Witches: Women with Power part2

On my last post, I spoke about witches not needing magic to be witches. They just need the right characteristics and personality. A pointed hat and broomstick does not always make a witch. Its things like independence and ‘power’ that makes a witch.

For my example of a real life witch without a hat and broom stick, is no other than Miranda Preistly.

Miranda is a woman who is a true bitch. I mean….witch. This woman has fear, great power, and respect. She worked hard to get to the top, and now that she is the head of a fashion company, she tends to take advantage of her ‘powers’ and puts the main character through hell. Every one pretty much hates Miranda but she doesn’t let that effect her. And interesting enough, she loses her 3rd husband in the movie because she can’t give up her job (her power). Sounds like a witch to me. Despite Miranda’s ‘evil’ behavior, she ends up helping the main character in the end.

Even though Miranda and other ‘witches’ are typically disliked and typically single, I admire them and want to be more like them in the good ways. I always find the good in the bad i guess.

Any who, I see witches differently than they are often portrayed, and I focus on the realistic human characteristics of the Witches, not the magic, because it isn’t the magic that makes a witch, a witch.

What do you think? Do you think magic is important? Do you think i’m over analyzing portrayals of witches? Do witches represent other aspects of women? Let me know what you think!

Witches: Women with power

Witches. Ah yes, a subject I am really fond of. Witches are women with power. And the way i am talking about witches today is not about them as a fictional characters, but as reflections on ideas and portrayal of ‘dominant’ women.

Malificent, Ursula, Queen Ravenna, Aunt Maria, the White Witch and so on….all of these are some ‘evil’ witches that come to my mind. Despite their bad intentions I find them very…what is the word? BADASS. Sure these witches represent the darkest side of women and just how crazy and mentally disturbed we can be, but these ladies also represent power,independence and guile.

I find something about these witches that I admire. Maybe its their awesome magic and abilities, or maybe its their dominance and power. These women do not answer to a man, and they have their own things going for them. They have fear and respect.

So if there are so many movies about these witches, who are powerful and dominant (which is good) then why are almost all of them evil? Is this a sexiest assumption that if women have power and are independent or dominant, that they must have bad intentions or are ‘evil’. It seems the more powerful the witch, the more evil they are. On the t.v show American Horror story, there are several independent powerful girls who are witches, and often, the higher up on the hierarchy they are power wise, the worse they are as a human.

Why are the most powerful usually the most evil? Why not powerful and kind?

The White Witch is cunning and very powerful, but she stabs kids. So i’m guessing she isn’t nice….

Of course there are plenty of good witches out there who are kind and loving, but these witches aren’t the most powerful, or badass in my opinion. For some witches, if they do decide its time for a man, they usually give up or have to give up their powers for the relationship. Is this suggesting that women have to submit to the male? Is the male suppose to be the most ‘powerful’ one in the relationship? Let me know what you think about my theory or if you have your own.

I recently read Black Mariah, and this witch was a queen of manipulation. What really sparked my interest was that Aunt maria didn’t always need to use her powers, she used her guile instead. And this had me thinking, that witches don’t need magic to be witches. They don’t. By using their words, sexuality, and minds, any woman can be a powerful ‘witch’. Maybe in some cases a ‘Witch’ is used in media to represent a type of woman instead of a horro/fantasy fictional arche-type.

I’m just throwing some ideas around and will be posting Part 2 of this blog soon!

Weird Horror.

I wasn’t sure what Weird Horror was till recently when in class we watched a few examples of it. the New Weird horror genre is a horror genre that involves other genre such as sci-fi, fantasy, romance ect. The New Weird genre to me would include Aliens, since it is horror, but relies heavily on Sci-fy.

When I first thought about Weird Horror, I thought it meant WEIRD horror. Like really weird/ strange stuff is happening and it doesn’t make sense like Rubber. Rubber is a movie….about a killer tire. Or Teeth, a movie about a girl who has teeth in her vagina. Or the Gingerdead Man. The Gingerdead Man is a very cheap funny horror movie that DOES NOT fall int he New Weird genre but, it was Weird itself. So you should definitely check out the trailer for a great laugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsOtcEOkJ-I

These are all weird horror movies to me but don’t necessarily fall into the New Weird genre.

A great example of Weird Horror and a great movie in general is Cabin in the Woods (directed by Joss Whedon). Cabin in the Woods is a smart movie that takes Horror and makes it into so much more. It is a fantasy, horror movie that is also hilarious and scary at the same time. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes horror or movies with twists.

As for reading New Weird, I ventured into monster island, a novel about zombies in a third world country and a band of female warriors. Also there is a guy who is turned zombie but still has his human thoughts. It didn’t get all the way through the only story, but It reminded me a lot of Warm Bodies which is a zombie love movie about a zombie who has human thoughts and emotions.

The New Weird is a whole genre that is new to me, but now that I am aware of it I’m curious as to where it will go. I personally have noticed a lot of Horror movies that are including comedy aspects and religious cultures and I see this as the New weird. Movies like Paranormal Activity, the Conjuring, and Deliver us from evil are funny at times, and based around certain cultural/religious beliefs. These are popping up everywhere and seem to be where our generation is taking horror. Also I see comedy horror being the power of our generation’s New Weird. There are a lot of comedy Horrors such as the Scary movie franchise, haunted house, Tusk and so on.  Regular Horror isn’t enough for us anymore it seems. We need more.

As mentioned before, New Weird is new to me, so my thoughts and opinions might be based off of wrong facts. But hey, that is part of learning. Let me know what you think New Weird is, and some good examples of it.

Asian Horror

When American’s think of modern horror, we typically think of sexually driven teens that are off alone doing things they shouldn’t be doing, or a family/couple that will fall victim to psychos or a malevolent beings. Our horror involves blood, gore, sex, betrayal, ghosts, little dead girls, psycho killers, demons, and the fight between good and evil. This is Not how asian horror plays out though.

Now when I think of asian horror, I think of extreme horror ,that not even a horror movie lover such as i, can handle. I’ve always imagined Asian horror as being much much much worse than american horror. I mean, come on, even some of Japanese anime scares the shit out of me, and they aren’t even trying. I don’t even want to know what one of there serious horror movies would be like. I imagine their horror movies as being beyond the realm of understanding, with crazy weird shit happening. Now these expectations I have are probably wrong in most cases, and I have based these beliefs of Asian horror on video games such as Siren: Blood Curse and Silent Hill. Granted the video game industry is different from Movies, but I still associate Asian horror with these gruesome games that constantly have you screaming “WHAT THE F@#K!??”.

The movie Audition Is a good example of my expectations. This is a movie i know about and have heard about, but I REFUSE to actually watch it. It is exactly what i expected from Asian horror. However, recently my thoughts and expectations of Asian horror have been completely flipped.

After reading the collection of Japanese ghost stories and discussion asian horror in class, i was super surprised to learn that Asian horror revolves around a whole different system. Our horror movies are about good overcoming evil… or escaping it in some cases as it chases you with a bloody chainsaw. But their system is about good and evil, and it balancing out.

In the collection of old traditional Asian ghost stories, I was shocked to see that not one story involved someone murdering another person. And the ghosts are not always vengeful spirits. These old stories are more about spirits that are a part of our world and are a natural occurrence just like rain. In these stories, the spirits were sometimes beautiful and rarely harmed the living. These collection of ghost stories is a lot calmer than I expected.

The asian horror movie Pulse, is a great movie that falls between the calm and extreme measures of horror. We watched a little in my Literature class today, and I was hooked. It is taken place during the time that computers were just coming out to the public and it really made computers and new technology seem creepy.

Asian horror is definitely unique, and can be refreshing from our horror that can be repetitive. I’m glad I dipped my toe into Asian Horror, but I can’t imagine going any further. I’ve had my taste, and maybe one day i’ll be brave enough to venture further, but for now i’m satisfied.

From Monsters to Sexy Fiends.

Vampires have changed a lot from their original creation. They were once grotesque, monstrous evil beings like Nosferatu, but more modern vampires are becoming sexy and heroic. Some may disapprove of this change, some may miss the traditional version of vampires, but to me, I think everything is on a good track.

Vampires have changed for many reasons, and have evolved based on the audience, and now a days, our society is much more sexual, which reflects in not just our vampires but in other creatures. Now we have sexy zombies, werewolves, and other monstrous villains, which I don’t exactly agree with. Some say that this whole ‘sexy’ lame type of vampire started with Twilight, but it didn’t start with Twilight but has taken a long process to get there.

It was Anne Rice’s novel Interview with the Vampire that started a big shift in the way we view vampires. She stressed that vampires are people first, and when they change, they still are human on the inside. They crave happiness, companionship, and the meaning to life just as we do. They are no different than humans and through these vampires she shows that its not the fangs that makes them monsters, its their decisions that make them evil. We are just as capable as being evil as vampires are capable of being good.

As for sexiness, I personally first see this in the 1985 movie starring Jim Carrey called Once Bitten. This movie is solely based around sex. The female vampire, in order to stay strong and youthful, must feast on a male virgin. In the movie teens are having sex younger and younger, and it is hard for her to find a male virgin. This countess is a very beautiful sexual vampire that uses her looks as a trap for male virgins. This movie reflects the sexuality of teens in that generation and future ones.

Now I personally like the sexual aspects of vampires. I find that being ‘sexy’ is a predatorily feature that vampires can have to help them draw in their prey (humans). I don’t believe all monsters should be sexy, but vampires are an intimate monster that kills you by getting in close, and they have ‘eternal youth’ which makes sense why they can be ‘sexy’. Also, females are most often the target audience, and we love a sexy bad guy who can turn good. However, I do believe they should still be bad ass; vampires can still be horrors of the night whilst being sexy.

In Van Helsing, the vampires are beautiful people, but at will they can change into bat-like/gargoyle monsters when attacking humans. This is a good balance. The elements of traditional vampires have not been completely lost.

In a 2011 movie,  Fright Night, Collin Ferrel plays a traditional vampire: he is nocturnal, drinks blood, must be invited in, is weak to a cross (if the person wielding it has faith), can be killed by sun light, or a steak in The heart, is very strong and fast, does not have a reflection, has fangs and claws, and is evil. The only thing that is modern is he is SEXY as a vampire can be. But when attacking, his eyes go black and he shows a very monstrous side. This movie and several others show that vampires’ true essence has not left us, and that they are merely being used and changed to fit a story and reflect our ideas/audience.

Not all vampires are what we want them to be portrayed as, but there are many good examples of vampire movies/novels that keep them true to their original nature or give them a very new form that works. I for one am pleased by how far vampires have come, and I am glad that they are still a part of our media culture. Vampires aren’t going anywhere, they are here and they are sexy! But the question is, what now will they become?

The Gothic Genre

Before attending this spring semester, I unknowingly read a book that was in gothic style. The book was Fear Street by R.L Stine. It is a small YA horror novel that is a quick fun read, and lucky for me, it is gothic and a perfect example.

The book is about a high school student girl who goes to a birthday party at a rich boy’s castle/mansion because she has a crush on him. Now get ready because all the tricks were used in this horror story, but tastefully and in a way that doesn’t feel formulaic.

The heroine goes with a group of people to this birthday party in a mansion/castle on an island. At first when the ‘party crew’ arrives to castle, the supernatural were thought to be the danger of the night. This was not the case. As the story goes on, gothic/horror elements arrive giving the story its creepy atmosphere, such as: loud noises/screams, rats, findings of human remains, light shortages resulting in darkness, stormy weather, hordes of bats, and death. There is a murderer loose and not many people remain, two of which are the heroine and her crush. As the story goes on, they travel from one area of the large castle to another going from room to room which is typical in gothic styles.

What really makes the novel’s gothic-ness stand out is the heroine, and the ABSOLUTE isolation of the kids at the party. Isolation has always been a part of horror and gothic because it gives a sense of helplessness and no escape. Back in the 18th century, isolation was not that hard to acquire, but for our time it is more difficult since we have cell phones, computers, and many technological advances that break the idea of isolation. Well, in the story, not only are the students on an isolated island that’s only form of transportation was taken, but they also have no cell phone connection. The castle they are staying at has no wifi, and the landlines are out of use. Now-a-days if the author wants to make a place have isolation, they realllllly have to be thorough and make it believe-able, which is exactly what R. L Stine did.

As for the Heroine named Beatrice, she is not a damsel in distress. She escapes the horrors that await for her, tries to solves the situation, and pursues the birthday boy throughout their horrible night. Spoilers! in the end she gets her guy and survives! (Two important elements in gothic writing)

All in all, Fear Street was conveniently a perfect novel to refer too and was a great example for me as a horror/gothic novel. Also it was a entertaining read with amazing twists! I recommend it!