Arthur Miller
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| Horror author? |
"...the people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies. It was forged for a necessary purpose and accomplished that purpose. But all organization is and must be grounded on the idea of exclusion and prohibition..."
Let us remember: the Puritans were fighting to survive in the harsh environment that was the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century. As Miller puts it, "...the people were forced to fight the land like heroes for every grain of corn, and no man had very much time for fooling around."
Thus, it was literally conform or die in those days.
In his book of essays on horror, Danse Macabre, Stephen King writes: "The writer of horror fiction is neither more nor less than an agent of the *status quo."
- *status quo: a Latin phrase which as come to mean, "the way things currently are"
He explains this idea more fully:
"We love and need the concept of monstrosity because it is a reaffirmation of the order we all crave as human beings... and let me further suggest that it is not the physical or mental *aberration in itself which horrifies us, but rather the lack of order which these aberrations seem to imply."
- *Aberration: a departure from what is normal.
Thus, in the days of the Puritans, aberrations were frightening because they were literally associated with death. However, King argues that we continue to be frightened by aberrations and anything that interrupts the status quo.
In his essay, "Are you Now or Were You Ever," Arthur Miller describes the fear of Communism as a "free-floating apprehension." In my opinion, Americans in the 1950's feared Communism because they felt that it was an invisible, intangible force that possessed the power to transform their loved ones into enemies--a force akin to the corrupting power of the devil in 1692.
Your Task: Respond to each of the following four questions in a response posted to this blog post. Your responses must be posted before class on Monday (10/27).
In his essay, "Are you Now or Were You Ever," Arthur Miller describes the fear of Communism as a "free-floating apprehension." In my opinion, Americans in the 1950's feared Communism because they felt that it was an invisible, intangible force that possessed the power to transform their loved ones into enemies--a force akin to the corrupting power of the devil in 1692.
Your Task: Respond to each of the following four questions in a response posted to this blog post. Your responses must be posted before class on Monday (10/27).
- Do we continue to be frightened by aberration in America--is this still reflected in contemporary horror? Give me an example.
- Does this idea of aberration help to explain the underlying terror portrayed in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Explain.
- How did this same sense of fear affect the Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts?
- Why do you think that I elected to show The Invasion of the Body Snatchers in conjunction with The Crucible?
1. According to Google, the definition of aberration: is a characteristic that deviates from the normal type. This is similar to an abnormality, and in America, this is not reflected in contemporary horror, such as the book, Patient Zero, by Tananarive Due, about a young boy who's being kept in a hospital for reasons he doesn't fully understand. This is not "abnormality," because diseases, and humans trying to control them, are normal things.
ReplyDelete2. However, in the movie, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, aberration is portrayed, how the "Aliens," have no emotion whatsoever.
3. This same sense of fear is not portrayed during the Salem witch trials, because the issues were caused by human nature, and fear of superstition.
4. I believe that you chose these two classics to be paired together, because they both show normal humans, attempting to "weed" out those who are not normal, and are being fueled by fear.
I think the entire way in which humans approach disease is marked by aberration. Disease is nature, yet we strive to control it totally. Now, I am not saying that we should simply allow nature to take its course, but the human response to disease is fear, especially when the disease appears to be uncontrollable.
Delete1. The U.S. as a whole is mainly just a gigantic group of sissies that are afraid of just about everything, and the departure of what is considered "normal" is no exception. The Ebola "crisis" is an example of this: something small that affects a minute number of people that scares most people to death because it changes the routine by replacing the humdrum events shown on the news with abnormal equally insignificant ones. This idea of fear of aberration has been demonstrated in horror films. In "The Shining", Jack Nicholson plays a man whose everyday "normal" routine is disrupted when he and his family move into a hotel for the winter, and things do not end up in his favor by the end. However, the film also shows another side of the debate; Nicholson's character's normal routine was replaced by another routine that became normal, him living in a new place for months, so it could be that it was routine and "normalness" that caused the film to end not in Nicholson's favor. The idea of "change to normalness" as a bad thing is also explored in other genres, such as Drama, in films such as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", where another character played by Nicholson changes the routine and ultimately pays the price.
ReplyDelete2. The idea of aberration does explain the underlying terror portrayed in "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers". There is nothing wrong with being a pod person. For someone's life to be most perfect, emotions, especially love, need to be removed and becoming a pod person is the best solution. Love is one gigantic conspiracy that accomplishes more harm than good. Without love, there would be no break-ups, no obnoxious children, no worries of rejection, no persecution of homosexuals, and, at least for the males, no buying that expensive wedding ring. However, without love, there would be a significantly lower number of jewelry stores, less money from Valentine's Day, no money to be made from weddings, or divorces, and fewer kids to beg their loving parents to buy them stuff from Toys R Us. Love is a business. And I have no problem not buying. Unfortunately, love is part of the routine and, even though life would be better without love, it could never be removed because the routine cannot be changed; it is just too scary. This fear of beneficial change is the idea of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Everyone that is different is scary, even if their differences make them better than everyone else.
3. This same fear, the fear of the different, and the fear of the routine-changing, affected the Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts. "Witches" were different from the other people in Salem, so they were feared and persecuted as a result of said fear. More importantly, the Puritans feared the "witches" because the witches altered the Puritans' routine. Instead of suing each other all the time, the Puritans had to amend their schedule to hanging "witches". This was the result of "witches" speaking Barbados, which was abnormal, and reading, which was apparently abnormal. The adjectives "abnormal" and "dangerous" were often confused. No danger existed, at least not for the non-"witch" Puritans; only abnormality existed.
4. After losing a vote on which movie to watch, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", the remake, was shown over the original. I was deeply disappointed that my classmates prefer bad acting (not pointing at Sutherland) in color over good acting in black in white; I bet that if we were to watch "Psycho", my classmates would vote for the horrible remake because, "who needs Anthony Perkins when we have Vince Vaughn in color?" If I were an emotional person, I would call it sad. Moving past the disappointment though, we were given a choice between the two versions of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" because they both deal with fear to a change in routine, similar to "The Crucible". "Invasion" features a fear of a better human while "Crucible" deals with a fear in a simply different person. Neither person is detrimental to society, but both require change in routine for them to exist. Both the movie and the play show how people react to change, the only major difference between the two is that in the movie, the "changers", or the "good guys", were the majority and in the play they were the minority. In both cases, the majority won. This is why "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was shown, but, in my opinion, "The Thing" is more fitting to the lesson and better than both the original and remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".
DeleteHaha.
DeleteI think One Flew Over illustrates your point much better than The Shining.
Remember what the great philosopher, Jennifer Lopez, once said: "my love don't cost a thing."
1. In America, we hide our fear of aberration by putting on a face of fascination. For example, horror movies always target the wide-eyed teenagers of America. Teens flock to the horror movies out of interest and peer pressure. They sit in the movie theater, get a good scare, and then are more than happy to go back to the “real world.” Upon being back in the “real world” teenagers will poke fun and mock the horror movie all over social media. This isn’t because they weren’t genuinely scared, it’s because acting like it was funny is better than admitting to the actual fear. And this isn’t just the case for horror films. Bullying is an example of how people in America are afraid of people who are different than them. Instead of accepting the aberration, they will make fun of the person and bring them down. Another perfect example of this “face of fascination” is conspiracy theories. We all want to hear the far-fetched tale, but at the end of the day, we push the scary thought from our minds and go back to our ordinary, mundane lives.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Orphan a young girl is actually a thirty year old woman. She tries to “get with” the father of the family she’s adopted into, and when the feelings aren’t reciprocated, she goes wild and kills everyone. Without a doubt the thirty year old woman (who looks like a small child) is an aberration. Viewers of the movie watch in fear and fascination because the concept is completely different and mind-boggling. The next time they see an eight year old in a supermarket they’ll wonder if that child is thirty and psychotic.
2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was not so much an aberration in the sense that it is different from the natural order. Instead, the movie’s main conflict was an aberration in the sense that it was a different kind of order. This explains the underlying terror in the film. It was the fear that the status quo was shifting, and that nothing would ever be the same again.
3. This fear affected the Puritans deeply. They lived with such a strict order, and if one didn’t comply with that order, they were suddenly “the devil.” Anyone that did not conform to the ideals of Puritan society was targeted and wrongly accused. That was the Puritans’ attempt to erase aberration from their lives. They were so afraid of anything different that they lost all logical reasoning in the effort to rid themselves of it.
4. You chose to show us Invasion of the Body Snatchers in conjunction with The Crucible because they had opposite interpretations of the fear of aberration. The Crucible was about a whole society of people living in fear of others who are not like them, whilst Invasion of the Body Snatchers is about a small group of people who were afraid of a new kind of natural order. Both the play and the movie showcase how people react in various ways to change. They both show how humans have a natural fear of aberration; whether it be a “different normal” or simply something that is different.
Oh, no: Orphan! Ha.
DeleteI do like your idea that horror films "bully" the audience into embracing normality. Interesting.
1. Americans are scared of change. We like normalness because it gives us a sense of stability. When life goes wrong, it still feels okay because some aspects of the day are the same. This fear of aberration is shown in many horror films. For example, in Shutter the main character is haunted by his dead ex-girlfriend. His new normal life is disrupted and ultimately destroyed by his past.
ReplyDelete2. The idea of aberration does explain the underlying terror portrayed in "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. The main characters are scared of the pod people because they are different than the people that they are used to. The pods don’t inflict harm or anything on humans, so it’s not the pods themselves but rather the change in lifestyle that scares the main characters. The pods live an empty lifestyle devoid of any emotions.
3. The Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts were very strict and serious. They had to work all day in order to survive, so they couldn’t afford to mess around and have fun. When there were people who were different and didn’t follow the code of conduct, they were labeled as witches or followers of the devil. That meant that they were punished and most likely sentenced to death.
4. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was shown in conjunction with The Crucible because they both show the fear of aberration. The only difference between the two is that in The Crucible, the majority of the people are scared of the few different people, whereas in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a small group of people are scared of the changed majority.
1) The citizens of America are afraid of change. We are frightened when our normal daily routines are changed and something out of the ordinary happens. For example; in the video game "Dead Island" all the survivors of the infection are scared to death of becoming a zombie. They are scared because they don't want to become anything other than themselves.
ReplyDelete2) The idea of aberration helps to explain the underlying terror portrayed in "The Invasion of the Body Snachers". The ones resisting to be a pod person were scared of change. It didn't matter how many times the pods told Matthew life as a pod person was better. Matthew fought them because he was scared of the world he knew and felt comfortable in changing into a bizarre new one.
3) A similar sense of fear affected the Puritans of Salem. The Puritans feared the uncertainty that anyone can be a witch. They accused anyone who was different or an outcast of witchcraft because they were scared of beig accused themselves. Witchcraft was not part of their everyday routine so they feared it.
4) You probably chose to show the "Invasion of the Body Snachers" in conjunction with "The Crucible" because they are both very similar but also very different. "The Crucible" takes place in the 17th century when witchcraft was a thing everyone feared. We can't relate to this setting because today we laugh at the idea of witchcraft. The idea of being invaded by other life forms is a fear many people have today; so we can relate to "The Invasion of the Body Snachers". This movie was just to reinforce the same ideas of "The Crucible" in a more modern setting that people can relate to.
I can handle the whole being a zombie thing, but, you know, I don't want to get eaten to death.
Delete1.Yes we are still frightened from aberration today because people, especially in horror movies, don’t know what to expect. For instance, the film “Friday the Thirteenth.” That movie is just one example of the “norm” of horror movies. When usually the victims are teenagers, and they go into the woods to do illegal things, then obviously they get murdered.
ReplyDelete2.The idea of aberration definitely helps to explain the undefined terror message in ‘The Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ because this movie is completely out of the ordinary with the concept of the movie. Its nothing like any other horror movie made in its time, thats why everyone didn’t comprehend it because it was so different.
3.Also, the same sense of fear happened in the Puritan times, with the accusations of the witch trials. The aberration in Salem, Massachusetts was at an all time high, because people couldn’t understand and grasp the fact that people were apart of witchcraft.
4.I believe you premiered ‘The Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ to us right after reading ‘The Crucible’ because both of them portray aberration. Therefore, it was only appropriate you showed us the movie you did. I believe you also showed us this movie because back in those times people were used to the same system they did everyday, there was no change what-so-ever. So, if you announced to your town that your neighbor is a witch, people are going to be shaken up. And that is what happened in ‘The Invasion of the Body Snatchers’, people got so shaken up from the fact that your Husband is getting cloned and turning into a pod person, they just couldn’t handle it.
1. People in America still get frightened by aberration. Wherever there is a crisis in any part of the world people pay very close attention to it in fear. This is reflected in many video games such as Call of Duty: Nazi Zombies. In this game you fight off zombies. A Zombie Apocalypse is every player’s fear of a new world crisis.
ReplyDelete2. The idea of aberration helps explain the terror in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There is a reference point that you can relate the two. You can really see how deeply the non-pod people felt against the pod people. One can also see how far they would go to stay safe and not turn into a pod person.
3. This aberration shows how the Puritans were affected because all they wanted to do is to not be bewitched. They wanted to stay alive and out of jail so they blamed everyone else of witchcraft. The funny thing is, the people of Salem were terrified of witches but there weren’t any.
4. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the Crucible were shown together because both involve aberration that frightens people. In The Invasion of the Body Snatchers people were afraid of becoming pod people so they tried to run from it, and in the Crucible people didn’t want to be a witch so they blamed other people of witchcraft.
1.Americans are still scared of aberrations because of the way it’s presented in horror movies. For instance, in the movie Paranormal Activity they use normal activities that normal people do and change it up in a scary way. Now every time you shower or go on your computer, you are reminded of that scary part of that movie. People are scared of change, it means that your routine has been altered. It means your bubble has been popped. It means something that you are used to will no longer be there. (PS: I refuse to watch scary movies, the last one I watched was in the 4th grade. I’m basing this example off of trailers)
ReplyDelete2.The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a perfect example of this fear of change, this fear of aberration. While everyone was turning into pods, Matthew and Elizabeth were terrified to be one of them. Even though it would have been twenty times easier to be one, they still didn’t want to change their normal lives as humans.
3.The fear of change also affected the Puritans of Salem. These “witches” possessed no danger at all, but the scariest thing about them was that they were different. Puritans live a very strict and order life and because these “witches” didn’t live that way, they were with the devil. Anything that didn’t abide to their lives, were wrong. The Puritans pushed so hard to push any wrong or anything against how they lived away from them as far as possible.
4.You chose The Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Crucible because they both showed how people are scared of change in two completely opposite ways. In The Crucible, a whole city of people were scared of people who differed from the way they lived. On the other land, In The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, only a couple feared what has become the new normal. But both showed how aberration can drive people mad.
I appreciate your honesty.
Delete1) For years aberration, or any sense of change, has always been something humanity dreaded. Old and new horror films and shows still give people that sense of security that their life isn’t that messed up in plain terms, but it always stirs up that underlying fear of what if? What if my life became consumed of such horrid factors or disrupted by another way of life? The bottom line is that people get too worried about the “what if” and Hollywood gives them a what if scenario and reinsures them that life is still wonderful.
ReplyDelete2) Well yeah, of course aberration explains the underlying terror shown in invasion of the Body Snatchers. Donald Southerland’s character along with Elizabeth was so determined to beat the “body snatchers” that their energy was just wasted; they became a part of this new society anyway. Representing this whole changing factor of life it kind of just shows that people need to deal with certain things.
3) If the people of Massachusetts in the 17 century did not conform to the way of life the Puritans would trial them and essentially kill them; leaving the people with a whole do or die scenario. Meaning that people can lead to their own demise by stressing themselves into a sort of hysteria.
4) Honestly I thought that showing The Invasion of the Body Snatchers in conjunction to the Crucible was a joke, but towards the end I realized that actually it was a modern representation that was a great example. As I said before the movie really showed the do or die scenario that the Puritans went through. No matter how hard they tried to beat the system they always ended up becoming what the feared…controlled and different. Essentially, under a world full of fear and rebellious actions seems to end up resulting in the ultimate demise…change.
"...the ultimate demise…change." I like this.
Delete1) In America, we continue to fear aberration. The modern horror movie “You’re Next” is a perfect example of America’s fear of departing from what is normal. On an average fall evening, siblings gather at their parents’ house for, what seems to be, an annual family dinner. However one son brings his new girlfriend who has never met anyone there before. Tension is present between all of the family members, suggesting that each person has some sort of secret that only certain other family members are aware of. Small bickering turns into a large argument rather quickly and all participate with the exception of one. This character warily peers out of the dining room window at something standing in the distance. Before he can say “what’s that?” a spear of glass breaks through the window, penetrates his forehead and kills him. Following this shocking turn of events, the family spends the night trying to ward off the intruders who murdered him. Predictably, the son who brought his girlfriend decides to go out to the car and “sacrifice” himself. In the end, with everyone dead besides him and his girlfriend, it is revealed that he planned the entire fiasco for the reward of money. The movie is considered a horror movie because it depicts some things that everyone fears: mainly home invasion and murder, two things that are feared because they disrupt what is normal. Home invasion disrupts your daily living quarters and the safety you feel by being home. Murder disrupts what is normal by ending the life of another person, and therefore ending the routine of his or her life, all while disrupting the lives of those who are close with him or her.
ReplyDelete2) Aberration explains the underlying fear in “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. The lives of the characters are disrupted by an uncontrollable force which eventually overrules their entire city, leaving the audience to wonder what happens to the rest of the world. The disease that turned people into lifeless creatures destroyed the overall flow of society. It induced a change that affected humans directly but could not be controlled in any way by humans. Even though it was easier to just sleep and become a pod person, Elizabeth and Matthew refused because they did not want to undergo such a massive change in their lives. This idea is what the audience is actually in fear of.
3) In Salem, Massachusetts, the Puritans lived laws that restricted them from anything they deemed sinful or detrimental to the religion they practiced. By doing so, they were trying to prevent any major changes in society from occurring. However, this method did not fully stop people from committing sinful behavior. Rather, people committed sinful behavior in secret, which resulted in the witch trials, which kind of disproves their methods effectiveness.
4) “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” coincides with The Crucible. Both show that aberration in society can drive people mad, and is what drives people mad. In the Crucible, an entire village feared those who weren’t just like them while in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, only a few people were afraid of what an entire city was turning into or what was becoming normal.
So, do you recommend You're Next? I heard good things.
Delete1. In America, we do continue to be frightened by aberration. However, as Stephen King said, we’re not frightened by aberration itself, but rather the disorder that it brings upon us. As humans, naturally, we are afraid of what change will do to our already orderly routines. The fear of aberration is still reflected in contemporary horror. Many movies, such as Mama, show this fear. In the film Mama, for five years, the two girls, Victoria and Lilly, are alone in a cabin in the woods with a maternal figure, known as Mama. Due to the fact that that life was all they’ve ever known, when they had chance to be introduced to society again, they were reluctant. And even though Victoria eventually accepted the idea, Lilly was still afraid of what would happen if she departed from what she believed was normal. Rather than accepting this change, Lilly went with Mama and took her life because of the fear of what change would bring her.
ReplyDelete2. This idea of aberration does help explain the underlying terror shown in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The terrifying concept of a new normality that is totally different from the one that exists, was really what the characters feared. There was nothing really bad about the pod people. They didn’t really do anything but live the life that the humans they took over lived, so there wasn’t anything physically to be afraid of. Yet, the characters in the movie were scared senseless of what was happening because of the idea of their world being ripped from their hands and being replaced by a new one, which they didn’t understand.
3. The same sense of fear affected the Puritans in Salem. In the time of the Puritans, the idea of aberration could cause people to die. Since the Puritans had a very strict routine, they couldn’t really allow for change and disorganization to happen. So, when witches began to pop up out of nowhere, this aberration terrified the Puritans so much that they even resulted to hanging everyone that was accused of being a witch just so they could relieved their society of the threats that would change their routine lives.
4. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was shown in conjunction with The Crucible because in both works, the status quo is disrupted by the idea that there are people out there who are different from everyone else and that the way of life will change. In the Crucible, life for the Puritans was simple. It was either work or die. But when the accusation of witches came about, the fear of aberration became apparent and their strict way of life ceased to exist. Similarly, in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the citizens of San Francisco go about their normal, everyday routine. However, once they realize that their loved ones are taken over by creatures from outer space, they begin to panic because they realize that their lives are going to change, even if it were for the better.
Ooh, this Mama movie looks creepy!
Delete1. Americans are scared of aberration. We like everything to be the same. If something’s out of routine, it messes us up. Take The Purge for example. On the day of this event, any known crime is legal and all services are closed. People stop whatever they’re doing and barricade themselves inside their houses, trying to block out the bad guys.
ReplyDelete2. The idea of aberration does help explain the underlying terror in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. Everyone was changing into pod people, and the main characters were scared of that. They didn’t want to become one of them. They didn’t want to leave their “normal” life.
3. The Puritans were strict and lived off of order. If you didn’t follow these orders, you were immediately accused of witchcraft. To them, not abiding by the rules means you work for the devil. And the people of Salem were scared of this. They were scared of being accused and sentenced to death.
4. Both “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Crucible” display themes of aberration. Though in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, only a couple people feared the millions of pods, whereas in The Crucible, a whole village feared only a couple of witches. You probably wanted to show us that aberration can happen in different numbers. And that no matter what time period we’re in, we’ll still be scared of change. That, or you just wanted to show us an alien movie.
"And that no matter what time period we’re in, we’ll still be scared of change. That, or you just wanted to show us an alien movie."
DeleteHa.
The former.
1. America is terribly frightened by aberration. Breaking away from what is normal is absolutely terrifying for people these days. Little things like listening to a different type of music than the rest of the people in a certain age group or trying to just be generally different than the 'in-crowd' is nerve racking for people.
ReplyDelete2. The underlying terror of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the fear of change. Stephen King's idea of aberration helps the viewer understand the underlying message because the whole entire movie is based on the people avoiding something new and people despise change. The main characters were convinced that they were fine the way they were and being exposed to change was not want they wanted.
3. The Puritans were not afraid of change as much as they were afraid of each other. They were not afraid of breaking away from what was normal, they were afraid that if they did not condemn others to death, that they would be condemned to death.
4. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Crucible both depict the fear of people and how chaotically they will react. People will adapt to change and their own fear to the best of their ability.
1.) People may not realize it, but everyday is a constant routine. It gives people comfort and stability. However, when this routine is disrupted, everything is suddenly thrown out of whack. People fear the force that could disrupt our routine, and that is why they fear horror movies. For example, in the movie 28 Days Later, a virus had been accidentally released, infecting people, and turning them into zombie like creatures. In this movie, it is not the zombies people fear, but the idea of a virus turning everyone into zombies. All horror movies are created in which a force suddenly disrupt the lives of the characters. It is not the monster or creature that people fear, but the disruption in our lives that it creates. Routine is what we find comfort in and at the end of the day, we all happily go back to our stable lives.
ReplyDelete2.) The idea of aberration does help explain the terror in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. In the movie, the pod people take over and turn everyone into them. The characters are not scared of the pod people, but the change in their lives that the pod people are creating. The pod people are not physically harming anyone, they are creating a new society where the only thing that is different is that they are devoid of any emotions. This new life is what the characters feared because it is different from the normal lives they had before.
3.) The lives of Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts was very strict and serious. Anything that was not normal to them was associated with the devil. That is why change was such a fearful thing to them. There was was a strict order in the lives of Puritans and so they feared anything that would disrupt that order.
4.) The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was shown in conjunction with The Crucible because they both showed fear of aberration. In The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the characters feared the change that the pod people were creating. In The Crucible, the people feared others who were different. Both movies show how things that are different from the norm are terrifying to people. The movies reinforces the idea that people need order in their lives and without it, we fear how our lives change because of it.
28 Days Later is one of my favorite horror films of all time! Good choice!
Delete1) In a country that has never been taken over by other foreign countries/invaders it is most certain that to this day the people of the U.S. all continue to fear aberration. People in general don't like sudden change and it takes them a while to adjust or never so. An example of this can be from the movie "The Grudge", the main character ordinarily works as a nurse and lives life normally when suddenly she gets exposed to an ominous supernatural curse that haunts her and changes her life forever.
ReplyDelete2) The idea of aberration does help explain the underlying terror represented in "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" because the main characters were afraid to lose their humanity and become pod people, and so they decided to try to fight it and cling onto their humanity to the end.
3) The same sense of fear of aberration too has affected the Puritans of the Salem because people kept accusing others with witchcraft because they didn't like this sudden change that negatively impacted their life, all the puritans wanted to do is live their life "normally".
4) "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is in conjunction with "The Crucible" because they both represent the fear of aberration. Though, there was a noticeable difference between the two. In "The invasion of the Body Snatchers" only a small group noticed the world around them change, while in "The Crucible" an entire community realized that a few certain people was changing everyone else. The "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was originally supposed to portray communism, and Americans feared it back then, it was similar to how the Puritans feared witchcraft, which were both used as a weapon for aberration.
" In a country that has never been taken over by other foreign countries/invaders it is most certain that to this day the people of the U.S. all continue to fear aberration."
DeleteVery insightful!
1. To this day Americans fear the unknown. It is hard to accept something is true when people know nothing about it. We would rather stay far from it then find out what it is. The fact that modern horror movies repeat demons and ghosts over and over again leaves us wondering could it still be true. Most horror movies deal with this concept rather than any other because it’s something that doesn’t happen every day. For example The Conjuring dealt with other worldly things which makes people fear the difference between that from the real world.
ReplyDelete2. Changes that happened in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers weren’t ‘considered’ normal to the regular citizens. The way the pod people acted was different to their own. It was change which made them really fear what was going on. The husband acted differently which caused this scenario to be fearful.
3. In Salem, the people wanted to be together as a whole rather than classifying people as witches who would bring upon death to others. Witchcraft wasn’t officially proven as a thing but they tried their best to kill the ones who became witches to keep the thing they way they were. It was the fear of separation which tore the town of Salem apart.
4. In both scenarios, they were to show that they both showed change as a type of fear. People were afraid of the changes happening to everyone. It wasn’t normal to them making them feel scared of everything happening around them. It secludes them from people anywhere else where they would be the ones considered ‘different’.
1) All Americans are affected by aberration in one way or another. If not by being stressed over something minimal such as a homework assignment that is extraordinarily difficult, or something as major as a disease, such as Ebola, then possibly in horror films. Personally, I do not know the details of many horror films considering I typically do not watch them. In most films though, some kind of difference appears. Whether it be ghosts, a creepy doll, an alien invasion, they all cause mass chaos.
ReplyDelete2) The idea of aberration and that all people are afraid of drastic, random changes does prove why the characters were so terrified of the alien invasion. For one, they didn’t know what was causing the changes. Many other characters denied that anything was wrong and that the ones with suspicions were crazy. And most importantly, the odd plant/flower/alien “thing” did not come with a letter of warning saying: “Beware, We Will Take Over Your Bodies”. The characters were unprepared, clueless, and therefore were afraid of the changes occurring.
3) In a similar situation, the Puritans found themselves in the midst of a massive hunt for “witches”. The innocent ones were unprepared to be accused, making them very frightened. For example, Mary Warren, while in court with John Proctor, was suddenly being accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams. Mary was shocked, scared, and did not know what to say or do to protect herself. This aberration of constant accusations cause a ruckus in Salem.
4) Your choice for showing The Invasion of the Body Snatchers in collaboration with reading The Crucible is most likely for the reason that the plot is different, but the message is the same: people fear change. This is also probably the reason you chose to read The Minister’s Black Veil. I may be wrong in saying this, but it seems as though in the story, the people around the Minister are afraid of his veil because they think it represents some form of a sin. These people, along with the Puritans and the leads in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers are all affected by aberration and therefore are afraid of change.
1.) Aberration is continually still shown in America and we are scared of the change it creates. We are so used to our normal habits that something new is hard for us to handle. For example, In Hannah Montana: The Movie, she has to pick between hiding her real self behind a wig and make up which she has done for many years, or expose herself as Miley and Hannah. Even though she eventually does show everyone the real her, she is scared of how people will judge the “new” her.
ReplyDelete2.) “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” portrays the idea of aberration very well. The pods were taking over very quickly and the people, who resisted becoming a pod, were the ones scared of change. You would think that since everyone was becoming one that Matthew would ease up and go along with it but he had so much fear towards it.
3.) A similar concept happened in Salem. Once the witch trials started, everyone wanted to use each other as scapegoats. No one accepted the fact that there could possibly be real witches because it would be a big change against everything they believed in.
4.) You chose “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” to relate to “The Crucible” because they both have a common denial for a group of people changing. In “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, Matthew and his group of workers were running from the problem while in “The Crucible” people were living and actually fighting in court against it.
I imagine the Hannah Montana film is quite terrifying.
Delete1. We Americans are still frightened of aberration. If our daily routines are somehow changed, we go into panic. This is shown the 1981 film, The Evil Dead. In the movie, five college students go vacation in a cabin in the woods. All goes well, until they release demons inside the cabin. These demons eventually possess some of the girls and everybody else is scared for their lives. Everybody is frightened because they don’t want their body taken over by the demons. They’re afraid they won’t have their normal lives anymore.
ReplyDelete2. The idea of aberration does explain the underlying terror portrayed in The Invasion of The Body Snatchers. There was absolutely nothing bad about being a pod person. The only reason why the characters were afraid of them was because if they became one, their normal life routines would change. They wouldn’t be able to live their life their way.
3. The Puritans lived a very strict lifestyle. If somebody acted out of order, they’re presumed to be devil worshippers. The Puritans are probably the ones who feared aberration the most.
4. You showed The Invasion of the Body Snatchers in conjunction with The Crucible because both groups of people feared aberration. The Puritans and Matthew’s squad did not want change in their lifestyles. In The Crucible, they excluded the one that were different. While in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, they ran away from the ones that were different.
Nice reference: Evil Dead (1981).
Delete1. In America organization is an important factor for our everyday lives. Once our routine gets messed up it’s like our whole day is ruined because things didn’t work out like they were supposed to. America is still afraid of aberration because it gets in the way of our routine and organization. Many people are frightened by the disease Ebola. The reason being is because it’s the idea of something non-human being able to kill you.
ReplyDelete2. The movie of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers portrays the terror that overcomes people when organization is interrupted. Order was becoming so strange that people sounded crazy when they would explain what was happening to them. This is similar to the movie The Shining because the father in the family went crazy from being stuck in a house for so long with his family. His family didn’t want to believe that someone they loved would hurt them. The order of their family was being destroyed and they were terrified.
3. The sense of fear effected the Puritans because their community was being effected in so many terrible ways. People that claimed they were one with their faith were lying and accusing people of witchcraft. People were so focused on their order that they were losing sight of the major picture.
4. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Crucible both incorporate order. Everyone was so corrupt because they didn’t know how to react when thing went wrong. They didn’t know who to believe or even what to believe. They were going crazy because the thought of everything going out of order made everything mayhem.
1. The reason we love horror movies so much is because we like the intensity of aberration that the characters have to go through. The only reason the movie is even scary is because we put ourselves in the position. We get scared because we're like "what if that was me" and no one wants their life to get messed up because in the end we are just scared of change. For example in "The Conjuring" by James Wan, paranormal stuff starts happening to the family and it basically messes up their daily routine so they find anyone and everyone to help fix their problem. The first thing that messes up their schedule is they move to a new house and then they start getting haunted and that interrupts their "normal routine" which drives them crazy. The only reason this movie is scary to anyone is because everyone is so afraid if something like that ever happened to them.
ReplyDelete2. In "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" aberration helps us realize why Matthew was so resistant to becoming a pod person. Mathew could not stand the thought of how much his life would change even though all the pod people told him that life was much better while being a pod person. Aberration helps portray the terror in the movie because you can see all of Mathew's effort in trying to not become a pod person.
3. The Puritans of Salem had a very strict routine of work and no play and for that to be interrupted by something they couldn't see or seem to understand was a terrible thing. The Puritans in Salem tried to do anything to find an answer and that's why they started blaming people of witching other children. By blaming people they at least had a reason for the witching but they also hated the fact that the witching messed up their strict schedule and that is why they did anything they could to end it.
4. You showed us "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in conjunction to "The Crucible" to show us two different examples of aberration. In "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" it shows us how a small group of people resist change while a large group goes along with the change. Then, in "The Crucible" everyone is scared of a small group of people that they believe are witches.
You are describing catharsis.
Delete1. It never ceased to amaze me how cowardly Americans acted. They were literally afraid of everything. Afraid of new discoveries, afraid of war, afraid of countries thousands of miles away, and even afraid of change. In fact, Americans still continue to be frightened by change. However, as Stephen King said, we’re not frightened by aberration itself, but rather the disorder that it brings upon us. People enjoy normalness, because it gives them a sense of stability. But, as soon as this normalness is disrupted, everyone goes ballistic. For example, Three people have contracted Ebola( two of them while in the United States). Both of those people were nurses that had direct contact with the man who died. That’s it. Yet, there are screams for travel bans and paranoia over how easy it is to contract the disease. People’s first reaction to a crisis is always fear. That's just how we’re made.
ReplyDeleteThe fear of aberration is still reflected in contemporary horror. For example, In the movie Final Destination, they used people’s daily activities and gave them a terrifying twist. Viewers of the movie, like myself, were both scared and fascinated, because the concept was completely different. So now every time we get in the shower, go to the eye doctors, cross a bridge, etc. we are reminded of that scary part in the movie.
2.The idea of aberration does explain the underlying terror portrayed in "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. The main characters were the only ones aware of the change, but rather than going along with it they tried to stop it. Obviously, trying to prevent the change from happening wasn’t the best idea, because it led to their own deaths. The pods didn’t inflict harm on the humans, so was not the pods themselves, but rather the change in lifestyle that scared the main characters. Change will always occur in life, and after a while people will begin to adjust and go along with it. Well at least until a newer change comes along. It is like a never ending cycle.
3.This fear affected the Puritans deeply. The “Witches” didn’t really inflict harm on the people Salem, but the Puritans simply couldn’t accept the fact that these people were different. The Puritans thought these “witches” would corrupt their strict lifestyle. They believed that by targeting and making false accusations about each other, was the only way to erase aberration from their lives.
4. You chose to show us Invasion of the Body Snatchers in conjunction with The Crucible, because they had opposite interpretations of the fear of aberration. In The Crucible, there was an entire society who feared of people that weren’t like them. Whereas in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, there was a small group of people who were terrified of the changed majority. However, they both demonstrate how humans have a natural fear of aberration.
Fear is the most powerful motivator.
Delete1. In our country, this aberration still frightened us to this day. People just do not like a changes in their lifestyle and especially if the changes involve anything scary like infections or invaders. It will take awhile, but the people will be able to adjust their life routine to the changes. An example of this is in the video game, "The Walking Dead" by Tell-Tales. I will be talking about the first season. In season 1, the player takes control of Lee Everett, a convicted murderer. The player decide on the actions that Lee will do during events. On his way to Jail, his escort car hit a "walker"/zombie and crashes in the forest. While regaining his conscious from the crash, he encounter his patrol officer ,but turned into a walker. Lee was able to shot the walker with the officer`s shotgun, but the gunshot attracts more walkers. While Lee escape over the fence to someone`s backyard, he meets Clementine, an 8 year old girl. With that meeting, Lee start to care for Clementine and act as her guardian. Lee and Clementine must survive the zombie apocalypse in Georgia. During the season, they have to changes their way of encountering a situation, deal with the walkers and "human beings", and to make harsh decisions. For more details, play the game or watch it on YouTube. It will not disappoint you Mr.Clark, since it is walking dead related.
ReplyDelete2. The idea of aberration does help explain the underlying terror represented in "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers". The main characters faced an changes in their life, invaders. The invaders/aliens want to create a new world where there is no emotions. The characters aren't scared of the invaders, but they are scared on what the invaders`s action on humanity. While the last ones, they are thinking of a way to rid of pods and keep everything as they last remembered it. They want their normal life back.
3. This same sense of fear also affected the Puritans in Salem. The Puritans have a strict life style. If one person changes what he/she was doing, that person would probably be accused of witchcraft and be hung. The reason why, it is because Puritans thinks that changes is related to the devil. Puritans want to remove anything that would alter their normal lives.
4.The reason you show "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in conjunction with The Crucible is because they both involve aberration ,but in a unlike view. In "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers", it takes place during modern times. The aberration is the invaders cloning everyone. For The Crucible, it takes place during the 17th century. The aberration is witchcraft. Both involve a group of people that trying to address and fix the changes.
I almost considered purchasing the game. It sounds very interesting.
Delete
ReplyDelete1. We as humans look to see the world the way we would like to know it. We deny the impossible the bad, and the terror that frightens us cannot exist if we do not choose to see it. In America or any place simple incidents and tragic events bring us to a haze of shock. We do no process the order being disrupted. From burning buildings to car crashes the intensity of death and injury destroys us only because it destroys the order. Similar to horror films who take viewers to a personal level with relatable common life situations. Only instead when venturing in a dark forest to attend a random high school party you don’t live to see the sun shine. It scares us to the core; it makes us stop to question our lives, should I be surrounded by trees at midnight? Aberration means out of the ordinary and the messiest people on earth could not withstand the force of an unorthodox society. Routine is in our blood we strive to achieve it and are frustrated when it is out of our reach. It reminds us the world is imperfect and the impossible is at times possible.
2. In The Invasion of the Body Snatchers the idea of aberration explains the fear in people’s eyes as they run to escape the invasion. The movie shows the relation to communism in the 50’s, as the underlying point trying to be expressed. Communism spread like a wildfire, like a body snatcher. Secretly passing through society blending in until everyone was reeled in. It ruined the order that was obtained once before. It was new and different. Something no one could understand or would even try because it was change. Change is scary it affects people directly even if it happens 20,000 miles away. The body snatchers moved too fast for people to grasp and communism flooded streets without a purpose. Without a purpose that anyone bothered to listen to anyway. Aberration helps to portray the reaction of the rapid change of beliefs in the 50’s within the films own metaphor.
3. The Puritans used the excuse of the devil to conceal their own sins in order to avoid humiliation and social outcast from their fellow peers. Soon the town was engulfed in fear of this invisible threat that knocked on doors unseen at night. The Crucible has the fear of aberration in it through the presence of the devil and witchcraft. It was new and something no one could quite understand. Salem became the known place for the bizarre. Fingers were pointed and with no evidence to fight against there was no winner. Puritans were terrified, a force they could not fight with the will of God scared them because the danger was unseen therefore inevitable. It revolved around how the idea of aberration destroys people from within because they would rather die than to learn something new, something they may even be beneficial.
4. The invasion of the Body Snatchers was shown with the Crucible because both portray a sense of lost security and safety. In the invasion it showed what a perfect society could look like while in the Crucible some people were shown as different involving witchcraft beliefs and doings. In both the reaction to change was expressed through fear.
Interesting... Rather than focus on fear, you see the underlying thread as a human tendency to seek control, an impossible task, but human nature regardless.
DeletePoliticians always promote themselves as saying they will change the world for the better. However, this isn't the way to get votes because people are deathly afraid of change. Americans like their routines and get overly emotional when something threatens their normal lives. It's not the effects of the change that scares them, it's the change itself because it's different from what they are used to. In the horror movie "The Blob", a mysterious blob comes out of a meteorite. Before even considering the possibility of the blob being friendly or harmless, the people discovering it are automatically scared of the change from their everyday lives. Horror movies reflect our society and the fear of change is one of the ways they do it.
ReplyDeleteThe fear of change in humans is emphasized in "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Alien pods begin taking over humans and the ones who notice are deathly afraid. The pod people are actually more calm and don't have the nuisance of being controlled by fear, anger, sadness, etc. Transforming into a pod person would actually benefit these people, yet they still resist because it's a change from their normal lives.
The fear of change from people has been around for centuries. Just look at Salem in 1692. In "The Crucible", the whole town goes crazy because of this fear. The strictly religious community had many rules and those who didn't follow them or even simply different were doomed. Several people were accused of being witches
when in reality, they posed no harm to the town. The people of Salem were afraid for no valid reason.
Both "The Crucible" and "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" demonstrate how people are afraid of aberrations. One community was fighting witches while a band of friends were fending off alien pods. Both antagonists seem scary at first, but after a closer look, the villagers of Salem and citizens of San Francisco have nothing to fear. This shows that the mentalities of people don't change fundamentally. No one has evolved to the point where they can accept change. Maybe if people were aware, they could make a conscious effort to have a different perspective and be open-minded.
Well, there were actual threats to fear in Salem, Massachusetts and there were things to fear in America in the 1970's. I think the play and the film encourage people to take pause before taking action.
Delete1. Not just americans but everyone is scared of aberration. It happens all the time in our daily lives as either personal or public issue. An example of personal aberration would be marriage. Some people neglect marriage thinking that it would change their daily fun activities resulting from all the new responsibilities that you get. On the other hand, a public aberration would be US's involvement in wars. If the US got involved in wars then people, especially teenagers, would have to serve in military against their own will. This will cause chaos and their lives will change drastically. Most people would try to resist it without success. Therefore in a way, the government has control over our normal lives by deciding when people observes aberration. This has appeared in many horror movies and the one movie I can recall (because it is the only american horror movie I watched besides "Invasion of the Body Snatchers") is "The Crazies". The aberration shown in it is caused by the government when the plane crash spreads the toxin through water. This causes slow and steady process which turns almost everyone into zombies. It changes the normal lives of the survivors by forcing them to live a life like hell. I would suggest to just go with the flow and not suffer.
ReplyDelete2.This idea of aberration does help explain the underlying terror in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Similarly to "The Crazies", the majority of the people were being converted into something that is not considered normal. Their actions and emotions were changed from normal to a completely abnormal. It were as if they were a different species now. The main characters were scared of it and thought that they were harmful when in reality they were just emotionless people. They tried to resist the change and wanted to go on with their normal life which we all know didn't happen.
3. Puritan's strict and orderly nature restricted them from change. They wanted everyone to do things that can make them get closer to god. For example everyone should obey the elders, say the truth, and go to church often. The sightings of the witch made everyone panic because they thought it will make their life horrible and turn others to witches too. They thought that the witch will make them go farther from god by disrupting their everyday schedule. To get rid of these so-called witches and get back on normal life, people accused each other. Some, however, didn't because they were either trying to keep his/her name safe or assumed that lying and accusing innocents will make them go farther from god.
4. I think you showed "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in conjunction with "The Crucible" because you wanted to contrast how there can be different kinds of aberrations and also show how going with the flow is easier than resisting it. In the Crucible, the cause of the aberration was a chain reaction not a sudden change caused by abnormal activities. Unlike "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", the main characters in "The Crucible" didn't accept the change till the end. They refused to be the cause of the aberration by accusing others. Proctor did get accused and was hanged but he refused to sign his name and accuse others. By doing so he saved so many lives. In the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", however, the main characters did try to resist but eventually fell for the change. Or the reason could be that you just like horror movies and it happened to have things in common with "The Crucible".
Did you watch The Crazies from the 2000's? It's a pretty good remake.
DeleteYes I did Mr. Clark and that too in Film Club (aka Cinema Club).
Delete1. Though fear of aberration may be apparent throughout the U.S, calling the general population “sissies” wouldn’t be the correct terminology to properly illustrate everyone’s reaction towards this particular ideal. As Bryan previously proposed, the Ebola “crisis” could be used in a way to display how afraid U.S citizens actually are, it changes the routine of everyday people by hiding and creating mass hysteria instead of living life as normally intended. Yet, this dismay is valid in a sense, reluctance of aberration is absolutely natural, nobody truly enjoys change, simply because most desire to keep things the way they are, most can consider this “trouble with acceptance”. A prime example: The film industry has fallen accustomed to cranking out superhero movies by the dozen, and it is only logical, nobody wants to see something different and inventive, just the same old shtick over and over and over again until it’s done to death, the reason being is that audiences aren’t entirely sure what they want until they get it, and even when they do get it, most ignore it’s innovation and dial back down to your average summer blockbuster.
ReplyDelete2. Aberration is definitely expressed throughout “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. Now, some can make the argument that there is nothing wrong with being a pod person. However, I find some discrepancy with that statement. Sure, being a pod person relieves emotion, conflict, discrimination etc. But it also removes individualism, creating a world where everything is the same, where everything is completely drained of life, where everything is dumbed down and simple. The beauty of human nature derives from obtaining the ability to express yourself in any way you see fit, rather than being forced to follow what is socially expected. The pod people are all congruent, and they’ll change anyone who dares to be different... similar to us and how we operate, so besides the emotional detachment, the pod people are no better than humans. They want everyone to be like them, and they’ll enact fits of violence in order of achieving this.
3. Puritans were raised to believe that Witches are evil, that they worship the Devil, and that they enjoy to torment others, which, wasn’t true, if anything Puritans just hated the idea of others veering off onto their own path, leaving the status quo behind.
4. Now, Bryan doesn’t like the remake of “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, which is fine, but I wouldn’t go as far to say that it is a bad film. It was interesting, and from as far as I can tell it seems more as a prequel than a remake, considering the cameo of the original main character in this version. Anyways, “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Crucible” possess similar aspects, both sets of characters from both stories fear the ideal of something or someone being different. Yet, in “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” the pod people were forcing themselves onto society giving characters reason to deal with said “Invasion”, whereas in “The Crucible” the Witches were perceived to be generally malicious, thus using that belief to support/protect their own interests.
Superhero films could be interesting, yet the film studios continue to churn out origin stories, the most trite plot line of all.
DeletePeople like neat, orderly stories with clearly defined heroes and villains.
1.In America the fear of aberration is still very present. Aberration tends to scare people due to the fact that people find comfort in routine. Routine allows people to have primary control over what happens in their lives. People become frightened when that routine, their way of controlling their lives, is stripped away. That is what so often makes contemporary horror so frightening, not having that control. One representation of this is in the film The Amityville Horror. The movie bases on an average family just like many others that move into a new house. The family is just trying to live a normal life when strange things start to occur, things that they have no control over. The people that lived in the house before them all died there. Which adds more suspense to the story but to make it worst it was the father that killed the whole family then took his own life. So, these new people that live in this house now are being affected by the past spirits. The young girl Chelsie befriends a little girl Jodie that was her age and died in the house she’s living in. Chelsie even begins carrying around the teddy bear that was Jodie’s which was supposedly buried with her. Then the rest of the family including the babysitter starts to see and hear things as well. The father later starts to wake up at a specific time and do strange things when being controlled by an evil spirit, he even at one point attempts to murder the whole family. So, this film is so frightening to the average person because the family life is so relatable at the beginning of the film but, in one second they lost control over their lives and we fear losing control.
ReplyDelete2.So, this whole idea of aberration, the departure of what is not normal, helps to give a better understanding of the underlining terror in the movie Invasion of The Body Snatchers. Invasion of The Body Snatchers is not the average horror movie, it does not have the usual gore, creepy house, mass murderer nor does it even start off creepily. It seems to be the underlying story line that makes it the horror that it is. It is not the pod people that make it creepy it is the way society changes and how quickly it occurs. People start to act different until eventually the whole way of life is just changed and change often is true horror.
3.Puritans in Salem Massachutes were used to rules and living a certain way up until the time of The Salem Witch Trials. When the trials began change began. People had to start lying more often and doing whatever it took to make sure they would not be accused of witchery. So, aberration was feared by the Puritans too, but instead of fearing the uncommon openly they evolved to the circumstances and just accepted the change.
4. Oddly enough there are several different theories on why you chose Invasion of The Body Snatchers for us to watch in class. I think you chose it after The Crucible to stick with what we were learning of course, but to also choose a film that you could branch off of if need be and do other activities on. It worked pretty well with The Crucible even though to be honest I wondered how in the world you were going to show the movie in conjunction with the book and how they were going to have anything to do with each other. But, they did. Invasion of The Body Snatchers I know helped me get a further understanding of aberration. It cleared up the meaning pretty well. It connected it to more relatable change, people staring to act different (not the whole pod thing). The Crucible had a lot of fear and change in it as well as the movie. But, all in all I do think it was a wise decision to show it in conjunction with The Crucible.
According to King, The Amityville Horror frightened audiences in the 1970's because of its economic implications: the horrors of home repair, etc. He postulates that this frightened audiences more than the idea of a possessed house.
Delete1. Americans have always feared aberration. Whether we are referring to Salem in 1692, communism in the 1950's or even America today, the fear of aberration has an extreme relevance. Americans do not like change and almost always, they refuse to change. Many fear change & aberration because of the instability and uncertainty it brings. In the horror film "An Nightmare on Elm Street," a group of teenagers who reside on Elm Street are tormented by Freddy Kreuger in their dreams. The objective of the movie is to not fall asleep in order to prevent Kreuger from murdering you in your sleep. Just like Americans, these teenagers fear aberration but in their case they fear Freddy Kreuger, their dreams and ultimately, their death.
ReplyDelete2. The idea of aberration definitely helps explain the terror behind "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." The reason why the characters were so terrified was not only because they didn't want to become pods but because they didn't want their "status quo" to change. They were stable and content in their normal lives and their normal schedules but right when their "normal" was changed, all chaos broke loose. There was a mass hysteria and all were afraid of aberration.
3. The same fear of aberration is shown in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1692 the people of Salem held the witch trials in order to eliminate any witches in the town. Even though the play "The Crucible" seems to be about witchcraft and devil worship, it's underlying conflicts entail the fear of aberration, communism and invasion if the "status quo." Whatever the situation may be, humans are all scared of change and the breaking of their peace or daily routines.
4. Your reasoning behind showing "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" in conjunction with "The Crucible" was probably to show the correspondence in theme. Both the play and movie have the same conflict; both present a panel of characters who fear aberration. The play and movie work well together because they present two instances in which the "status quo" is conflicted with and mass hysteria sweeps the town. These two productions work well not only because of the similar fears but because they show two diverse cases that evolve around the same common fear of aberration. This not only shows two relevant and interesting scenarios but it allows viewers and readers to understand aberration fully.
1)Americans are constantly frightened by aberration. We dont like the idea of something being out of order or getting messed up. Horror movies constantly remind us on how frighened we are by this. Think on why Americans love horror movies. Here we go and spend money to watch a movie where we know the characters outcome to fail. What gives us the thrill about it is that we know by the end of the day nothing had changed. We can go back to a normal life knowing that we have control and order. For example gay marriage rights terrifies most Americans. Americans are so accoustom to the idea of a man and woman getting married. For man and man or woman and woman to get married it just disrupts the order and control that we were taught to be right for centuries.
ReplyDelete2) "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" disrupts the "status quo". The idea that the pod bodies were taking over the human race terrified the main characters. They didn't want to accept the change that was happening because of that idea of aberration. They didn't want to just let the change happen because it messed up that order and control Americans feel the need to have.
3) Puritans wanted perfection. When someone couldnt keep up with that perfection they got rid of them. However not everyone is perfect so when that happens a situation like the witch trials. The puritans felt as though those "witches" interrupted with the control and order so they got rid of them to try and save that control and order.
4) You chose that movie with " The Crucible" because the whole concept of both the movie and play was that each of the people were frighened by aberration and the desire to have that status quo.
You neatly define catharsis here.
DeleteNote: Societies and views change. What is considered disorderly to one generation can be considered the social norm to another.
1. America embraces change if, and only if, it has benefits. It sees change the same way as a gold digger, well, “gold-digs.” But once that “love” is taken away, or isn’t what it was thought to be, the gold digger has no problem moving on. Take technology as an example. People are always looking to upgrade their iphone or to buy the new microwave with “3000 giga-hertz!” Seriously, these manufacturers just look for fancy way of saying, “It runs on electricity.” And if technology lets them down, all Americans have to do is go to their local Walmart, observe all the strange late-night shoppers, and buy the newest appliances.
ReplyDeleteThe last horror movie I watched was “The Conjuring.” It wasn’t horrifying but if I learned anything from it’s that: don’t play the “clap” game, don’t live in a secluded area, and most importantly, don’t buy a house that has a history of murder and suicide. Just some friendly advice, if you didn’t already know. It had nothing to do with the “status quo.” There was nothing about sex, drugs or alcohol throughout the film. The only mistake was the initial decision, to move from a friendly neighborhood, to a dilapidated spiritually challenged home in the middle of a forest.
2. In “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” everyone is changing or being “duplicated and replaced” by aliens. Change is the overall theme of the movie. There are people who oppose change, and there are people who embrace it. During an odd, yet revealing scene in the movie, the nude and improved, sorry, the new and improved version of Elizabeth, tells Mathew that “Everything is better now.” If dissolving into ash, and reforming as a naked version of oneself seems appealing to you, then head down to the nearest cucumber, pickle-thing farm and surrender yourself to the awkwardly screeching people.
3. The denizens of Salem, were afraid of the relentless change that occurred all around them. “Witches” were the scapegoats used to incarcerate other people who got in their way. If they couldn’t settle the score through money or authority, incriminating a person was thought to be just as effective.
4. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” capitalizes on people’s resistance to change. People will do whatever it takes to keep their lives from shifting, even if it means bludgeoning a plant-version of themselves with a shovel. Their fear of what was “normal” drove them to question their own beliefs. On the other hand, the Crucible encircled around the idea that being different was wrong. If you were not a man of God, then you were either less than a man, or you must have been conspiring with the Devil. These two opposing ideas are why you chose to show the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Crucible.”
Remember: the supernatural is not orderly. The name literally implies this--it's not natural.
Delete1.Americans are scared of aberration, and getting out of their comfort zone. They don't like having to do things that don't involve normal everyday life, especially when it has to do with life and death situation. In the movie series "Saw" a serial killer force plays these deadly games with kidnapped people he didn't think appreciated their lives. The victims had to choose whether to face excruciating pain even lose a limb or two or be killed or someone else ended up dying. This scared people in general because they don't want to make decision that you don't do in real life unless you got kidnapped by a serial killer like that which would suck. Thats why people were so taken back by the "saw" franchise because it's somewhat possible, it could absolutely change someone's life.
ReplyDelete2.In "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" the pod people are almost symbolizing the communist in 1950s america. The movie made people realize that there was a possibility of this in real life but with the communists and the reaction would have been disastrous if we were taken over. They are frightened by what they haven't experienced. The movie also says that life around them was changing and they weren't comfortable with change in general. Whoever wasn't dead ran with horror away from all the change.
3.The puritans were somewhat happy with their ways till all the sudden witchcraft comes out of know where, and the people are scared because they didn't know much about it except to them and from what their taught it's evil. They don't want this so called witchcraft taking over their lives because it goes against how they live their normal lives. Just like in the body snatchers.The difference is the puritans could do something about it and disperse of it compared to the movie because the pod people had more control.
4.Both the film "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and the book "Crucible" showed the fear of abberation except that different numbered groups of people were taking action to the to the fear of abberation. The Crucible there was a community big enough to fight it but in the movie no hope for the rest of the people who weren't in pods so they ran. This goes to show that people will do whatever is best to keep their life the way it is.
I think the terror of Saw lies in choice: not only do the victims face brutal deaths, they also have to come to terms with mutilating others.
DeleteThe first one is unique and creative in its execution.
1. In America we are scared of change. Everything needs to go as planned or we freak out and get scared. In contemporary horror they also show this sense of aberration. For example, in the movie "It" everyone is scared that they will be taken by this killer clown. Kids are disappearing left and right and who knows who's next.
ReplyDelete2. This idea of aberration helps to explain the underlying terror in the invasion of the body snatchers. The characters Matthew and Elizabeth were horrified to turn into a pod so they did everything they could to make sure they didn't. They were scared to change. They saw everyone around them changing and couldn't stand it so they just wanted to leave, they couldn't stand the sense of aberration.
3. In Salem, Massachusetts this same sense of fear scared the Puritans. They all had routines to follow and if they weren't followed correctly you would be accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death. They were all scared to change because if they did they would be dead. This idea of witchcraft scared them because it wasn't what they were normally used to, it was the devils work.
4. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Crucible were showed in conjunction most likely because they both showed the sense of aberration. They both show how scared everyone is of change. Although they are portrayed differently they still have the same concept. In The Invasion of the Body Snatchers people are afraid to become a pod person, but, in The Crucible people are scared of becoming accused of witchcraft. Either way, these ideas of pods or witchcraft were new things which aren't in the daily routine which made the people scarred because they weren't sure of the unknown.
1. We as Americans fear disorder, we think of our selves as "a city upon a hill" but honestly we are just like everyone else, we need order, order sustains sanity in an otherwise chaotic world that we exist and thrive in today. For example "The Walking Dead" a world where chaos is order, honestly what do we fear the flesh eating zombies or the not knowing what's gonna happen at any given minute on any given day. We as humans crave order so when disorder replaces it our lives become chaos, horror films and tv shows exemplify this to expose our primal fear of chaos.
ReplyDelete2. Aberration does help underline the terror in "invasion of the body snachers" after watching the movie you realize that it had no horror factor in it, nothing that would make you jump out of your seat. But then when you got home you started to look at your family and friends differently, people that you've spent your life with that begin to change. So then you end up not sleeping for 2 nights and there acting even more different. But really becoming a human-plant thing sounds pretty cool so it's not the fear of this happening but it's the fear of our whole world changing right before our eyes and not having the ability to stop it. So yes aberration does help underline the terror in "invasion of the body snachers".
3. The same sense of fear gripped Salem during the witch trials, people were scared that other people they had known for there whole life had become witches. Activities that were unusual in the Puritan culture were deemed witchcraft. The fear of everything that they've worked hard to build and order the sustained being taken away by people that just want disorder. So in order to protect themselves they decided to kill anyone that was accused of being a witch.
4. The reason "invasion of the body snachers" was chosen to be shown in conjunction with the crucible is this, both exemplify the idea of chaos within an ordered society. The crucible takes place in the 1600's where people feared losing there old society and replacing it with a new one. Invasion of the body snachers takes place in the 1970"s where a health inspector fears that his society is beginning to get taken over by aliens. These were both shown in conjunction with each other because they both show how one detail can affect a whole society, and how much fear we have in change.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/the-walking-dead/382223/
Delete1. Yes, we are scared of aberration in America. This is shown in all of our horror movies. The movie Annabelle is a great example. It's about a couple beginning to experience terrifying supernatural occurrences involving a vintage doll shortly after their home is invaded by satanic cultists.
ReplyDelete2. Yes, because even though it wasn't a slasher movie, it shows that that could be happening right under our noses.
3. Even though witch craft wasn't happening, people were afraid that they could be possessed.
4. Both of them show the terror of what could happen. They both show the disruption of normalcy progressively happening.
1. I believe that America as a country is scared of change, we like what is already there because it is stable and we don't have to go through something to any differences to get to what we already have.
ReplyDelete2. The fear of abberation is displayed all over for example in the invasion of the body snatchers, everyone becomes pod people, but no one wants to become a pod person because it is change.
3. In the Salem witch trials I also believe had the same sense of underlying abberation they believed in God made good actions and bad were the work of the devil, these beliefs made them paranoid
4. I think you chose these together because they are somewhat similar in ways, they are both similar to aberration. And in both situations the people were trying to stop things from changes and looking for the answers to problems in places that are not there.
Yes I think we do still continue to be frightened by aberration in America. People in America tend to want to stick to what is normal and anything that drifts away from that "normal" principle causes people to get frightened. We get so use to everything being normal which causes us not to be able to accept change. For example the movie the purge was about the government making one day out of the year where all crime was legal. People in the movie was of course frightened by aberration. It was not what they were use to, which caused them to feel frightened.
ReplyDeleteYes this idea of aberration helps to explain the underlying terror portrayed in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It simply helps us better understand how people don't like change and are frightened by it. As people were turning into to pod people the humans that knew about it became worried and scared. That was the terror in this movie, the fear of change.
The same sense of fear affected the puritans in Salem Becuase as people were being accused of being witches it started to change things and people around them. People were falsely accusing people of being witches out of hate or jealousy and lots of people were being hanged or put in jail. This caused people to be frightened Because of the change that was happening. It wasn't normal for the witch trials to happen and peoples fear started to show.
I think you elected to show The Invasion of the Body Snatchers in conjunction with The Crucible because it had the same principle of aberration. In both movies they were breaking away from what was considered normal and things started to change. People began to get frightened in both movies because of the change that was happening. Even though each movie had a different story they were based on the same thing. People just don't like change!
Remember though: the change represented in the film and the play is genuinely scary.
Delete1.) Americans today are afraid of aberration. This is why dystopian thrillers such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner are immensely popular. A good example of this is Saw. Despite the Saw films having a terrible premise, they evoke fear in many people. This is because, unlike supernatural horror movies, the events in these films could actually happen. This scares people because while watching, we lose our sense of normality and realize that someone could really take it into their own hands to become a vigilante and punish people for their crimes.
ReplyDelete2.) The Invasion of the Body Snatchers is another example of how abnormality makes the average person uncomfortable. Most people would not be willing to be taken over by a race of plant people from outer space. While it sounds silly on paper, the movie is actually jarring when watched. It really puts in perspective how being controlled and suppressed by a more powerful group is terrifying. While the 80's remake doesn't really dwell in this zone, the original movie was about communism. At the time it was made, that was an issue that horrified people. It was a hidden power that they couldn't touch, as the plant people were in the second movie. Just as communism had the power to do, the plant people could turn loved ones into enemies.
3.) The Puritans faced the same sort of fear because of the strong religious beliefs. Because they associated the unknown and other aberrations with the devil, they constantly feared the devil on earth. Just like pod people, the Puritans believed the devil could possess people on earth.
4.) The Crucible and The Invasion of the Body Snatchers are great stories to be evaluated together because they both are based upon the fear of the unknown.
Good call on the dystopian thing. They are quite popular at the moment.
DeleteNathan Grabel
ReplyDelete1. The whole idea of aberration makes Americans scared. Anything out of the ordinary and people lose there minds. This comes from stepping out of the ordinary routine that we go threw everyday. Weather we realize it or not Americans do not like change. For example, in the movie Texas chainsaw massacre a group of kids pick up a hitch hiker who commits suicide in their van causes for a sudden change of plans. When the kids seek help from locals, It's quickly apparent the residents are a family of inbred psychopaths. This aberration scares the small group of teens when everything around them is no longer normal.
2. This idea of aberration explains the underlying terror when the main characters that have not turned into pods already have everything changing around them. The whole idea of normal is thrown out the window and they become scared not knowing what to do.
3. A similar sense of fear is present in the puritan life style. A society based off of hard work then you die, anyone who differs from it is accused of witch craft and thrown in jail.
4. You chose to show The Invasion of the Body Snatchers in conjunction with the Crucible because they are both based of of the fear of aberration but from a different time period with different issues. In the Crucible anyone who acts out of the ordinary is thrown in jail. In Invasion of the body snatchers the vast majority of people are out of the ordinary and only the main characters are still sane.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre attempted to convince viewers that the premise was factual; it's not.
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