Wow, it has been a looooong time since I last posted on this blog but what the heck I just had a great idea for a blog post and I have the time so here we go. It's probably no real secret that horror movie characters aren't particularly well written or interesting characters. Being honest, most of them are douche bags.
This idea first hit me upon watching Paranormal Activity for the first time. Paranormal Activity deals with a couple being haunted by a malevolent spirit. Upon finally deciding that the spirit is indeed an actually real thing the guy (Micah) not only repeatedly shoots down Katie's pleas to move house, but, also against Katie's wishes, he uses an Ouija board which agitates the spirit. These actions very much fall under the umbrella of douche-baggery. Sure moving house is expensive but is it that hard to get a hotel room for a week or two (they live alone in a 2 story house so they can probably afford it), and what purpose did playing with the Ouija board serve? Was he honestly expecting to learn something? Paranormal Activity is far from the only movie that does this: other horror movies such as V/H/S, many of the slasher genre and what feels like most modern horror films have a skeptical douche bag or alpha male. Naturally this skeptical douche bag character is created when the writer needs a character who disbelieves in the supernatural or dangerous element, and writes them as smugly superior so we can have some catharsis when they finally get killed.
Which is what makes Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell refreshing. Drag Me To Hell is a 2009 horror comedy about a loan officer, Christine Brown, who is cursed to be dragged to hell by a demon in three days. Much like Paranormal Activitiy's Katie she has a boyfriend, Clay, who initially disregards the idea of demonic haunting. However Raimi flips the douche bag skeptic trope on its head by making Clay a nice guy. He pays for Christine's fortune telling appointments, he defends her in front of his parents, and overall maintains a caring, intelligent and reasonable attitude. He still fills the role of the skeptic, but he actually gives a damn about Christine and as such is a far more compelling and likable character. This makes the movie FAR more effective and enjoyable then any movie that relies on the skeptic douche bag.
Horror movies seem to think that the less we like the characters who are being attacked or are in danger the more fun we'll have watching the movie...and this is not the case. No one wants to spend 90 minutes straight with a skeptical douche bag.
No comments:
Post a Comment