Reflection on Part 1

Dr. Crane as The Scarecrow

I have always been fascinated by fear. When I was a kid I remember watching the Batman Animated Series. I thought it was so cool that one of Batman's villains, the Scarecrow(pictured), literally used fear as his weapon. Therefore, when I saw this course in the catalog I had to take it.

I am very much enjoying the course so far. It is very interesting to see just how much fear has become saturated into our culture. The readings are varied, but all contribute to the same conversation. I think our class disillusions are good, and similar conversations should be conducted in other classes across this campus. Issues we have discussed affect everyone and everyone should be aware of them. The highlight of the curriculum, for me, has been the films we have watched. From enlightening documentaries, to classic horror films, I seem to get more and more out of each one.

As much as I have enjoyed the material, it tends to be pretty depressing. Watching Bowling for Columbine is hardly a pick me up. Realizing just how convoluted our prison and news systems are was tough to swallow. Clearly there are plenty of examples throughout this class so far, that make me wonder how will things ever change? I would like to think that study this material could help, but it is only a step in the right direction. Therefore, I like to make memes related to the topics we cover and put them in my blog. Sometimes, a little humor can make me feel better.

I am excited to see where this class is going, and to further explore Glassner's book. I am confident that this last half of the class will be as strong as the first. However, until then I will be enjoying my spring break on a beach in Cancun! I know I have posted this clip before, but I think it perfectly summarizes the power of fear and many of the themes in this class. This is an episode from The Twilight Zone, about one city block that begins to turn on each other. Even though the fear revolves around communism, it is still very much relevant today.

Analysis of Drugs and Oz

The HBO original series "OZ" is critically acclaimed and beloved by fans. The show's following claims they love how realistic and authentic the portrayal of prison. However, this is not even close to an accurate interpretation of prison life. After watching a few clips I got the basic idea of the show. Murder, is the first word that comes to mind, in terms of how to describe the show. In one scene J.K. Simmon's character is going around asking people if they were willing to kill someone for him. This issue was a matter of fact and it was treated as if it was commonplace. As Yousman pointed out in his article, "OZ" is incarceration as entertainment. Being that "OZ" is a television show, not a documentary, they had to make it more entertaining. In doing so, they sacrificed authenticity. For example, inmates are free to walk around without much supervision and the level of violence is extremely high. Even though audience members thought this was accurate it clearly was not.

"The War on Drugs" film gives a truly realistic view at prison life. As the documentary quickly demonstrated most of the people in jail, are in jail for drug related crimes, not violent crimes. The war on drugs program is intended to stop the drug trafficking in the United States. However, this is not even remotely what is done. As one women said in the film, "this is a war on poor people, with drug involvement." Some the issues addressed in this film were utterly disturbing. The fact that these drug patrol groups can seize basically whatever they want is alarming. This is because these are civil not criminal proceedings, therefore everyone is guilty til proven innocent. Not to mention the amount of drugs need to but someone in jail is so minimal it is ridiculous. What ends up happening is that our prisons are getting filled with all these drug related cases. This leads to more and more prisons being built, and putting the US as the country with the highest percent of its population incarcerated.

In class I mentioned that the show "Beyond Scared Straight" offers a good representation of prison life. I was wrong. It may be more accurate than "OZ," however it does not address the underlying issue that our system is broken. The war on drugs is a total sham. as Glassner says fear dominates the discourse when it comes to drugs. People have been convinced that this is the best and only way to stop drug dealing. When ultimately this system is destroying lives and families. With all this being said, "OZ" does not even remotely depict prison life in a truthful manner. These misplaced fears on drugs need to change, for people to realize just how convoluted the war on drugs is.

Review of The American Nightmare

This documentary pretty much puts an end to the idea that horror is a throw away genre. This film sets out to show how the horror genre can reflect and comment on the real world events happening at the time. It does this by interviewing various horror film directors and creators, and showing clips from a plethora of horror films. I really enjoyed hearing these horror legends give their input on their own creations. This behind the scenes look helped me to better appreciate the films they were talking about. For example, it was great to hear Romero talk about Night of the Living Dead. I liked seeing how the film fed on real world fears, such as the assassination of MLK and Vietnam.

Horror films can also represent aspects of humanity and comment on them. Wes Craven's Last House on the Left is a good example of this. This film demonstrates how all humans are capable of committing terrible acts. In the film a girl is raped by these strangers, after some unforeseen circumstances, end up staying at the girl's house. Her parents learn about what their guests have done and kill them. However, it is the nature of these deaths that is shocking. Pictured above is the girl's father about to kill a man with a chainsaw. This film examined the human psyche and suggested that we are all sadistic if given the opportunity.

My personal favorite example from the film was Romero's sequel to Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead. The film takes place in a zombie infested shopping mall, where humans are trying to survive. They find comfort in taking things from the mall, which includes not only food, but merchandise as well. Romero suggests that the comfort we find in consumer culture ultimately makes us "zombies." Romero himself said during the documentary, "we're the living dead." This is the sort of social commentary that is showcased in horror films at their finest.

This film did a great job of showing just how deep and sophisticated horror films can be. However, all of the films used were pretty old. I understand they wanted to use the classics, but a few modern examples would have been nice. Overall though I thoroughly enjoyed the film and was fascinated by it. One of the closing comments of the film was that the apocalypse is always. I think that is true and that describes the culture of fear perfectly.