Synopses & Reviews
Saw,
Hostel,
The Devilandrsquo;s Rejects: this wave of horror movies has been classed under the disparaging label andldquo;torture porn.andrdquo; Since David Edelstein coined the term for a New York magazine article a few years after 9/11, many critics have speculated that these movies simply reflect iconic images, anxieties, and sadistic fantasies that have emerged from the War on Terror. In this timely new study, Aaron Kerner challenges that interpretation, arguing that andldquo;torture pornandrdquo; must be understood in a much broader context, as part of a phenomenon that spans multiple media genres and is rooted in a long tradition of American violence.and#160;
and#160;Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 tackles a series of tough philosophical, historical, and aesthetic questions: What does it mean to call a film andldquo;sadistic,andrdquo; and how has this term been used to shut down critical debate? In what sense does torture porn respond to current events, and in what ways does it draw from much older tropes? How has torture porn been influenced by earlier horror film cycles, from slasher movies to J-horror? And in what ways has the torture porn aesthetic gone mainstream, popping up in everything from the television thriller Dexter to the reality show Hellandrsquo;s Kitchen?and#160;
and#160;Reflecting a deep knowledge and appreciation for the genre, Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 is sure to resonate with horror fans. Yet Kernerandrsquo;s arguments should also strike a chord in anyone with an interest in the history of American violence and its current and future ramifications for the War on Terror.and#160;
and#160;and#160;and#160;
Review
andquot;By focusing on the concept of sadism and drawing on holocaust atrocities, Kerner offers original insights into the relationship between torture porn and American culture in the post-9/11 period.andquot;
Review
andquot;This remarkable contribution to the scholarship on todayandrsquo;s most reviled film cycle expertly demonstrates the continued relevance of trenchant cultural criticism, from Saw to Bush and beyond.andquot;
Review
The term andquot;torture pornandquot; was coined by film critic David Edelstein. and#160;Kerner (San Francisco State Univ.) notes that the andldquo;money shotsandrdquo; of this film genre are scenes highlighting the destruction of the human body. and#160;These scenes are the andldquo;payoffandrdquo; that viewers have been waiting forandmdash;yes, there will be blood. and#160;Kerner argues that torture porn films, which date from roughly 2004, are a direct response to 9/11. and#160;Deeply rooted in a uniquely American fascination with violence, these films create a andldquo;safe spaceandrdquo; for torture within society as well as cinema. and#160;As the filmography at the end of the volume makes clear, Kerner has watched an enormous number of torture porn films. and#160;He views them with a clear, cold eye, continually drawing readers back to his central point, which is that viewers are complicit in the creation and reception of torture porn films. and#160;This offers a bleak signpost to what one can next expect in the shared stakes of cinematic representationalism.
Synopsis
<div><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">When representing the Holocaust, the slightest hint of narrative embellishment strikes contemporary audiences as somehow a violation against those who suffered under the Nazis. This anxiety is, at least in part, rooted in Theodor Adorno's dictum that "To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric." And despite the fact that he later reversed his position, the conservative opposition to all "artistic" representations of the Holocaust remains powerful, leading to the insistent demand that it be represented, <em>as it really was</em>. <br/><br/>And yet, whether it's the girl in the red dress or a German soldier belting out Bach on a piano during the purge of the ghetto in <em>Schindler's List</em>, or the use of tracking shots in the documentaries <em>Shoah</em> and <em>Night and Fog</em>, all genres invent or otherwise embellish the narrative to locate meaning in an event that we commonly refer to as "unimaginable." This wide-ranging book surveys and discusses the ways in which the Holocaust has been represented in cinema, covering a deep cross-section of both national cinemas and genres.</font></div>>
Synopsis
When representing the Holocaust, the slightest hint of narrative embellishment strikes contemporary audiences as somehow a violation against those who suffered under the Nazis. This anxiety is, at least in part, rooted in Theodor Adorno's dictum that "To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric." And despite the fact that he later reversed his position, the conservative opposition to all "artistic" representations of the Holocaust remains powerful, leading to the insistent demand that it be represented, as it really was.
And yet, whether it's the girl in the red dress or a German soldier belting out Bach on a piano during the purge of the ghetto in Schindler's List, or the use of tracking shots in the documentaries Shoah and Night and Fog, all genres invent or otherwise embellish the narrative to locate meaning in an event that we commonly refer to as "unimaginable." This wide-ranging book surveys and discusses the ways in which the Holocaust has been represented in cinema, covering a deep cross-section of both national cinemas and genres.
Synopsis
<div><font size=3 face="Times New Roman">When representing the Holocaust, the slightest hint of narrative embellishment strikes contemporary audiences as somehow a violation against those who suffered under the Nazis. This anxiety is, at least in part, rooted in Theodor Adorno's dictum that "To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric." And despite the fact that he later reversed his position, the conservative opposition to all "artistic" representations of the Holocaust remains powerful, leading to the insistent demand that it be represented, <em>as it really was</em>. <br/><br/>And yet, whether it's the girl in the red dress or a German soldier belting out Bach on a piano during the purge of the ghetto in <em>Schindler's List</em>, or the use of tracking shots in the documentaries <em>Shoah</em> and <em>Night and Fog</em>, all genres invent or otherwise embellish the narrative to locate meaning in an event that we commonly refer to as "unimaginable." This wide-ranging book surveys and discusses the ways in which the Holocaust has been represented in cinema, covering a deep cross-section of both national cinemas and genres.</font></div>>
Synopsis
Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 challenges the conventional wisdom about horror movies like Hostel and the Saw series. Aaron Kerner argues that, even as these films express anxieties and sadistic fantasies that have emerged from the War on Terror, they are rooted in a much longer tradition of American violence. He also reveals how the andldquo;torture pornandrdquo; aesthetic has gone mainstream, popping up in everything from the television thriller Dexter to the reality show Hellandrsquo;s Kitchen.and#160;and#160;
About the Author
AARON MICHAEL KERNER is an associate professor in the cinema department at San Francisco State University. He is the author of Film and the Holocaust: New Perspectives on Dramas, Documentaries, and Experimental Films.and#160;
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsChapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 The Realistic ImperativeChapter 3 The Holocaust as Dramatic SpectacleChapter 4 Defiance and ResistanceChapter 5 Holocaust Comedies?Chapter 6 Sadism and Sexual DevianceChapter 7 Body Genres I: Melodramatic Holocaust FilmsChapter 8 Body Genres II: Pornography and ExploitationChapter 9 Body Genres III: The Horror Genre and the HolocaustChapter 10 Holocaust Documentaries I: Telling Like It Really WasChapter 11 Holocaust Documentaries II: TestimonialsChapter 12 Holocaust Documentaries III: Personal DocumentariesChapter 13 Holocaust Documentaries IV: The Poetic DocumentaryChapter 14 Experimental Films I: Rituals of MemoryChapter 15 Experimental Films II: Lost and Found (Footage)FilmographyBibliography Index