The Human Centipede

[SapereAude]

Only for fans of extreme and graphic horror.

Anyone seen it yet?

[JASKN]

My question is: why would you see it?

[SapereAude]

My question is: why would you see it?

From a psychological and philosophical standpoint what is considered "horrific" by a large number of people within a culture is an excellent barometer of current anxieties.

Since I have a strong stomach I find it interesting to track & compare what is going on in America with what kind of horror movies come out. Somone who had a stronger reaction to graphic content would probably be too off-put by what is onscreen to do so.

Themes of horror mirroring cultural upheaval and anxieties predates movies and goes back to certain parts of literature. Grand Guignol is a great example of the tradition in entertainment pre-popculture.

Edited to add link:

For a bit about Grand Guignol and the artistic tradition of cultural upheaval and anxieties represented through extreme treatrical production:

http://www.grandguignol.com/tri_1.htm

Edited May 24, 2010 by QuoVadis

[JASKN]

OK, I see your point, in theory.

Unfortunately (fortunately?), I have a very weak stomach for on-screen violence. I can't get the images out of my head once I see them.

However, have you actually noticed culture reflecting horror movies yourself? If so, how?

[SapereAude]

However, have you actually noticed culture reflecting horror movies yourself? If so, how?

It would be the other way around- where horror reflects culture...

Horror is largely allegory. The object of terror (whether human, supernatural, beast or biological) tends to be a crucible and the victims/onlookers by and large archetypes (whether of vices, virtues, ideas, human frailties or even just personalities.

One cannot deny the social subtexts at work in such literary works as Stoker's Dracula, Shelley's Frankenstein, Fanu's Carmilla in the 1800's.

Going back to ancient texts many epics would be the roots of the modern horror story. Take Beowulf of even the Revelations of the Bible.

More recently look to trends within horror, The Last House on the Left was based on Bergman's The Virgin Spring which in turn was based on a European folktale. In fact, most of the fairy-tales we are familiar with now have been sanitized and had many facets of horror tales to them.

The famous Night of the Living Dead franchise dealt with racism, class struggle, mindless consumerism and the emptiness of an unexamined life.

In the eighties there were a string of films examining the existential crises of the middle class suburban experience. Sometimes relating to "white guilt" sometimes more about the scandals of sex abuse, both at home incest related and within religious circles.

Of late there has been a definite shift within horror themes to an anti-collectivist bent which I find fascinating. Martyrs- an examination about the evils of believing that sacrifice is the path to salvation. The Human Centipede has a strong theme of disgust with forced mutual dependence and an equally strong theme about the horror of having a conscious mind when your free will is taken away.

[SapereAude]

Delete what?

I'm going to go ahead and note that my interest in horror films and cultural anxieties stems from a project that my wife was involved in while getting her doctorate in clinical psychology. It involved certain subgroups and coping mechanisms. Since I helped her study and proof read her projects I started drawing some conclusions of my own and started looking into the topic. I found a lot of material on the sexual revolution, the hippie era and social unrest in the 60s/70s and how that got translated into film. Hence my interest.

Edited May 25, 2010 by QuoVadis

[SapereAude]

Unfortunately there is no delete command in my head.

oh.

you must have accidentally stumbled upon the trailer?

yeah... that's why I put the graphic disclaimer in the first post.. people with delicate sensibilities would definitely have trouble "unseeing" that

My wife was furious at me for even describing the premise of the movie.

Two weeks and I doubt she has fully forgiven me.

[JASKN]

QuoVadis, have you speculated as to why you can stomach so much more than the average person? I'm just personally curious, since I have such a negative response to the same material. I was like your wife in being sorry I'd even read the review.

[SapereAude]

Hunting & butchering can make one pretty immune to blood and guts.

[joshuacapehart]

Hunting & butchering can make one pretty immune to blood and guts.

I agree, simple blood and guts don't bother me. however, there is a philosophical difference that matters for me. I can watch a video of any old operation or cow gutting while eating spaghetti, no problem, but the average horror movie turns my stomach. The difference is in meaning and theme: the horror movie is depicting evil actions against (usually) innocents, while the operation is showing a wonderful action by a benevolent doctor backed up by beautiful science and technology, and the cow being butchered is simply a non-sentient animal being turned into food humans need. So, it is not simply the blood and guts that bothers me but the evil actions themselves.

Now, here is where I can handle a horror movie: if some of the good guys survive, and the bad guy gets what is coming to him, best through the actions of the heroes. Then the violence is stomach turning, but primarily serves to show the evil and make the experience all the more intense when the hero triumphs. An excellent example is "Aliens"; not always considered a horror movie, but it certainly has many of the qualities of one.

[Ragnar69]

You think the movie is bad: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/537029