lordmongrove
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- May 30, 2009
- Messages
- 4,966
Sympathy for the monster.
Kinda, yes.
...The idea of a monster as a simple antagonist or opponent, and obstacle to be overcome is what you tend to find in genuine mythology. The hydra is an obstacle to be overcome, as is the Grendel in the story of Beowulf is also an obstacle to be overcome, although even then the monster is given some small amount of history and a veneer of motivation...
To some extent, yes.Ultimately, that is why slasher and zombie-killing movies are popular; they're entertainment, sure, but it allows the enjoyment of vicious and sadistic killing without guilt.
There is some dialogue in LOTR between two Orcs Shagrat and Gorbag, where they reminisce about the good old days before the war and make plans to get together with some friends and go far away from the Nazgul and Sauron. A shame that this important scene didn't feature in the movies, as it showed that even Orcs were sentient beings with hopes and dreams too.To some extent, yes.
The "monster" as a group or class, rather than as a single powerful entity, but still an obstacle for the good guys to overcome.
Decades ago, western movies showed "red Indians" (native Americans, first nations) as savages who could be mown down in huge numbers by the white guys. The films were made for a predominantly white audience, mythologising the glory of the early days of the colonisation and conquering of the land now called the USA.
Similarly, war films and comic book stories in the couple of decades after WW2 showed German soldiers as stupid and expendable, The ran around with eyes wide in terror shouting "Gott in Himmel" and "Schnell" and "Achtung!" while brave Allied soldiers mowed them down.
Also, somewhat earlier, a certain strand of fiction featured the generic savages (often "bloodthirsty") which was pretty much any black people from "darkest Africa" or various "south sea islands". Again, a predominantly white readership was invited to assume that the white man was superior, and the "savages" could be slaughtered at will according to the needs of the plot.
We then became more aware of the real history and nuance. That brought about a period of revisionist westerns in which the settlers were either the bad guys, or at least morally ambiguous, and the native Americans were wise and noble guardians of the land. The idea of the "noble savage" is a sort of "well intentioned racism". The reader or viewer feels good about themselves for seeing the virtue in the "ignorant but wise savage" and for recognising the guilt of "our own people".
Once it became unacceptable to present the natives Americans, or African tribes people, or even the German soldiers, as no more than cannon fodder for the good guys, fiction looked for alternatives to fill the same role. Tolkien gave us the orc, his own creation, which was quickly adopted as the generic bad guy, the mindless bloodthirsty and unquestionably evil horde that it was OK to slaughter.
However, we have now even reached the stage of revisionism about orcs. There are a few works (e.g. An Orc Not Like Others, Darren Humphries) which show the orc as misunderstood, or even victimised.
So given that it is becoming no longer acceptable to treat even a fictional race as "inherently evil and worthy of slaughter" the next big thing is the zombie. By definition, the movie zombie (which is nothing like the original zombie of voodoo belief) is already dead, completely mindless, and bent on only one thing: killing living people and eating their brains.
Of course, by a sort of social ratcheting effect, even the zombie is to some extent being revised, even if only in humour. The final scene of Shaun of the Dead has Shaun playing video games with his zombie friend, Ed.
It's political correctness gorn mad I tell you. Soon we won't be able to fictionally slaughter anyone!
It's political correctness gorn mad I tell you. Soon we won't be able to fictionally slaughter anyone!
Intentional: "Gorn" as in the pronunciation of "gone" by a stereotypical red top rag reader from ver sarf east.View attachment 76639
Was that intentional? Nicely played either way.
Intentional: "Gorn" as in the pronunciation of "gone" by a stereotypical red top rag reader from ver sarf east.
The pore lickle fing was so skinny and fin that it should of been barfed in a jug.as in "your babby has gorn darn the pluggul"
The pore lickle fing was so skinny and fin that it should of been barfed in a jug.
Sounds like Waiting for Godot.There is some dialogue in LOTR between two Orcs Shagrat and Gorbag, where they reminisce about the good old days before the war and make plans to get together with some friends and go far away from the Nazgul and Sauron. A shame that this important scene didn't feature in the movies, as it showed that even Orcs were sentient beings with hopes and dreams too.
I slightly disagree. I'm going out on a limb and going to say that, particularly slasher movies, women tend to enjoy them for the final girl aspect.In fiction, the 'monster' is often used as a warning - all of us could be drawn in to that part where no act is beyond thought.
Ultimately, that is why slasher and zombie-killing movies are popular; they're entertainment, sure, but it allows the enjoyment of vicious and sadistic killing without guilt.
Orcs were quite upset at their menu options in the army, hoping and dreaming meat would be put back on the menu., as it showed that even Orcs were sentient beings with hopes and dreams too.