Internal Truths

changes and trends in horror-genre films are linked to the anxieties of the culture in its time and place. Vampires are the manifestation of grappling with sexuality; aliens, of foreign influence. Horror from the Cold War is about apathy and annihilation; classic Japanese horror is characterised by “nature’s revenge”; psychological horror plays with anxieties that absorbed its audience, like pregnancy/abortion, mental illness, femininity. Some horror presses on the bruise of being trapped in a situation with upsetting tasks to complete, especially ones that compromise you as a person - reflecting the horrors and anxieties of capitalism etc etc etc. Cosmic horror is slightly out of fashion because our culture is more comfortable with, even wistful for, “the unknown.” Monster horror now has to be aware of itself, as a contingent of people now live in the freedom and comfort of saying “I would willingly, gladly, even preferentially fuck that monster.” But I don’t know much about films or genres: that ground has been covered by cleverer people.

I don’t actually like horror or movies. What interests me at the moment is how horror of the 2020s has an element of perception and paying attention.

Multiple movies in one year discussed monsters that killed you if you perceived them. There are monsters you can’t look at; monsters that kill you instantly if you get their attention. Monsters where you have to be silent, look down, hold still: pray that they pass over you. M Zombies have changed from a hand-waved virus that covers extras in splashy gore, to insidious spores. A disaster film is called Don’t Look Up, a horror film is called Nope. Even trashy nun horror sets up strange premises of keeping your eyes fixed on something as the devil GETS you.

No idea if this is anything. (I haven’t seen any of these things because, unfortunately, I hate them.) Someone who understands better than me could say something clever here, and I hope they do.

But the thing I’m thinking about is what this will look like to the future, as the Victorian sex vampires and Cold War anxieties look to us. I think they’ll have a little sympathy, but they probably won’t. You poor little prey animals, the kids will say, you were awfully afraid of facing up to things, weren’t you?

I'm like one hour from going to bed so my take is not going to be extensive but my guess is that the social anxiety this is reflecting is the surveillance state. And the fact that private companies (i.e. not just the state) are also doing a ton of surveillance. And even the fact that the way we often use social media -- less so Tumblr, which has some anonymity still -- is basically internalising that surveillance and performing for it at all times.

It seems like there are two modes going on here: "avoid being perceived by the horror" (Bird Box, A Quiet Place etc) and "perform correctly so that the horror can't get you" (your trashy nun example). Both of them arise from surveillance logics; one is "avoid being surveilled or it will Get you", the other is "you are being surveilled, perform correctly or it will Get you".

And with regard to the social elements it's all reflecting, I mean -- have you seen the state of things? It's extremely difficult to avoid being surveilled! A monster where you have to not look at it is fucking easy mode by comparison!

(Pretend I cited Michel Foucault and Erving Goffman; they're relevant but also it's bedtime.)

Ooh yes, and breaking it down like this made me think:

- fear of observation (surveillance state)

- fear of not performing correctly (purity culture and evangelical backlashes)

- fear of confronting existential threat (climate change)

my contribution to this extremely salient and clever discussion is to say: I think we should call this subgenre panopticonsequence horror

the class war is not some hypothetical future event. class war is being waged right now, by the ruling class, against you, every single day of your life. the question is what you're going to do to fight back.

I’d like to point out that this is the same guy who told millennials to stop eating avocado toast 6 years ago

I've said it many times and will say it many more: we need to dismantle the entire fucking system, every aspect of it, get rid of the trash, and build something better. Theres enough of us to do it, so let's fucking do it.

Is this a prank? What….

Edit: holy heck it’s real…

They might be able to help us…

Guarantee you wither the scientists will mysteriously die or the vaccine will cost fortunes.

Fuck hostile architecture, I want unhostile architecture. I want benches to be designed to be as easy as possible to sleep on. I want little places for pigeons to nest to be purposefully put on buildings. I want people designing public spaces to think about what they'd be like to skateboard on. I want "Please loiter" signs. I want people to be kind. I want...

...a world not so hellbent on making people's worth be on how "useful" or "desirable" they are and trying to erase anyone who doesn't fit. I want a world willing to help get the people off the streets into a proper home, willing to help animals co-exist in ways that don't majorly detriment one or the other. I want a world not so consumed by black and white thinking, one willing to see all the shades of grey while still having a solid understanding of the few things that are, in fact, black or white. A world where the rat race is over, the need to pit people against each other is done with, and we can actually just...fucking exist.

"Megan, Can You Do Me a Favor? Can You Fucking Shoot Me?" by Fall Out Boy

he fell victim to the fuckor

A Wave of Fuckor Wracked My Feeble Body by Fall Out Boy

The sheer effectiveness of pspspsp

(via)

I learned a new concept

Graceful degradation is the ability of a computer, machine, electronic system or network to maintain limited functionality even when a large portion of it has been destroyed or rendered inoperative. The purpose of graceful degradation is to prevent catastrophic failure. (Tech Target, first result on the search engine)

Literal opposite of planned obsolescence. I love you graceful degradation.

This is fascinating.

Need more

listen, as a government regulator, please for the love of god call your city code enforcement on your landlords more often. we often have our hands tied and cannot enforce the law on code and permit violations until a citizen files a formal complaint. use the services available! PLEASE!

I’m sitting on the toilet.

THIS MAKES ME FUCKIN LOSE IT EVERY FUCKING TIME

staying close w people long distance really is about the mundane stuff. i get texts like "made quesadillas" "spilled mop water all over the floor :(" "lady on the bus has not one not two but three tiny dogs in her purse" andits like wow. i love you more than words can express