Oddly enough, I found the most fascinating chapter to be the first: "Serial Killers: Murder Can be Work." Perhaps this is due to my brief foray into Forensic Psychology and having to wear a clip-on tie when spending time in the most agitated ward in a mental facility. But do not miss her discussion of Lovecraft, colonialism, and DW Griffith's Birth of a Nation in the chapter on the undead, in which she examines the social and cultural fears that run like a stygian river deep underneath Lovecraft's mythos.
Serial killers make interesting monsters on screen due to their downright ordinariness. Their outward jejuneness belies an insatiable evil within and that makes them perfect monsters (no makeup needed) that scare us mostly because they take their jobs so seriously and work around the clock to perfect their skills.
Like perfect little corporate entities, they consume the egos around them, and usually a limb or two also, as they become the perfect consumers. Neat, tidy disposal of the bodies; neat, tidy, little fleshy keepsakes zip-locked and tupperwared away in the fridge. They go about their business of death without any moral stirrings or feelings for the damage done. Sound like any US corporations you know?
Within this chilling chapter, Ms. Newitz analyzes and compares the likes of Lucas, Dahmer, and the new age serial killer — the terrorist — against their cinematic equivalents and the economic dynamics that keep them working. Against the backdrop of naturalism and The Red Badge of Courage, to Norman Mailer's obsession with Gilmore, and Karl Marx's belief that "capital is dead labor," this chapter is scintillating.
Along the way, there are numerous references to films and fiction that will percolate the horror-life of any jaded genre fan. But before you go sailing down the Amazon to get a copy, here are a few questions I asked Ms. Newitz regarding her new book.
In Pretend We're Dead, you place capitalism in an important role as a primary influence on horror icons. Let me ask two questions here: Why? And what horror icons do you think would have been created without capitalism's influence?
I chose to focus on capitalism because I kept seeing images and themes in horror movies that dealt with money, professional status, and violence between people from different class backgrounds.
I think the idea of "economic horror" really gelled for me when I was watching the Fredric March version of Jekyll and Hyde from 1931. Here was this guy who was trying to be a good doctor, a professional middle-class doctor, and yet he couldn't stop turning into this monster who was clearly intended to be scary in large part because he was lower class.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!