š§ #217 - We're not using the "Z" word.
Do we know what kind of story we're in, and will it matter?
Prior toĀ Scream, horror movie characters usually didnāt know what story they were in until it was too late ā and when they did manage to wake up and seek agency against the narrative, Ć laĀ Rosemaryās BabyĀ orĀ The Omen, their efforts usually ended badly for them.
Films likeĀ Blair WitchĀ andĀ Funny GamesĀ were successful not just because they subverted the ārulesā of horror, but because they did so in ways that shocked and disoriented audiences. The question of whether the characters were able to navigate, control, or manipulate their narratives became a major source of tension and conflict that added to the filmsā feeling of horror.
Thatās part of the question Aja Romano wants to answer about self-referential characters in film: Can knowing the genre youāre in give you the ability to counteract its conventions?
Joey Ernand looks to a few different horror films to explore the difference between self-aware deconstructions and spoofs, which play as much into audiencesā genre savvy as well as the charactersā:
In meta films, the filmmakers know that their audiences know the tropes of the genre, and so they address that with things like reversals (you think something will zig, then it zags) and self-aware dialogue.
Meta films also often want to tell a story of their own that goes beyond homage and reaches deeper with its themes. They want to be an ideal example of what their genre can accomplish as much as they want to poke holes in it.
Kartik Nair digs deep into the Scream franchise and his own personal history with horror films and academic study to consider how being genre savvy has shifted from a nerdy hobby to an academic discourse, and the way the horror franchise tries to reflect this.
Heading in a different direction, Damian Garcia looks at how Shaun of the Dead is a rom-com in Zombie film clothing, and how the characters are genre-savvy and actively in denial about the type of story theyāre in. Sure there are plenty of moments of shambling undead and gore, but itās all to service the personal growth of the protagonist.
And sometimes the self-aware character points back at the self-aware audience: Bilge Ebiri looks at the relationship between the killers and the audience in Funny Games. The film continually reminds the audience āitās just a filmā in order to keep them watching, and realize that theyāre complicit in the violence that follows.
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Previously on Innerestingā¦
In case you missed it, in last issueās most clicked link Thomas Flight praises well done exposition:
What else is inneresting?
Celeste Davis on recognizing the difference between men who like (and respect) women, and men who donāt. Features celebrity examples for instructional purposes.
Matt Webb turned a static website into a chatroom with Cursor Party, and has something to say about the idea of how every website can feel like an actual place.
Jordan Foisy on how entrenched corporations create an opaque system around the price of groceries, and how this makes it harder to understand what something should actually cost.
And thatās whatās inneresting this week!
Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from readers like you and the entire Quote-Unquote team.
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