A (rather inflamed) frustration with what is sometimes called horror movie these days, and why
Anthropological, psychological, ritualistic and grounded in "archaic" religious beliefs. Those are some of the descriptors movie experts from every corner of the internet used to describe Midsommar, the second Ari Aster horror from 2019. And although they know much more than I do when it comes to tricks and schemes directors and producers use to make skins crawl, those are not at all the ideas I want to put forward when thinking about what this movie meant when I came upon it.
First, I want to debate the idea of it being a horror movie to begin with. Much about the genre, despite its technical characteristics, I believe, speaks of what spectators feel when watching it, much more than what was actually intended. And on that note, the other movie I would like to bring to this discussion, Lamb, from director Valdimar Jóhannsson, was also depicted as a horror film, much to the director's shock for, as it turns out, he agrees with me completely as he sees the whole thing as a family drama. More ahead.
"I have to say I was more uncomfortable and terrified for the women in Paulo Aguero's Silenciadas than I ever was for Florence Pugh's boyfriend in Midsommar."
One interesting thing I have also read has to do with the violence, both physical and mental, in Midsommar, especially, how gruesome some of the scenes may be, and how that could categorize a movie. That also struck me as odd, especially when you think of other movies who did not receive the title of horror and are just (if not more) disturbing, such as Silenciadas, from Pablo Aguero, and The Crucible, both inquisition movies. The weirdness came from the category in which the last two were inserted: drama and period drama. And one might think it might be because the events of inquisition movies have actually happened, or that the movies were inspired by them, and because it is part of the history that made us westerns be, the violence is justifiable in calling it merely 'somethin that happened', the basis of a drama story. I have to say I was more uncomfortable and terrified for the women in Silenciadas than I ever was for Florence Pugh's boyfriend in Midsommar. In the case of Lamb, and it being a very subtle Icelandic movie, the violence that actually moved me as a viewer is actually the opposite of what is expected, or even sold by the producer, the trailer and whatever news I heard about the piece previous to watching it. Whenever the baby or the family are threatened, that's when my insides twisted.
The category in which something like a movie or even a book is placed under may seem like a small thing, but in the end, it plays a part in how you see the movie, or at least how most people see it. I, particularly, was frustrated, for I had selected both titles to watch on Sunday evening, what we call 'Horror Night' here at the house, but we actually ended up heartbroken, in the case of Lamb, vindicated and over (visually) stimulated, in the case of Midsommar, and, obviously, frustrated in both cases, since none was a horror movie, at all.
"And even though Sweden, a country that is one of the richest and most well resolved role models of capitalism today, must still be "put in its cultural place" for its pagan, tribal and ritualistic (read barbaric) past."
In both works, how the audience would perceive the movies or how the media and industry anticipated they would in order to categorize them as they were, speaks volumes about the cultural aspects that form our society, and how some differing cultures are perceived by us, or worse, are twisted so we can perceive them in specific, designed ways. Some of the reviews I've read of Midsommar, as mentioned earlier, speak of how a group of American young adults fall pray to an archaic, deranged, religious group formed by Swedish country people that still (how dare they), to this day, perform human sacrifices in the name of their village prosperity. Yes, not God, as we Christian societies would most likely understand it (and some of my friends who have watched it swear they say the word, but they don't), but prosperity, and not just foreseeable future prosperity, over ninety years worth of it. Most of the people in the gathering would not be alive for the next one, and apart from the ingenuous Americans, all the ones that died or were killed in the cerimonies did so willingly. Thinking of this the word "barbarians" came to mind, and if you have thought just a little about how this word is used throughout history you'll remember how the barbarians were usually the people invading or defending their land against the holders of the status quo at any time (think whoever fought against the Greeks, the Romans and even the Nordics themselves, who were labled like that when invading England was a thing). And even though Sweden, a country that is one of the richest and most well resolved role models of capitalism today, must still be "put in its cultural place" for its pagan, tribal and ritualistic (read barbaric) past. And the great irony is that western culture as a whole continues, to this day, to sacrifice not individuals, but entire groups of people in the name of a new, different God (I'll let you name it). We should be calling horror all Hollywood movies where the black kid dies first (or maybe the category only applies to white man who are shitty boyfriends and terrible researchers? If you have seen the movie, the reference is not lost).
This hygienist Christian and capitalist formula of painting every other culture as uncivilized plays a part in how we watch and read what we naively believe is only entertainment, and these views spill into our actual lives, because, like it or not, what we consume culturally forms us as human beings. African religions, for example, that have spread all over the world due to Europe's slavery project, are usually persecuted because they are culturally seen by people as archaic, unevolved, and Christianity (in all its divisions) plays a part in disseminating this idea, not only within its temples but in whatever cultural asset it invests its money into, so when it comes to destroying temples and attacking people of those religions, everything is set in your mind to condone the action or even perpetrate it. All is made that much easier, because you were thought to believe they are culturally and religiously inferior to you. A feat much harder to accomplish when you are used to watch and consume different cultures than your own.
Movies (culturally enriching ones, not Spider Man), like books, are tools to understanding our society, how it operates, and how to explore new ones, far away from our reality. They present a way to see different people closer, a gift (one of the few) of our technological, globalized world, and make no mistake, the great movie industries of the world are well aware of its power, so I hope with this new topic of discussion here in the blog can inspire you to see it the same way.
'Til next time.
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