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BlackPhx -> RE: Torture Porn (1/27/2008 2:42:51 PM)
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ORIGINAL: petdave
Don't forget Herman Mudgett, aka Dr. H. H. Holmes of the "Chicago Torture Castle"! Fascinating, fascinating stuff.
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Hmm maybe I am just weird. Master thinks so at times. But yanno, he was real proud that someone paid me to write them a custom torture porn story and brags about it.
poenkitten (twisted, sick and in love with movies like Seven, Saw 1, Hostel)
when i saw the name i wondered if you were the same poenkitten of alt.torture... i'm guessing "yes" [:D]
Yep, one in the same, happily owned and operated by Master BlackPhx. Back to subject however, there is one aspect of these movies that tends to get ignored unless you are a watcher of news and crime shows (which run the gamut of these torture movies without the gratuitous blood). They are warnings.
Warnings you ask? Yep. The main one is you don't know what the person facing you is capable of or what they have done. From stalkers to serial killers we face, possible encounter or at least hear about their aftermath nearly daily. However, few of us think it could ever happen to us or someone we know, or in our neighborhoods. Most often heard remark when neighbors find out the boy down the street is a serial killer? "He was such a nice boy, so helpful, respectful and quiet." Second most common, "He was just weird, an outcast at school," etc. With the exception of movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, most of the killers, torturers etc, in these movies are people you just might encounter at work, school or at a restaurant. The quiet man, the too sweet child, the high powered business man.
John T. Jamelske a 67 year old, Syracuse NY millionaire was arrested in 2003 charged with the kidnapping, torture, rape and enslavement of not 1, 2 or 3 but 5 women ranging in age 14-53 over a period of 3 years. He was generally seen walking around town collecting bottles for their return value and discarded furniture. Most people took him for a homeless person or someone down on their luck. Not for a man capable of imprisoning, raping several times a day and torturing women.
That tends to be one of the lessons of the Torture movies. It can happen to you and by the person you would least expect or be wary of. We do everything consentually, to a point, but even here we have our predators. Otherwise there would be no need for caution when meeting someone for the first time on either side of the dance. But even with our caution and safety nets and public meetings, there are still people who get hurt. Badly hurt.
Do the movies need to be so gory? Probably not, but at the same time, not much else is going to reach people including the youth of today who play games that rack up bodies and gore at fantastic rates. I suspect even Hitchcock would have to toss in more than a shower scene these days to sell Psycho. Creature features can still give a chill, but for people who cut their eye teeth on Zombi fests complete with gushing brains, cutting back the blood won't get through to them.
Hard Candy wasn't all that bloody compared to most films, but it was graphic (implied and direct), alien wouldn't have sent shivers down backs without the slow extention of the jaws before death or the explosive embryo scenes. Hostel which so many have a problem with, has a nasty connotation, that We who practice BDSM consentually may not be the only ones practicing and youthful travel is not always safe and friendly. What people tend to forget is that 100's of people go missing every day, not only here, but in Europe and other places. Many are never found. Some do it voluntarily but not all of them.
Does it need to be graphically slammed down on the plate in front of us at the movies? Perhaps it does. Our News is sanitized, cleaned up and delivered by stern faced or smiling faced anchors. You hear shaken baby, domestic violence, burned child and it does not hit people who have never experienced it viscerally. They shake their heads and go on eating dinner. Newspapers are no better. People see "clean" crimes scenes like CSI or Criminal Minds and have no clue, just how messy death really is. Worse Juries expect DNA to tell everything and crimes to be wrapped up in a couple of weeks, and don't understand how you can have a crime without a body in some cases. These movies do get that point across, even in their commercials.
Are they justified? I can't say. They do however rake in enough viewers, in theaters and on DVD's that the studios keep producing them. Hollywood is about nothing if not about the Almighty Dollar, if it ain't selling, they ain't producing it.
poenkitten (who apologizes for writing so much)
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