The Naked And The Undead

Evil And The Appeal Of Horror

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology
Cover of the book The Naked And The Undead by Cynthia Freeland, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Cynthia Freeland ISBN: 9780429975868
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: March 5, 2018
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Cynthia Freeland
ISBN: 9780429975868
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: March 5, 2018
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Horror is often dismissed as mass art or lowbrow entertainment that produces only short-term thrills. Horror films can be bloody, gory, and disturbing, so some people argue that they have bad moral effects, inciting viewers to imitate cinematic violence or desensitizing them to atrocities. In The Naked and the Undead: Evil and the Appeal of Horror, Cynthia A. Freeland seeks to counter both aesthetic disdain and moral condemnation by focusing on a select body of important and revealing films, demonstrating how the genre is capable of deep philosophical reflection about the existence and nature of evil?both human and cosmic. In exploring these films, the author argues against a purely psychoanalytic approach and opts for both feminist and philosophical understandings. She looks at what it is in these movies that serves to elicit specific reactions in viewers and why such responses as fear and disgust are ultimately pleasurable. The author is particularly interested in showing how gender figures into screen presentations of evil.The book is divided into three sections: Mad Scientists and Monstrous Mothers, which looks into the implications of male, rationalistic, scientific technology gone awry; The Vampire's Seduction, which explores the attraction of evil and the human ability (or inability) to distinguish active from passive, subject from object, and virtue from vice; and Sublime Spectacles of Disaster, which examines the human fascination with horror spectacle. This section concludes with a chapter on graphic horror films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Written for both students and film enthusiasts, the book examines a wide array of films including: The Silence of the Lambs, Repulsion, Frankenstein, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Alien, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Frenzy, The Shining, Eraserhead, Hellraiser, and many others.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Horror is often dismissed as mass art or lowbrow entertainment that produces only short-term thrills. Horror films can be bloody, gory, and disturbing, so some people argue that they have bad moral effects, inciting viewers to imitate cinematic violence or desensitizing them to atrocities. In The Naked and the Undead: Evil and the Appeal of Horror, Cynthia A. Freeland seeks to counter both aesthetic disdain and moral condemnation by focusing on a select body of important and revealing films, demonstrating how the genre is capable of deep philosophical reflection about the existence and nature of evil?both human and cosmic. In exploring these films, the author argues against a purely psychoanalytic approach and opts for both feminist and philosophical understandings. She looks at what it is in these movies that serves to elicit specific reactions in viewers and why such responses as fear and disgust are ultimately pleasurable. The author is particularly interested in showing how gender figures into screen presentations of evil.The book is divided into three sections: Mad Scientists and Monstrous Mothers, which looks into the implications of male, rationalistic, scientific technology gone awry; The Vampire's Seduction, which explores the attraction of evil and the human ability (or inability) to distinguish active from passive, subject from object, and virtue from vice; and Sublime Spectacles of Disaster, which examines the human fascination with horror spectacle. This section concludes with a chapter on graphic horror films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Written for both students and film enthusiasts, the book examines a wide array of films including: The Silence of the Lambs, Repulsion, Frankenstein, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Alien, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Frenzy, The Shining, Eraserhead, Hellraiser, and many others.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book A Basis for Music Education by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book The Ashgate Research Companion to Non-State Actors by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book Globalization and the Global Politics of Justice by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book From Civil Partnership to Same-Sex Marriage by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book Between Global and Local by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book Hume's Skepticism in the Treatise of Human Nature by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book Affect, Conditioning, and Cognition (PLE: Emotion) by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book Method in the Physical Sciences by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book Clausewitz's Timeless Trinity by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book Citizenship Education And The Modern State by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book Working From Your Core by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book The Tea Ceremony and Women's Empowerment in Modern Japan by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book The Consumption and Representation of Lifestyle Sports by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book Determined by Reasons by Cynthia Freeland
Cover of the book The Work of Communication by Cynthia Freeland
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy