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.