Historical

Psycho 

Background info

(from IMDB)

• Janet Leigh received threatening letters after the film's release, detailing what they would like to do to Marion Crane. One was so grotesque she passed it on to the FBI. The culprits were discovered, and the FBI said she should notify them again if she ever received anymore letters

• Psycho (1960) has been rated and re-rated over the years. From PG, to PG-13 and 15.

• According to biographers, Alfred Hitchcock himself had a troubled relationship with his own domineering mother who, like Mrs. Bates, forced him to stand at the foot of her bed and tell her everything that had happened to him, although the real relationship was not as disturbed as that seen in the movie.

• After the film's release Alfred Hitchcock received an angry letter from the father of a girl who refused to have a bath after seeing Diabolique (1955) and now refused to shower after seeing this film. Hitchcock sent a note back simply saying, "Send her to the dry cleaners."

• cheaper to record in black and white, The blood was Bosco chocolate syrup. Alfred Hitchcock also thought the film may be quiet gory in colour. (even though in today's society it would be seen as having a lack of violence and gore that modern day horrors have)

• The film's most graphic depiction of violence occurs relatively early, in which a woman is suddenly stabbed to death with a butcher knife while showering. It is a fairly brutal murder sequence wherein the unknown intruder enters the bathroom and delivers multiple blows to the victim, who screams, unable to shield her body. The scene only suggests nudity, and no wounds are explicitly seen; however the weapon audibly penetrates her body and we see blood. The girl finally collapses onto the floor, her dying gaze fixated on the audience, and we witness the aftermath of the murder in real time: the wiping up of blood, the removal and dumping of the body, etc. The abruptness of the scene subsequently leaves the audience with a lingering feeling of dread.
• Later on, a man ascends a flight of stairs only to be stabbed once he reaches the top. We see blood splatter across his face and he tumbles backward, landing on the floor, his assailant following to finish the act. The scene quickly fades as the killer raises and lowers the knife again while the man screams.

Ratings history:
Originally released Approved (Certificate #19564) by the MPAA in 1960.

Submitted for re-release in 1968 and rated M (Suggested for mature audiences).

Re-submitted in 1984 and classified R (Persons under 17 require accompanying parent or adult guardian). Rating remains current but is disputed as being invalid.

Suggested updated rating with descriptor: PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned: Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13) for Suspense and frightening moments, Brief sensuality and partial nudity, Some bloody violence and Thematic elements.

The most famous and shocking/scariest scene was known as the shower scene which occurs quiet early on in the film. The scene shows a young blonde woman taking a shower (no nudity is shown but there is some debate of a pair of naked breasts being seen when the character reaches for the shower curtain after being stabbed) behind the character through the frosted looking shower curtain is a mysterious character entering into the bathroom quietly (their identity being hidden from the director manipulating the lighting which creates an enigma) and the character then opens the curtains and stabs the female as she showers. This scene shows several quick straight cuts with only two showing the body and knife coming in contact, however, the speed of the shots are too fast to take in all the action that occurs.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/parentalguide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VP5jEAP3K4

AClockwork Orange (Rape scene)

In modern day cinema, A Clockwork Orange would be classified as 'Torture Porn Horror' as it is a film that that follows a group of roguish juvenile delinquents who create havoc wherever they go. They do home invasions, kill people, cripple men and women as well as injury each other. For example, one scene involves a home invasion into a womans house who just called the police to report a possible assault. The woman is then not shown being beaten with an art sculpture, after having a struggled attempt at escaping, but it does show the art sculpture is violently and quickly lifted above her and bought down to her face as she lays on the ground unable to move due to the male assailant being on top of her. After this the assailant runs out the house to his mates who then whack a glass milk bottle over his head. The thing that makes this disturbing is that they attack people and each other for no reason at all. The film therefore spawned the term "ultra violence" http://whatculture.com/film/10-film-scenes-of-astounding-ultra-violence.php/10 as it wasn't the common level of horror at the time (similar to what the human centipede is going through at the moment).

Even though they have all this violence one of the most famous scenes which makes the other scenes seem insignificant is when the gang steal a car and drive to a house pretending to be in need of help and in need of a telephone to report an accident. The group then, when let in, run around the house laughing and jumping around taking a female and male hostage, the male is kicked in the face and beaten as well as being tied up and forced to watch helplessly as the main character Alex destroys the house and sings "Singing in the rain" while doing so. Alex then slowly groupe the male hostages wife and cuts parts of her clothing and rips it off revealing her nude body parts, Alex then quickly undoes his trousers and sings a last note to the male hostage before performing a sex act on his wife while he watches. While the audience is unable to see Alex rape the woman they are disturbed by "the amount of sadistic glee Alex gets from it. He is positively revelling in the rape of a woman and singing while he degrades a woman is not only an act of ultra violence but also an act of complete and utter debasement." http://whatculture.com/film/10-film-scenes-of-astounding-ultra-violence.php/10

 

Essay Plan

1. Introduction - A brief description of my independent study and a discussion based on representation, stereotypes and moral panics

Hypothesis: The media is becoming more and more violent even though there are certain regulations preventing some levels of violent. We as a society are becoming desensitised which leads to a ease of the regulations and less moral panic until another film tries to push the boundaries.

I will be investigating if the media has become increasingly violent, especially with the rise of torture porn horror sub genre. Torture porn horror (also known as Gorno) is extreme sexualised violence especially to women.

2. Why is there a rise in torture porn horror such as saw and the human centipede? 

According to Director of 'Hostel', Eli Roth, during a FOX News interview, stated that extreme violence and horror is around and growing because "in times of terror people want to be terrified but in a safe environment" he gives examples of hurricane katrina and the war in Iraq, people are scared and want to scream and let out all their fear and emotion but in a safe environment where the fear is short lived, they want to feel escapism from reality and be entertained at the same time which is what horror films provide. However, there is the possibility that certain audiences feel desensitised from current horror films. Tom Six, Director of 'The Human Centipede', told newspapers and interviewers that "Spanish audiences often found the film funny, and laughed throughout screenings.". Eli Roth did talk about society being scared of wars but we as a society have seen two world wars, have seen documentaries about torture, and have even survived through several natural disasters. Therefore it's possible we need films to push the boundaries to entertain us and that is what created torture porn as it did push the boundaries and did shock those who were desensitised and did end up providing entertainment for them and in a sense has rejuvenated a possible dying horror as I do agree with Tom Six as he tweeted "Attention all script writers: a villain wearing a mask on a killing spree is fucking unoriginal and stupid. Kisses on all your pink parts" 

3. Media representations in torture porn horror and does it reinforce stereotypes

Within torture porn the typical representation is sexualisation of women. stereotypically the protagonist, such as the females in 'The Human Centipede' or victims such as the many women throughout the 'saw' franchise e.g. the infamous Amanda (who escaped Jigsaw trap and became an accomplice) or Dina (the first victim in 'Saw3D'. The women, stereotypically, in torture porn films are young 'girly girls' with make-up or girly clothing e.g. Dina wore a pink crop top and bra and wore mascara (like the victims in the human centipede) and had her hair tied up in a stereotypical schoolgirl pigtails, this particular female was also an asian female which links to the stereotypical and perverted idea of asian schoolgirls being the sexual fantasy of many males, this is possibly the deliberate representation of the female to ensure it draws in a male audience, as research shows that males receive a greater amount of pleasure from sexualised females being victims of violence. Females are also stereotypically shown in longer death scenes or go through torture more slowly and shown more graphically an example of this would be in the film 'grotesque (2009)' the scene where a male and female are both strapped to a table while a man chainsaws through their fingers is shown more during the females torture than the males and is done more slowly to the female. Another example isn't exactly in a torture porn horror film but a conventional horror film called "Mirrors" One scene had a female taking a bath with some obvious body parts being shown, it then shows that her reflection in the mirror is still there as she takes her bath and slowly her reflection kills her by stretching open her own jaw  slowly ripping the jaw off, at the same time the female victim in the bath is struggling to get out and ends up in a blood bath with her ripped jaw.  

4. Do the media representations in torture porn wish to allow audiences to be entertain and escape?

Torture porn horror rejuvenates the horror genre and brings back some of the desensitised audiences as it provides a new sense of entertainment. Torture porn horror tends to have very unique narratives and gruesome death scenes to provide entertainment for audiences and through the narrative audiences tend to be scared at the same time and escape into the film and feel sutured into scenes where they feel as if they are in as bad of a position as the victims of the film and therefore end up screaming and looking away.

5. Audience theories and how does the violence affect the audience?

Bobo doll/copy cat theory, Audiences of unstable minds or of young age could end up mimicking the actions portrayed on screen and end up performing some of the violence to their friends, family or even members of the public.

Gerbner (2002) sees a cause-effect relationship between screen violence and real-life violence.

Some feminist sociologists, e.g. Dworkin (1988) and Morgan (1980) have suggested that there is a strong relationship between the consumption of pornography and sexual crime.

The hypodermic needle, The model suggests that children and teenagers are vulnerable to media content because they are still in the early stages of socialisation and therefore very impressionable and therefore may find some violence seen on TV and in films as appropriate.

McCabe and Martin (2005) concluded that media violence has a disinhibition effect – it convinces children that in some social situations, the ‘normal’ rules that govern conflict and difference can be suspended, i.e. discussion and negotiation can be replaced with violence with no repercussions.

Newson argued that sadistic images in films were too easily available and that films encouraged viewers to identify with violent perpetrators rather than victims. Furthermore, Newson noted that children and teenagers are subjected to thousands of killings and acts of violence as they grow up through viewing television and films. Newson suggested that such prolonged exposure to media violence may have a drip-drip effect on young people over the course of their childhood and result in their becoming desensitised to violence. Newson argues that they see violence as a normal problem-solving device and concluded that, because of this, the latest generation of young people subscribe to weaker moral codes and are more likely to behave in anti-social ways than previous generations.

Fesbach and Sanger (1971) found that screen violence can actually provide a safe outlet for people’s aggressive tendencies. This is known as catharsis. They suggest that watching an exciting film releases aggressive energy into safe outlets as the viewers immerse themselves in the action.

Young (1981), argues that seeing the effects of violence and especially the pain and suffering that it causes to the victim and their families, may make us more aware of its consequences and so less inclined to commit violent acts. Sensitisation to certain crimes therefore may make people more aware and responsible so that they avoid getting involved in violence.

In his selective filter model, Klapper (1960) suggests that, for a media message to have any effect, it must pass through three filters.

Selective exposure – the audience must choose to view, read or listen to the content of specific media. Media messages can have no effect if no one sees or hears them. However, what the audience chooses depends upon their interests, education, work commitments and so on.

Selective perception – the audience may not accept the message; some people may take notice of some media content, but decide to reject or ignore others.

Selective retention – the messages have to ‘stick’ in the mind of those who have accessed the media content. However, research indicates that most people have a tendency to remember only the things they broadly agree with.

Moral panic is possibly created from films that express graphic violence like the genre torture porn horror does, it would create anxiety and fear amonst the public.

6. Increase of violence in society? violence towards women?

Prosecutions and convictions for crimes of violence against women and girls have risen by 15,000 over four years. The figures come from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which covers England and Wales. This figure was produced in 2012 which does suggest that due to the rise in violence in films and the rise of torture porn horror that there are more and more crimes occurring against women. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18949533

Fesbach and Sanger (1971) found that screen violence can actually provide a safe outlet for people’s aggressive tendencies. This is known as catharsis. They suggest that watching an exciting film releases aggressive energy into safe outlets as the viewers immerse themselves in the action. Which therefore could link to Young (1981), who argues that seeing the effects of violence and especially the pain and suffering that it causes to the victim and their families, may make us more aware of its consequences and so less inclined to commit violent acts. Sensitisation to certain crimes therefore may make people more aware and responsible so that they avoid getting involved in violence.

7.  How much change has there been of violence within the media? - I will compare my historical texts to my contemporary texts as well as link SHEP to this

More rules and regulations, BBFC had to tighten its policy recently due to 'The Human Centipede', cuts are also now needed for certain films to be allowed to be shown to an audience e.g. the Human Centipede 2 had to have 32 cuts to it before it was unbanned from the U.K. David Cameron is also promoting an idea to internet service providers (ISPs) to ban explicit content online or have an adult call in to the ISPs to unblock certain content. 

8. Conclusion - A summary of my key points linking them back to the title of my independent study and talk about a general overview of positives and negatives.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120827130728.htm

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbushman/02AB2.PDF

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6975563/Quentin-Tarantino-violence-is-the-best-way-to-control-an-audience.html

Works Cited

Aston, James, and John Walliss. To see the Saw movies essays on torture porn and post-9/11 horror. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2013. Print.

Attwood, Feona, and Clarissa Smith. "Extreme Concern: Regulating ‘Dangerous Pictures’ In The United Kingdom." Journal of Law and Society 37.1 (2010): 171-188. Print.

"Banned horror film gets 18 rating after cuts." BBC News. BBC, 10 June 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15203870>.

Brown, Todd. "THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE: FULL SEQUENCE Banned Outright By The BBFC." Twitch. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://twitchfilm.com/2011/06/the-human-centipede-full-sequence-banned-outright-by-the-bbfc.html>.

Cashmore, Pete. "Will this new movie kill off torture porn for good?." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 28 Aug. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/aug/28/torture-porn-frightfest-quiz>.

Cochrane, Kira. "For your entertainment." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 1 May 2007. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/may/01/gender.world>.

Cochrane, Kira. "Is there a link between 'torture porn' and real sexual violence?." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 3 May 2007. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/may/03/letters.news>.

Ditum, Sarah. "Why The Human Centipede II bugs me." theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 7 June 2011. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/07/human-centipede-ii-horror-porn>.

Jones, Steve. Torture Porn Popular Horror after Saw.. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Print.

Lockwood, Dean. "All Stripped Down: The Spectacle Of “Torture Pornâ€." Popular Communication 7.1 (2009): 40-48. Print.

Murray, Gabriella. "JUMP CUTA  REVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY MEDIA." torture-porn text version. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc50.2008/TortureHostel2/text.html>.

Oliver, M. B.. "Adolescents' Enjoyment Of Graphic Horror: Effects Of Viewers' Attitudes And Portrayals Of Victim." Communication Research 20.1 (1993): 30-50. http://crx.sagepub.com/content/20/1/30.short. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Signorielli, Nancy. Violence in the media: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2005. Print.

Smith, Clarissa. "Pornographication: A Discourse For All Seasons." International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 6.1 (2010): 103-108. Print.

"The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009)." The Human Centipede (First Sequence). N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/human_centipede/>.

"The Human Centipede -  IFC Entertainment." NextGEN Gallery RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/human-centipede>.

Tookey, Christopher. "'One of the most repellent movies I have ever seen': Film critic Christopher Tookey on a worrying trend fuelled by lily-livered censors." Mail Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2246161/Human-Centipede-2-One-repellent-movies-I-seen-says-Christopher-Tookey.html>.

Tunzelmann, Alex. "Zero Dark Thirty's torture scenes are controversial and historically dubious." theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jan/25/zero-dark-thirty-reel-history>.

"UK film censor to get tougher with 'torture porn' movies." The Week UK. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.theweek.co.uk/film/50537/uk-film-censor-get-tougher-torture-porn-movies>.

ebert, Roger. "The Human Centipede." All Content. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-human-centipede-2010>.

MLA formatting by BibMe.org.

Textual analysis: SAW 3D - The Final Chapter (The public execution) and The Human Centipede (excrement scene)

The scene starts off with suspensive non-diegetic orchestral and string music which is heavily common within SAW and many other horror films (including the torture porn horror sub-genre) The camera slowly pans right and tilts down from towering New York sky scrapers which helps set the scene's location. Diegetic sounds of cars driving around honking their horns are heard alongside sped up movement of the camera's pan and tilt which occurs twice. Then revealed is the trap set up by the main character/protagonist who is seen as an anti-hero but in actual fact is a hero in Propp's character roles as he is allowing those who have done wrong to earn their lives back, otherwise justice will unfold. This trap contains two males who are shown tied up to a board with three chainsaws, (one pointing to each male and one pointing up to the ceiling where currently a black cloth is at). This box and the tied up males attracts many passer-by's from several different age groups and ethnicities. 

The younger male characters who are attracted to the box are interested and intrigued and look more excited than worried. The females and older men look more worried and scared. The two males within the box then awake to find themselves confused and strapped in and unable to escape. The woman seem to be more worried and scared than anyone else who is viewing from outside the box, one of which realises that the two male characters are in need of help, another female then quickly calls for help using her mobile phone. The male characters scream for help and at that point the black cloth on the ceiling is pulled away, revealing a young female chained up and strapped onto a board.

The female character is an asian girl dressed in stereotypical girl colours (mainly pink) She also seems to be wearing some mascara and make up to make her look more appealing and more like a stereotypical girly girl. The top the female character is wearing is quite small and therefore reveals her stomach area,  her top also reveals part of her pink bra. Usually in horror films the female character who would die would be a stereotypical white dumb blonde who has to have everything pink and has flawless skin with just a bit of makeup to place emphasis on her beauty. Kevin Greuter, the director of saw 3D, had chosen a young female asian to attract male viewers/audiences as a young asian girl is seen as a stereotypical fantasy for males. The short top and revealing bra along with the strap which is placed around her chest to enhance sexual attracts from males towards the female and making the girl seem like a girly girl by the use of pink makes the female character seem innocent and is pleasing to the eyes of males as it would increase their sexual desires and satisfy their needs. 

A high angle camera shot is shown from possibly the female characters perspective. It shows the action and then the reaction, the audience is viewing what is going on (the female hanging up high strapped onto a board) and then is shown the reaction of the other characters/the extras. At this moment in the clip, most females look horrified and scared while males look shocked but interested. It seems as it is only the females who are willing to help (calling the cops, trying to break the window with a briefcase) while everyone else just stands back and watches. It's as if it's a show, everyone is intrigued and gathered around to watch but nobody is helping. It's as if it's a representation of torture porn in reality, most women are stereotypically disgusted and outraged by sexualised violence against women while stereotypically males are more entertained and feel a sense of escapism from viewing such violence (which links to blumber and katz uses and gratifications). Within the clip we even see more and more people using their phones to record and take pictures of the event unfold instead of doing something to help. Most people with their phones out recording are males while those calling are females.

When the blades of the chainsaw start spinning you can hear dietetic sounds of female screams and the camera is placed next to two horrified females to mainly show their reactions. At 3:42mins into the clip we can see one male being cut by the chainsaw, behind that male on the outside of the box is another male who reaction to this is to cheer which is also heard along with the diegetic sound of the chainsaw as it cuts the male. This is shown again as he hops around excited in the back at 3:50mins into the clip.

Just before the female character is chainsawed in half we see an agreement between the two males to kill her instead of killing each other and at that moment a rush of police officers finally occur, which is obviously too late as a stereotypical narrative within horror, the police officers are all shown as males who are again also like the other males unable to do anything to stop this from occurring. Majority of the time a females death within horror is similar to this, females tend to have longer and more painful as well as more revealing in gruesome guts spewing out than male death scenes. The female is cut open and blood spatters all over the faces of the main character's doll representation "Jigsaw" and the two males as well as the glass barrier between the the people outside to the people inside. The females guts and intestine fall out to the floor. At the same time as the chaos occurs within the box, outside the box chaos occurs as the police try to hold back people from the box. The fact that the blood from the female hits the glass, the two males and the "Jigsaw" doll could connote that the blood is on all their hands, the people outside the box couldn't and didn't do anything and the males inside the box killed the female while Jigsaw was the one who had set up the trap in the first place.

This scene from the Human Centipede was seen as the most disturbing scene of the whole film as it not only shows the struggle of the characters as they have to adapt to their new stitched together centipede like body but also shows how they must survive through the consumption of excrement. The head of the centipede feeds the second part of the body and the second feeds the third part of the body.

The location and camera angles used emphasises the isolation and the struggle and difficulty the three protagonist have from a chance of survival and escape. The male at the front of the body seems much more adapted and finds it easier to move around than the females, the male also has more freedom than the females, the male is able talk, eat food rather than excrement and isn't stitched to the anus of another human being. The females are seen as stereotypical victims within torture porn, they are deliberately placed in the two worst places in the centipede, the middle and end as they both suffer from less freedom and have to eat excrement to survive. The females upper body is revealed and have their hair tied up, this is to reveal not only their body parts but also to reveal the poor stitching on their mouths to show their pain visually. The females who stereotypically are known as being incredibly talkative are in  this situation where their ability to talk has been taken away from them. The moans, the bits of flesh being shown and the scars from the poor stitching as well as the difficulty to adapt to being parts of a human centipede all are elements of torture porn which are stereotypically used to attract males as it is sexually pleasing for them to view females to be represented in a dehumanising way.

Media Magazines

NOTE: This is just 5 media magazines that were from the online site, I couldn't find more than this. I've also previously looked at the media magazine print copy which brings my total quotes from media magazines to around about 9 instead of just these 5 alone

You think you know the story ... icons of horror in The Cabin in the Woods 
MediaMagazine 41 September 2012 Images and Icons, Horror

The horror audience’s ‘need’ for sacrifice

The Cabin In The Woods very cleverly explores ideas about the audiences for genres such as horror. The narrative sets up the idea that an ancient power dwells in the bowels of the Earth, that can only be appeased by an offering of pain and blood. A U.S. corporation must successfully complete the sacrifice, which must conclude with the death of a virgin after the brutal killing/sacrifice of four other people by supernatural forces. As long as this ritual is maintained, the ancient power maintains its slumber, thus allowing humanity to continue. In the film, this sacrifice, using the icons of horror, is represented as a requirement of the ancient gods; but director Joss Whedon makes a powerful link with the need for a virtual sacrifice in a horror ‘film’ to appease our ancient, primal needs as audience.

The film could be saying something about filmmaking itself; the three layers of The Corporation’s base could represent the three levels of filmmaking:

•            The college friends in the cabin are the actors, playing out a scenario.
•            The Corporation agents in the bunker are the behind-the-scenes crew – directors and producers – inventing that scenario.
•            The ancient evils below are we, the audience, enjoying it, needing it.

The ancient power is represented, in Greek mythology, by the Titans, the parents of the ancient Greek gods. According to myth, the Kraken, a Titan, could only be appeased by the blood of Andromeda, the virgin princess. The implication, in the film’s narrative, is that we, the audience, need the catharsis of virtual violence to satisfy our natural need for real violence. We desire horror, the film suggests, to satisfy the ‘beast below’.

The film confronts issues of effects theories and the desensitisation of audiences. A female Corporation technician, Wendy, is speaking to a security guard, attempting to ease his discomfort with the horrors of his job; she argues that you ‘get used to’ the horrendous aspects of their sacrificial task. ‘Should you?’ he replies, almost to us, the audience. The Corporation staff, like us, the audience, are watching and enjoying the action, even represented as eating popcorn and drinking coke at one point, as they enjoy the obligatory generic horror sex scene.

MediaMagazine 35, February 2011: the ‘Culture’ issue

The horror genre is one of the media’s most successful genres. Since Le Manoir du Diable (Méliès, 1896), stories that aim to scare their audience have proved immensely popular. Daniel Cohen observes that:
cultures create and ascribe meaning to monsters, endowing them with characteristics derived from their most deep-seated fears and taboos

An analysis of horror monsters in the light of their cultural contexts can, therefore, give an insight into the anxieties and concerns of the contemporary culture. Of course, not all people have the same worries at any given time, but it is possible to identify general cultural and contextual trends through the monsters created for horror texts.

MediaMagazine 38, December 2011: the ‘Politics’ issue

Women have often been represented within the Horror film as weak characters whose purpose is to be menaced by the monstrous threat, only to be saved by the masculine hero. While such gender stereotyping was rife within the genre, in the late 1970’s American horror cinema underwent a profound change as directors such as George A. Romero, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and John Carpenter all responded to the politics of the time – the Vietnam War, race riots, civil unrest and the growing Feminist movement – and incorporated them into their horror films. Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Last House on the Left (1972), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1974) were all preoccupied with ‘the horrors at home’ and slowly begin to reposition the female within the genre: no longer weak and unable to defend themselves, these ‘new women’ of horror would not only protect themselves but actively seek out the threat and destroy it.

MediaMagazine 1, September 2002

Here are the four key assumptions that underpin the tradition of concern about the effects of media violence:

1. ‘Violence’ is a unit of meaning that can be abstracted from occasions and modes of occurrence, and measured – with the correspondent assumption that the more violence there is, the greater its potential for influence.

2. There is a mechanism, usually called ‘identification’, which makes viewers of ‘violence’ vulnerable to it – such that it thereby becomes a ‘message’ by which they are invaded and persuaded.

3. The task of media researchers is to identify those who are especially ‘vulnerable’ to the influence of these ‘messages’.

4. All these can be done on the presumption that such messages are ‘harmful’, because ‘violence’ is intrinsically anti-social.

All four of these assumptions are superficially persuasive, yet they do not stand up to any serious scrutiny. I could easily spend this entire article showing how absurd and unsubstantiated these four premises are, but that is not where I want to go. Nor do I want to go in the related direction of asking the question: ‘why on earth haven’t people noticed how silly and unsupported these premises are?’ To be provocative, let me say only that if we were to do so, it would lead inexorably to the conclusion that the ‘violence/effects’ argument has much the same status for modern society that accusations of witchcraft had in the thirteenth century.

MediaMagazine 12, April 2005

First of all, the enjoyment gained from witnessing violence is by no means a new phenomenon. Forget the nostalgic ‘It’s not what it used to be’ claims; if anyone ever tries to tell you that today’s generation are any more anarchic and violent than yesterday’s, you should give them a good kickin’.

But seriously, let’s get some perspective. It’s true that the rapid development of the cinema and other media technologies in the last hundred years has given rise to a previously unimaginable array of ways to view violence; but let’s not forget that any violence witnessed before our cinematic age was, excluding the theatre, very real and undoubtedly very violent. However, despite how horrific these gladiator tournaments, public executions and bare-knuckle boxing matches may have been, it may still be harmful in today’s climate to be surrounded by cinematic death and destruction. In fact, some may argue that the flippancy and quantity with which this ‘fake’ violence is manufactured may be creating a dangerously casual and deluded attitude towards suffering.

Google Scholar

A study was conducted to examine the roles that adolescents' attitudes about sexuality and punishment play in their enjoyment of R-rated “slasher films.”

"punitive attitudes toward sexuality were associated with greater overall enjoyment of the previews, and punitiveness was associated with greater enjoyment of the previews featuring sexuality. For male subjects, more traditional attitudes about females' sexuality were associated with greater enjoyment of previews featuring female victims." http://crx.sagepub.com/content/20/1/30.short This quote is about a study which was conducted to examine the roles that adolescents' attitudes about sexuality and punishment play in their enjoyment of R-Rated "slasher films". This links to my critical investigation as it states that the study revealed that males felt greater enjoyment and punitiveness (Punitiveness: Inflicting or the aim to inflicting punishment) from the previews featuring traditional attitudes about females' sexuality and female victims.

(Eli) "Roth commented that teenagers who were 10 when 9/11 happened are now 16 or 17. They have “grown up being told you are going to get blown-up. Terror Alert Orange… They want something to scream at” that is as shocking as the events of their lives" http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc50.2008/TortureHostel2/text.html This links to my critical investigation as it shows that the director of Hostel, Eli Roth, believes that there is a need for films similar to his, that there is a need for horror and torture porn as it allows teenagers to express their feelings and scream as much as they want and get all of their fear out of them in a safe and comfortable environment. The films therefore provides escapism and entertainment for audiences.

"A quantitative content analysis was conducted to examine the extent to which gender differences are evident in the association between character survival and engagement in sexual activities... Results indicated that sexual female characters were less likely to survive and had significantly longer death scenes as compared to those female characters who did not engage in sexual behaviors". http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/43/art%253A10.1007%252Fs11199-010-9762-x.pdf?auth66=1384955945_e5004eff7ecaa6921a5d644819ef8950&ext=.pdf This study states that females who have sexual intentions/behaviours in horror films are less likely to survive and have longer death scenes which links to torture porn horror as it means has sexualised violence to women.

"Recently the U.K. enacted prohibitions on the possession of extreme pornography with the passage of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act of 2008. The law targets the possessor of material that is both violent and pornographic... In January 2012, the chorus was singing of the death of the Obscene Publications Act after a jury acquitted a defendant of charges of distributing DVDs allegedly in violation of the Act." http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/mujlt6&div=23&id=&page= This talks about an Act that was in place to prevent the distribution and possession of extreme pornography. Torture porn may have ended up falling into this category.

The Human Centipede II was officially branded as offensive when the BBFC rejected it for classification. The critical press have predominantly supported the BBFC’s assessment, proposing that the series only and flagrantly aims to disgust audiences. http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:72QEEmwfTkYJ:scholar.google.com/+"human+centipede"&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:72QEEmwfTkYJ:scholar.google.com/+"human+centipede"&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5 This quote is about how 'The Critical Press' and 'BBFC' both find that the Human Centipede only aim is to disgust audiences, not to entertain or educated etc,


In order to justify The Human Centipede II’s suppression, the film has been characterised as "harmful”. For instance, Tookey has sought to demonstrate that The Human Centipede II is socially damaging. In his attempts to avoid making direct “media effects” statements, Tookey relies on spurious coincidental juxtapositions to establish “harm”. His observation that ‘[o]n the same day as Mr Tabak was found guilty of Jo Yeates’s murder, I was exposed to the latest work by another Dutchman[: The Human Centipede II]’ implies causal connection, as do the linked questions that close Tookey’s article:

Do films like this help to brutalise some of those who see them? Of course…

Do we all have to live with the social and criminal consequences of these films? Yes.

And will there be more innocent victims like Joanna Yeates?
It seems to me that the answer is dismayingly obvious.9
More ‘dismayingly obvious’ than the implied linkages made between ‘these films’ and ‘criminal consequences’ is the fact that Yeates’ murder cannot be directly connected to The Human Centipede II, because The Human Centipede II was released after Yeates’ death. http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:72QEEmwfTkYJ:scholar.google.com/+"human+centipede"&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5http://scholar.googleusercontent.com/scholar?q=cache:72QEEmwfTkYJ:scholar.google.com/+"human+centipede"&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5

NEARLY ALL HOMES IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM HAVE TELEVISION SETS, WITH THE AVERAGE FAMILY IN THE UNITED STATES WATCHING ABOUT 40 HOURS EACH WEEK. THIS INCREASE IN TELEVISION VIEWING HAS BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY ESCALATING SCENES OF VIOLENCE AND SEX IN ALL TYPES OF MEDIA, INCREASED AVAILABILITY OF PORNOGRAPHY, AND ADVANCEMENTS IN SEX EDUCATION. NUMEROUS OBSERVERS HAVE BLAMED THESE FACTORS FOR THE DRAMATIC GROWTH IN THE CRIME RATE IN WESTERN COUNTRIES, PARTICULARLY IN REGARD TO SEX CRIMES... FINDINGS INDICATE THAT AGGRESSIVE ACTS CAN BE EVOKED BY THE VIEWING OF VIOLENT SCENES PORTRAYED ON FILM, TELEVISION, OR IN THE THEATER. THERE IS AMPLE EVIDENCE THAT MEDIA VIOLENCE INCREASES VIEWER AGGRESSION AND MAY ALSO INCREASE VIEWER SEXUAL AROUSAL. https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=58549

 Subjects were not aware that there was any relationship between this survey and the viewing of the movies. The results indicated that exposure to the films portraying violent sexuality increased male subjects' acceptance of interpersonal violence against women. A similar nonsignificant trend was found on acceptance of rape myths. For females, there were nonsignificant tendencies in the opposite direction, with women exposed to the violent-sexual films tending to be less accepting of interpersonal violence and of rape myths than control subjects. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0092656681900404 

Exposure to media violence significantly enhanced viewers' aggressive behavior when the findings were aggregated across studies, but the effect was not uniform across investigations. Only suggestive evidence was obtained concerning moderators of the effect: Marginally stronger relations were obtained in those studies using a cross-section of the normal population of children (vs emotionally disturbed children) and in those studies conducted in laboratory settings (vs other contexts). http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/bul/109/3/371/

This research shows an association between watching a lot of TV and aggression. You then appear to suggest that this supports the theory that watching TV causes violence.

It seems more likely to me that more time spent watching TV means less time for social activities and it is this which causes aggression. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/295/5564/2377.short/reply#sci_el_426

Self Evaluation

WWW: 

• - My research is detailed
   
• - Contains a wide range of analysis/notes and quotes
  
• - Summer research of 'the human centipede' was done with deep analysis of the film's background and effect
  
•  - Key terminology and theories are included in the investigation 

EBI: 

• - Find wider range of theories to include (at the moment most common theory shown and talked about it the copy cat theory which is similar to the Bobo Doll experiment)
  
• - Look at some more specific examples other than just the human centipede, possibly look more at 'saw' and one other example
  
• - Deeper analysis on notes and quotes
  
• - More specific links and texts from notes and quotes with critical investigation
  
• - Look at both sides of the argument, at the moment research is mainly focused on the negative side of 'Torture Porn' and the 'Horror' genre in general.

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Traditionally women are represented in horror films as the damsel in distress and are usually being attacked by the killer because they have committed a sinful act. This idea is supported by the website “bellaonline.com” as they say that “Horror films, and the slasher sub-genre  are famous for portraying women as hyper-sexual damsels in distress who are usually murdered within the first five minutes as punishment for their indiscretions…”.The stereotype of the dumb blonde is supported by the book “Studying the media an introduction” by Tim O’Sullivan and co say that “the dumb blonde stereotype might include: blondness, seductive body language, strong make-up - page 129. This is supported in “Scream” by the character Tatum Riley who gets killed in the most stereotypical way. http://screampsychohorror.wordpress.com/representation-of-women-in-horror-films/ and bellaonline.com

“All they want to see is demented madmen running around in ski masks hacking up young virgins.” - Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), ‘Fright Night’  These movies show heavy symbolism, especially in the portrayal of women and femininity, through images of sexual intercourse, fear of castration, and the strength of females. Horror films, and the slasher subgenre, are famous for portraying women as hypersexual damsels in distress who are usually murdered within the first five minutes as punishment for their indiscretions in such films as ‘Friday the 13th’ and ‘Halloween.’ They are also portrayed as antagonists, which can be seen as a reflection of men’s pathological fear of women, their power, and menstruation, resulting in castration anxiety. Horror is a genre that rarely features women in a non-exploitative way, even with modern movies such as the new ‘Friday the 13th’ being extremely sexist http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37257.asp

Torture has been persistent for centuries, but that the medieval church should have used it remains a striking scandal to the present day. There are authors who try to diminish the horror, claiming that the number of victims in the Inquisitions has been exaggerated. http://www.equip.org/articles/torture-terror-and-theology/

(A large amount of theories linking to my critical investigation below)

• Gerbner (2002) sees a cause-effect relationship between screen violence and real-life violence.
• Some feminist sociologists, e.g. Dworkin (1988) and Morgan (1980) have suggested that there is a strong relationship between the consumption of pornography and sexual crime.
• The hypodermic model of media violence
  The hypodermic syringe approach to media effects believes that a direct correlation exists between the violence and anti-social behaviour portrayed in films, on television, in computer games, in rap lyrics, etc. and violence and antisocial behaviour such as drug use and teenage gun/knife crime found in real life. The model suggests that children and teenagers are vulnerable to media content because they are still in the early stages of socialisation and therefore very impressionable.
  Believers in this hypodermic syringe model (also known as the ‘magic bullet’ theory) point to a number of films which they claim have resulted in young people using extreme violence.
  Imitation or copycat violence
  Early studies of the relationship between the media and violence focused on conducting experiments in laboratories, e.g. Bandura et al. (1963) carried out an experiment on young children which involved exposing them to films and cartoons of a self-righting doll being attacked with a mallet. They concluded on the basis of this experiment that violent media content could lead to imitation or copycat violence.
  McCabe and Martin (2005) concluded that media violence has a disinhibition effect – it convinces children that in some social situations, the ‘normal’ rules that govern conflict and difference can be suspended, i.e. discussion and negotiation can be replaced with violence with no repercussions.
  Desensitisation
  Newson argued that sadistic images in films were too easily available and that films encouraged viewers to identify with violent perpetrators rather than victims. Furthermore, Newson noted that children and teenagers are subjected to thousands of killings and acts of violence as they grow up through viewing television and films. Newson suggested that such prolonged exposure to media violence may have a drip-drip effect on young people over the course of their childhood and result in their becoming desensitised to violence. Newson argues that they see violence as a normal problem-solving device and concluded that, because of this, the latest generation of young people subscribe to weaker moral codes and are more likely to behave in anti-social ways than previous generations.
  Censorship
  Newson’s report led directly to increased censorship of the film industry with the passing of the Video Recordings (Labelling) Act 1985, which resulted in videos and DVDs being given British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) age certificates. The BBFC also came under increasing pressure to censor films released to British cinemas by insisting on the film makers making cuts relating to bad language, scenes of drug use and violence.
  Television too was affected by this climate of censorship. All the television channels agreed on a nine o’clock watershed, i.e. not to show any programmes that used bad language or contained scenes of a sexual or violent nature before this time. Television channels often resorted to issuing warnings before films and even edited out violence themselves or beeped over bad language.
  Critique of the hypodermic syringe model
  A number of critiques have developed of the imitation-desensitisation model of media effects, e.g. some media sociologists claim that media violence can actually prevent real-life violence.
  • Fesbach and Sanger (1971) found that screen violence can actually provide a safe outlet for people’s aggressive tendencies. This is known as catharsis. They suggest that watching an exciting film releases aggressive energy into safe outlets as the viewers immerse themselves in the action.
  • Young (1981), argues that seeing the effects of violence and especially the pain and suffering that it causes to the victim and their families, may make us more aware of its consequences and so less inclined to commit violent acts. Sensitisation to certain crimes therefore may make people more aware and responsible so that they avoid getting involved in violence.
  The methodological critique of the hypodermic syringe model
  Gauntlett (2008) argues that people, especially children, do not behave as naturally under laboratory conditions as they would in their everyday environment, e.g. children’s media habits are generally influenced and controlled by parents, especially when they are very young.
  The media effects model fails to be precise in how ‘violence’ should be defined. There are different types of media violence such as in cartoons, images of war and death on news bulletins and sporting violence. It is unclear whether these different types of violence have the same or different effects upon their audiences or whether different audiences react differently to different types and levels of violence. The effects model has been criticised because it tends to be selective in its approach to media violence, i.e. it only really focuses on particular types of fictional violence.
  The effects model also fails to put violence into context, e.g. it views all violence as wrong, however trivial, and fails to see that audiences interpret it according to narrative context. Research by Morrison suggests that the context in which screen violence occurs affects its impact on the audience.
  Some sociologists believe that children are not as vulnerable as the hypodermic syringe model implies, e.g. research indicates that most children can distinguish between fictional/cartoon violence and real violence from a very early age, and generally know that it should not be imitated. Sociologists are generally very critical of the hypodermic syringe model because it fails to recognise that audiences have very different social characteristics in terms of age, maturity, social class, education, family background, parental controls, etc. These characteristics will influence how people respond to and use media content.
  Cumberbatch (2004) looked at over 3500 research studies into the effects of screen violence, encompassing film, television, video and more recently, computer and video games. He concluded that there is still no conclusive evidence that violence shown in the media influences or changes people’s behaviour.
  The two-step flow model
  Katz and Lazarsfeld (1965) suggest that personal relationships and conversations with significant others, such as family members, friends, teachers and work colleagues, result in people modifying or rejecting media messages. They argue that social networks are usually dominated by opinion leaders, i.e. people of influence whom others in the network look up to and listen to. These people usually have strong ideas about a range of matters. Moreover, these opinion leaders expose themselves to different types of media and form an opinion on their content. These interpretations are then passed on to other members of their social circle. Katz and Lazarsfeld suggest that media messages have to go through two steps or stages.
• The opinion leader is exposed to the media content.
• Those who respect the opinion leader internalise their interpretation of that content.
  
  The selective filter model
• In his selective filter model, Klapper (1960) suggests that, for a media message to have any effect, it must pass through three filters.
  • Selective exposure – the audience must choose to view, read or listen to the content of specific media. Media messages can have no effect if no one sees or hears them. However, what the audience chooses depends upon their interests, education, work commitments and so on.
  • Selective perception – the audience may not accept the message; some people may take notice of some media content, but decide to reject or ignore others.
  • Selective retention – the messages have to ‘stick’ in the mind of those who have accessed the media content. However, research indicates that most people have a tendency to remember only the things they broadly agree with.
  The uses and gratifications model
  Blumler and McQuail (1968) and Lull (1995) see media audiences as active. Their uses and gratifications model suggests that people use the media in order
  to satisfy particular social needs that they have, e.g. Wood (1993) illustrated how teenagers may use horror films to gratify their need for excitement. Blumler and McQuail identify four basic needs which people use the media to satisfy.
  • Diversion – people may immerse themselves in particular types of media to make up for the lack of satisfaction at work or in their daily lives, e.g. women may compensate for the lack of romance in their marriages by reading Mills and Boon romantic novels. Some people even have alternative lives and identities as avatars on websites such as Second Life.
  • Personal relationships – media products such as soap operas may compensate for the decline of community in our lives, e.g. socially isolated elderly people may see soap opera characters as companions they can identify with and worry about in the absence of interaction with family members. Cyber-communities on the Internet may also be seen by users as alternative families.
  • Personal identity – people may use the media to ‘make over’ or to modify their identity. Social networking websites, such as Facebook, allow people to use the media to present their particular identities to the wider world in a way that they can control.
  • Surveillance – people use the media to obtain information and news in order to help them make up their minds on particular issues.
  Marxists are critical of this model because they suggest that social needs may be socially manufactured by the media and may therefore be ‘false needs’.
  The reception analysis model
  The reception analysis model suggests that media content is not passively accepted as truth by audiences. Morley’s (1980) research into how audiences interpreted the content of a well-known 1970s evening news programme called Nationwide examined how the ideological content of the programme (i.e. the messages that were contained in the text and images) were interpreted by 29 groups made up of people from a range of educational and professional backgrounds. Morley found that audiences were very active in their reading of media content and did not automatically accept the media’s perspective on a range of issues. Morley concluded that people choose to read or interpret media content in three ways.
  • The preferred (or dominant) reading accepts the media content as legitimate, e.g. the British people generally approve of the Royal Family, so very few people are likely to interpret stories about them in a critical fashion. This dominant reading is often shared by journalists and editors, and underpins news values.
  • The oppositional reading opposes the views expressed in media content.
  • The negotiated reading whereby the audience reinterpret the media content to fit in with their own opinions and values, e.g. they may not have any strong views on the Royal Family, but enjoy reading about celebrity lives.
  Morley argues that the average person belongs to several sub-cultural groups and this may complicate a person’s reading of media content in the sense that they may not be consistent in their interpretation of it. Reception analysis theory therefore suggests that audiences are not passive, impressionable andhomogeneous. They act in a variety of subcultural ways and, for this reason, media content is polysemic, i.e. it attracts more than one type of reading or interpretation.
  The cultural effects model
  The Marxist cultural effects model sees the media as a very powerful ideological influence that is mainly concerned with transmitting capitalist values and norms. Marxists argue that media content contains strongideological messages that reflect the values of those who own, control and produce the media. They argue that the long-term effect of such media content is that the values of the rich and powerful come to be unconsciously shared by most people – people come to believe in values such as ‘happiness is about possessions and money’, ‘being a celebrity is really important’, etc. Marxists believe that television content, in particular, has been deliberately dumbed down and this has resulted in a decline in serious programmes such as news, documentaries and drama that might make audiences think critically about the state of the world. Consequently, there is little serious debate about the organisation of capitalism and the social inequalities and problems that it generates.
  However, in criticism of the cultural effects model, these ‘cause’ and ‘effects’ are very difficult to operationalise and measure. It also implies that Marxists are the only ones who can see the ‘true’ ideological interpretation of media content, which suggests that most members of society are ‘cultural dopes’.
  The post-modernist model
  Strinati (1995) argues that the media today are the most influential shapers of identity and offer a greater range of consumption choices in terms of identities and lifestyles. Moreover, in the post-modern world, the media transmit the idea that the consumption of signs and symbols for their own sake is more important than the goods they represent. In other words, the media encourages the consumption of logos, designer labels and brands, and these become more important to people’s sense of identity than the physical clothes and goods themselves.
  Other post-modernists have noted that, since 2000, the globalisation of communication has become more intensive and extensive, and this has had great significance for local cultures, in that all consumers of the global media are both citizens of the world and of their locality. Seeing other global experience allows people to think critically about their own place in the world. However, Thompson notes that the interaction between global media and local cultures can also create tensions and hostilities, e.g. the Chinese authorities have attempted to control and limit the contact that the Chinese people have with global media, whilst some Islamic commentators have used global media to convince their local populations of the view that Western culture is decadent and corrupt.
  Moral panics
  Every now and then, the media, particularly the tabloid news media, focus on particular groups and activities and, through the style of their reporting, define these groups and their activities as a problem. This focus creates public anxiety and official censure and control.
  What is a moral panic?
  The term moral panic was popularised by Cohen (1972) in his classic work Folk Devils and Moral Panics. It refers to media reactions to particular social groups and activities that are defined as threatening social consensus. The reporting creates anxiety or moral panic amongst the general population which puts pressure on the authorities to control the problem and discipline the group responsible. However, the media concern is usually out of proportion to any real threat to society posed by the group or activity.
  Both the publicity and social reaction to the panic may create the potential for further crime and deviance in the future. In other words, the social reaction may lead to the amplification of deviance by provoking more of the same behaviour.

all these theories above are from http://revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/effect-media-content-audiences-and-society

Violence in films isn’t being glorified as many would want us to believe. The world itself is a violent place. We have our very own serial killers running around taking life after life. The violence in horror films isn’t new to society, it already exists within society. Violence depicted in films is done to shock us. It would be hard to believe that the viewers would want to commit acts like that themselves. (Allen 2009). http://lamar82.hubpages.com/hub/Effects-of-Violence-In-Horror-Films-Past-and-Present