. It also demonstrated the nervousness over contraception at this time as well as abortions themselves. This creates a strain from the church and all their beliefs. The church has always seen masturbation as a sin and having Regan masturbate with the cross gives the church a negative connotation and relates on evil or even the devil himself. It also shows how society at the time weren’t close with their church or even had no faith to the church. During this era, there were more and more divorces and in Catholic faith this is a sin and will keep one separated from the church. It also symbolizes how the nature of the typical family was changing yet again. This is why still today many films regarding possession itself and in women are being tested to demonstrate women rising and taking charge of their own bodies as well as their lives.

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Essay #2: Zombies, the destruction to our safety

What is your first instinct if a zombie apocalypse occurred at this moment? Would you fight back, seek shelter or scavenging for food? These thoughts constantly run through my head and I have always been fascinated on this archetype. The name zombie originated from the Kimbundu word “nzumbe” a term used in describing the death of someone’s soul. The lore of zombies originated after the slave rebellion in 1791 on the island of Hispaniola which caused many planters to flee the islands and head towards the United States. In Haitian belief the zombi was a dead person willing to give their body to the gods as a receptacle or it was considered a reanimation of a soulless corpse taken from its grave to serve the master who has awaken it, similar to the ideal of Frankenstein (Battista).

Zombies in a sense have a resemblance within the African American culture and how white plantation owners intended to treat their slaves like zombies, just physical bodies with no emotion. “They lacked all traces of intellect, volition, or self-awareness. They could not think or speak..” (Kordas). This is what plantation owners want for their slaves in order to keep them from revolting much like the past but to also have power over them. In White Zombies, it was said that they make the perfect workers with the sugar mill because they do not care about the long hours or even the strenuous work it entails. This was a fear the White Americans had for enslaved Black Americans because they were in constant fear of the slaves revolting and attacking them in return for what they had endured.

Women were also considered their own form of zombie because they did not get the same education opportunities and were taught to keep their opinions to themselves with no say of their own, only the say of their husband who could even be considered their master as well. They were considered dangerous and an uncontrollable new element to American society. When women continued to expand their knowledge and fight back for what they believed it added them into the persona of zombies and placed them within a separate category of men. Even within the film, White Zombie though the sugar mill workers were not female or even African American, the main female character was the one who was killed and made into a zombie. Towards the end of the film where she fights the trace, it demonstrates women within society fighting against the trace of that men had created for them. This is the ultimate and beginning of women introducing the new them into society.  

The zombies were also feared on a psychological level in society. Many were afraid of the thought of being enslaved and in the control of others with no willpower or even being stuck in an everyday “mindless” life with no excitement, just to get paid or get the job done. Not truly living their lives but going through the motions in life with no enjoyment and knowledge of what is happening. In a sense zombies still resemble this fear but also their evolution within our cultural imagination enhancing their abilities and how they are now being represented in today’s society.

There are many ways zombies have changed from how they were once predicted in society. The Netflix original, Z Nation demonstrates how zombies have evolved throughout the seasons. Within the first season zombies are predicted as they once were slowly soulless creatures looking for food. Once you get to the last season zombies are depicted as humans who had died and have a hunger for brains but can still have their souls intake and are able to communicate with those around them. This demonstrates that zombies are no more different than us even if they had died. For conflict these “talkers” are now the minority within the group no longer focusing on anyone’s race or sex but now separating the community based on who is alive and who isn’t. This is just one way zombies have evolved from how they once were and shows how complex many archetypes can be rearranged.

Zombies now represent how well prepared we are for a disaster whether it might be a pandemic within society but can also be a natural disaster. Zombies demonstrate how unprepared we are within today’s society. Within our latest generations we have no knowledge of how to care from ourselves whether that means finding food in the woods to building ourselves shelter for survival. There is a saying, you can survive for 3 minutes without oxygen or in icy waters, 3 hours without shelter in a harsh environment, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food if you have water and shelter. How many of us can say we will be able to survive in any of these conditions. When watching the faux apocalypse video it really stuck to me the fact that we are very dependent on today’s technology. If zombies were to attack, our electricity would be the first to go and there are many circumstances where we would not be able to find heat or even know how to keep warm. To me, if zombies were to be an issue it would be demonstrate Darwinism at its finest. Those who know how to protect themselves from these zombies and from the harsh environments as well as those able to find the resources needed to survive.

“In story after story, there seems to be no limit to the survivors’ rage, or their incapacity to empathize with one another” (Rushton). All zombie films/series demonstrate how survivors deal with living through these challenges as well as how they deal with one another. Many shows don’t even focus on the zombies themselves being an issue but instead it is based on the differences and conflicts we as humans have. Fighting with one another even though there is a common enemy within both sides but that is not considered the issue anymore. Much like all the Walking Dead seasons based on the rivalry between camps or even the rulers in charge. Zombies also demonstrates the fear we have for our safety. Safety is an anxiety and fear within today’s society and apocalypse themselves depict how easy it is for our nation and even our world to turn into complete chaos.  

Work Cited

Batista, Christine. “Zombies.” ILS 4180 Things That Go Bump in the Night. ILS 4180, 8 Apr. 2019, Denver, CO, Johnson & Wales University.

Kordas, Ann. “New South, New Immigrants, New Women, New Zombies .Pdf.” Google Drive, Google, drive.google.com/file/d/14Xz46LR4Ip1ZAx9W1iVFDsJnr_LezHaF/view.

Rushton, Cory James, and Christopher Moreman. Race, Colonialism, and the Evolvution of the "Zombie".

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Blog Post #5: Werewolves

Man is no different than beast and I believe that is one of the reasons werewolves have placed such a fear in society. Man fears their of control whether that is based on their frustration or their sexual impulses. In The Wolf Man, Larry Talbot is infatuated with the idea of Gwen and watches her for some time. This could be depicted as his animalistic side stalking their prey. He also displays his dominance by killing the wolf in order to protect her and the screams of another woman. He wants to show her that he is able to keep her safe and be there for her when times are tough. This is a side that man is constantly in because they want to be the ones in power and show their authority with every role they have. It is also feared because ones anger can get the better of them and can be the part of themselves they want to stay hidden. Werewolves are the shadow of what the man fears within themselves. When I think of this it resembles the attitude of an abusive husband. They can be anyone in society and can turn into this “animalistic” man based on an action or mood change. Only to find be horrified by their actions the following day or even after the moment when logic comes into effect. Much like in the movie where he realizes he is the werewolf and tries to flee the town to escape the harm of Gwen and others within the town. Even as humans we have these animalistic behaviors what keeps us separated is how we demonstrate our emotional intelligence within those difficult situations.  

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Blog Post #4: Zombies

One problematic stigma surrounding Vodou is that they are associated with black magic and bringing people back to life, due to their beliefs and fascinations prior to death. European slave owners took the Haitian people and forced them to be slaves in America brought forth the Americanized version, “Voodoo” and the influence of adding Catholic beliefs as well. This brought them an escape from the life they were living and reconnected them to their motherlands. Of course new beliefs, looks, languages are introduced the first thing to do is fear it by adding demons and the devil but also to try and change their core beliefs. This placed many rumors on the religion and many have been a problematic stigma used today.

Zombies are often associated with Voodoo because of their beliefs and the rituals they do for their dead. Being brought into America and being treated like a slave where your life doesn’t matter or even the amount of strenuous work endure is put into consideration creates this “zombie” life for us. A “mindless” activity that is on an endless cycle through life. This is demonstrated in White Zombie (1932) where the zombie sugar mill workers are continually working to please the owner and nothing happens when one falls in. White anxieties occurred because this was something they could not understand and really believed they would be infected with a “disease” when being around African Americans and their culture. It also demonstrate the fear they had for the slaves fighting back and rebelling that had occurred once already in 1791 Saint Dominique.

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Voodoo/Hoodoo: Marie Laveau and Zombies

What is everyone’s opinion of Voodoo?

I want to discuss two of the sections in more depth because I had found them to be incredibly interesting and enjoyed researching them. One famous practitioner was Marie Laveau known as the Voodoo Queen during this time in New Orleans, Louisiana. She changed the structure of voodoo, incorporating her own religion, Catholicism, due to her being a devout Catholic. She used the beliefs of Voodoo and the traditions of Catholicism from the holy water to Christian prayers This made voodoo more acceptable in the upper class. Marie Laveau lived a long live and had over 15 children on her own. One of her daughters Marie Laveau Gapion, continued her mothers work and was a hairdresser as well who later owned a bar and brothel. 

One problematic stigma surrounding Voodoo is that they are associated with zombies. This is not the case, Hoodoo’s believe in a god named Nzambi. They also believe that the body is separated into two parts: your motor functions and your soul. It is believed that once your body dies your soul (the Little Good Angel) will stay in your body for 9 days and then will greet god in heaven. Whereas your body (the Big Good Angel) will remain trapped on earth forever wandering to the places it has been until a proper burial is established. It is understandable to see how the lore of zombies became to be based this information and how they are so fascinating in horror films today. Voodoo continues to be used to serve others and influence life through the connection of nature, ancestors and spirits.

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Essay 1: Option 2 - Mesmerizing Abnormalities

One of the hardest times in American history was also the start of the horror we love today. Hollywood archetypes were released from Dracula to the Sideshow Freaks. These tales illustrated many of society's anxieties and fears within themselves and the change the country was going towards. Sideshow: Freaks goes through controversy because this was a time of vulnerability and society was not yet ready to discuss the challenges they were facing but instead were willing to “leave it in the basement” along with many other their anxieties.

Sideshow: Freaks is a 1932 film showcasing real people with real disabilities and unconventional relationships they are in. Hans is a rich midget who has fallen in love with the beautiful Cleopatra, who in turn is faking her love for him but not her love for his money and her secret lover Hercules. Taking this opportunity Cleo is willing to plan Hans’ murder by poisoning him the night of their wedding and running off with his money and Hercules. Throughout the film Hans is the punch line for every joke but is willing to put up with the ridicule for Cleo. The other freaks are even willing to accept her into their lives. Only to find out the truth and get their revenge on this gold digging woman. The once beautiful Cleopatra is now a deformed mutated bird-like creature used for entertainment.

At the start of the film we are believed that it is the “freaks” who are the monsters, but once we are aware of Cleo’s plans we discover the true villains of the film. Cleo is this representation of those willing to commit murder just to be worth more, much like The House on Haunted Hill where all guests are willing to be trapped in a haunted house for the sake of money. She values the thought of being rich rather than being thankful for her beautiful and the abilities she does have. Reflecting back to the Prohibition where law-bidding citizens were willing to be apart of criminal activity to partake in the use and sale of alcohol; wanting what we do not have and uncaring of what we do. When Olga Baclanova, the actress first met the staff on set she was truly overwhelmed even stating, “It was very, very difficult the first time because I couldn't look at them… it hurt me like a human being. How lucky I was…” (p.150). As the character, Cleo is now facing the repercussions of the greed she once had. During this time, over 13 million people are unemployed making everyone interested and willing to do anything for money. The film in turn portrays what could happen if we let our greed get the best of us.

These unconventional relationships demonstrated the sexual avoidance normal couplings were under. Families were getting smaller and smaller due to the anxiety of financially damaging their households or having to struggle more and more if they did have another child. Everyday families were faced with the fear of their own children becoming these “freaks”.  Lon Chaney’s opera ghost was faced with his deformity from birth and ends up being cased out for his abnormal looks being called a ghost rather than the person he actually is. Another instance in the film that demonstrates sexual avoidance is when Cleo poisons Hans the night of their wedding, much like the archetype Frankenstein demonstrates death in favor of avoiding a wedding night. Cleo tries to get Hans killed so she doesn’t have to go through with “completing” the marriage.

Many soldiers during this time would return from war with disabilities of their own, whether they were physical disabilities alone or the emotional toll war provided to the changes they faced returning to a normal life but still “living” through the war, a mental disability. Society became frightened with the thought that their heroes were coming back as frightening monsters and completely different people.

Circuses and carnivalesque “creatures” were so popular during this time because they offered a different persona or the unfamiliar making them become such horrors. Dread and Circuses portrays how we grew fascinated with these so called freaks and even more fascinated by the ability to change who we are. Much like Stephen King’s Why We Crave Horror Movies the same can be said for these creatures or freaks introduced in this time. Giving us a way to allow these everyday anxieties to escape and be lived through a fictional tale. Enjoying that we aren’t the ones being deformed or outcasted but are the spectators in the mesmerizing view of the abnormalities that occur in our lives.

References

King, Stephen. Why We Crave Horror Movies

The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror, by David J. Skal. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993.

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Blog Post #2: Amityville Horror

Amityville Horror Story begins to question the American Dream in more than one way. Recently married George went from single entrepreneur to a stepfather of three children.This puts a strain on their relationship because they are not his children making them hard to control and listen to him as well as not considered their true father. This family dynamic rarely occurred in the 70’s and is more common in today’s society. This places them apart from their neighbors and the norm of their time. The story reinforces traditional gender roles with George being the man of the house by taking care of Kathy’s brothers caterer with a check to providing more heat for them with the chopping of firewood. Kathy still needing the approval and help from George making her the more vulnerable one in the relationship as well as the one who aids the children back to bed after a nightmare. Challenging this belief the film also proves that Kathy is not the typical housewife. She invites the pastor over without staying in the house waiting for her guest but instead she is out playing around with her children and enjoy herself. She doesn’t care or is in a rush to finish unpacking the house when her own family is coming over leaving the house unpresentable for them. When George tells her to stay upstairs after a loud commotion she doesn’t listen instead is willing to go down there and protect her family just the same. The Lutz family is not the typical family during this era but perhaps this is an underlying reason for the strange things occurring to them with the house in the first place.

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Blog #1: Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror”

Watching a horror film or even riding a roller coaster gives us a rush of endorphins and increases our adrenaline. Many people crave this responds and in turn rely on drugs or putting themselves in dangerous situations, others rely on these films.

King makes it aware that in today’s society we are rewarded for our “proper” behavior and punished for something deemed insane. Everyone has a secret, something they haven’t shared with anyone in fear they would be locked up for their thoughts or even their actions. People rely on horror movies to demonstrate how far one can go or even how their secret isn’t as bad as they thought it was.

Horror movies are a way we can still access those insane thoughts and not be punished but can be shared with friends and family over the bizarre scenes a film can demonstrate. Films like The Purge demonstrates how society can affect our lifestyles, by legalizing killing and theft for one night and then proceeding the rest of the year like nothing has occurred. This makes us question whether or not we would one day become the nation who allows our dark side to come out for one night and escape the repercussions of those actions.

Personally I believe horror movies within themselves are those of directors and novelists releasing their own insane/dark psyche and using that as a way to keep themselves in check.

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‘‘Blessed be our New Founding Fathers for letting us Purge and cleanse our souls. Blessed be America, a nation reborn.’‘

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Blog #1: Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror” 

Watching a horror film or even riding a rollercoaster gives us a rush of endorphins and increases our adrenaline. Many people crave this responds and in turn rely on drugs or putting themselves in dangerous situations, others rely on these films.

King makes it aware that in today’s society we are rewarded for our “proper” behavior and punished for something deemed insane. Everyone has a secret, something they haven’t shared with anyone in fear they would be locked up for their thoughts or even their actions. People rely on horror movies to demonstrate how far one can go or even how their secret isn’t as bad as they thought it was.

Horror movies are a way we can still access those insane thoughts and not be punished but can be shared with friends and family over the bizarre scenes a film can demonstrate. Films like The Purge demonstrates how society can affect our lifestyles, by legalizing killing and theft for one night and then proceeding the rest of the year like nothing has occurred. This makes us question whether or not we would one day become the nation who allows our dark side to come out for one night and escape the repercussions of those actions.

Personally I believe horror movies within themselves are those of directors and novelists releasing their own insane/dark psyche and using that as a way to keep themselves in check.

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The Myrtle Plantation (The Legend of Chloe)