Horrified

Everybody loves horror, it would seem. Most people in my immediate emotional surroundings are horror fans, or can at least stomach a good old gory movie from time to time. We do have snobs, who'll only be interested in art house and foreign films, but I like to stay balanced. I like my movies as visceral as they can be social. There's a time for everything, and I'm interested by a very broad range of types of "entertainment". I of course draw the line at reality. Recently discussing with a good friend of mine - and fellow blogger - I found out that I wasn't the only one sickened by the view of real violence. Be it Nick Berg's beheading on the net or just somebody accidentally cutting his finger on tape, I don't like the sounds or the view of it. As long as it's fiction, even if it comes from a sick mind, it stays in the realm of the imaginary.



An article from today's New York Times drew my attention. Written by Michael Cieply and titled "Government to Take a Hard Look at Horror", it mentions that Hollywood's marketers don't always have a clear conscience when the time comes to aim their ads to underage kids. And that ads of studios not part of the M.P.A.A. aren't regulated. Hence, kids coming home from school can see huge banners for upcoming movies such as THE REAPING, PERFECT STRANGER and CAPTIVITY.

Trailers for these films also play on TV and some people think that children shouldn't be exposed to them. Let me tell you something.

I am not a particularly twisted guy, but I like my horror movies uncensored. I don't mind the violence, when it is in tune with the story. I just don't like it when brutality is glorified, as if it was noble of some characters to punch people to death. Recent examples include BON COP BAD COP and CRANK. I think that some youngsters out there are not very well equiped, judgement-wise, and can be influenced. And if violence is spread on daytime TV and contextualised as "normal", it can become a problem, especially when coupled to lax gun laws in the US. Guns don't kill people, people do. True to a certain extent. But if guns were hard to put your hands on, you'd have some time to think twice before pulling the trigger and blowing your landlord's brains off during a heated argument.



During most of my youth I have willingly been exposed to horror movies, sometimes indirectly. Some of my babysitters were gorehounds, and sometimes my little brother and me were left unsupervised in front of the TV during some afternoons where some channels were showing movies such as David Cronenberg's RABID. I had a cousin working in a Nicolet video rental store, and when we'd frequently visit her at work, riding in her then boyfriend's Sirocco, I spent most of my time staring at the boxes displayed on the upper shelves, out of children's reach, where horror and porn was stored.

A new bill is being studied right now, and if adopted would allow some new guidelines on violence in films. Taming them down, of course. There is already a similar hypocrisy going on with these studios : in order to avoid the "R" rating, some of them are cutting down movie scenes upon release. Then, when the movie is released on DVD, the scenes are put back on and it's marked as "unrated". Therefore, those of us blessed with impatience see a "cut" movie when they go out with their dates to scare their pants off.



Horror movies are here to stay, and wether you like the genre or not, trying to impose moral barriers will not make it disappear. Movies like the SAW trilogy might be gory and hard to stomach for some, but nothing matches the grotesque dismemberments of daily news. Irony ?