Call Me Slash

image borrowed from bing

Call Me Slash

“Horror movies would not exist unless people

went out to see them--& they always will.”

--Joss Whedon.

Recently I was recruited to write movie reviews on a Horror Movie 

Website. Joining a spirited staff of younger writers, I soon discovered

that the torture porn slasher splatter Indie horror films were the primary

focus of the reviews; which I was cool with.

Back in the turbulent awakenings during the 60’s-70’s, when I was an

actor, as a lark I chose a stage name, Slash Phuque, as a sarcastic

response to the actors named Rock, Rip, & Tab. My theatrical friends

still call me Slash, so now my horror film reviews are written under

that lauded moniker. 

But my new avocational pursuit made me wonder about myself, &

millions like me, right across the age spectrum that really enjoy

graphic violence, nudity, & action in movies; always did. If you recall,

the violence in the movies of the 40’s-50’s was pretty tame, even lame.

Then the cultural revolution in all the arts blossomed in the 60’s, & wham,

we suddenly had nudity in public, mainstream porno theaters, kung fu

& yakuza & samurai & Black Exploitation & Italian Western movies

flooded the screens & altered our consciousness. 

Which transitioned into the 70’s-80’s where mass murderers ran up

phenomenal box office bucks & spawned new horror series that soon

aped the success of the old monsters, the Frankenstein, Dracula, Mummy

films of the past--new characters that were blood thirsty & inexorable, with

names like Michael Myers, Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorheas, Chucky,

Pinhead, Leatherface, & Jigsaw--producing sequel after sequel, clones &

contrived extensions of their personas, where the killers favored cutting

tools like knives, machetes, axes, hatchets, cleavers, & saws. 

The horror eggheads broke down our attraction to, & the popularity of this

genre, & found solid psychological & homo-erotic tendencies to be the culprits;

Catharsis: Where we can find an expression or a release or a confrontation of

many of our primal fears regarding bodily injury, being devoured or buried 

alive, or even from personal, vocational, political, or social fears.

Recreation: Within action splatter slasher horror films we actually can 

experience a physical thrill, something visceral, like a carnival roller 

coaster ride, or driving on bald tires at 130 m.p.h, rock climbing, or keeping 

a python as a pet. 

Displacement: This is the primary one for me, understanding that

audience member's sexual desires can be displaced onto the 

characters in the film--why cops get fired for looking at porn in

their squad cars, why 12 year old kids can watch porn in public

libraries, & their right to do so is protected by law. 

Ever notice that after driving over 100 m.p.h. for a few minutes,

one loses the sense of speed, gets used to it quickly & becomes

desensitized to the actual danger? The same can be said for the

die-hard fans of horror torture porn, where a constant exposure to

explicit violence juxtaposed with explicit sexual scenes seems to

blunt our emotional response to both violence in films, video games,

& even reality--leaving us less disturbed by reoccurring scenes of extreme

violence & degradation directed at women. The Armed Services love

recruiting young gamers, since their reflexes & mental states are

primed & conditioned to be functional within the techno-warfare

they are consumed with. 

Misogynistic

imagery does fuel intense

hormonal responses. 

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over on dVerse Poets MTB

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