I really enjoyed this movie, more so this second time because i didn't have to focus on the story as much so I was able to look at the images...seeing the images of Mickey as the demon was a little freaky since he was covered in blood and looked like he was about to rip off the head of the next person to look at him (I know that was the point...the demon inside of each of us wants to kill)
I was happy Jess brought up the fact that at the end when they were showing the media around all the "star" murderers they were playing circus music, it made me think that we as a society make these people famous, it isn't who they kill or how they do it, or even how many they kill. Let the media get their teeth into a story and you have an over night sensation and everyone is talking about them.
In the Freak Shows people were put on display and then stories were made up about them mostly not true but the story is what drew people in...cheap thrills.
I think my favorite part of the movie is when someone pleads to be kept alive ('you always leave someone alive to tell the story') and of course no one ever is because either there is only one person to kill anyway or there is a camera.
the idea of being killed frightens the individual yet thrills the crowd.
I need to see this movie a couple more times before I think I will really understand all of it.
"it made me think that we as a society make these people famous..."
ReplyDeleteIn regards to this point I think one of the best scenes of the film is when the prisoners riot at the end. The changing colors, smoke, and shafts of light that come in through all of the windows make Mickey and Mallory seem like rock stars onstage.
This may seem unrelated so I apoliogize, but it made me think of something else. The film is entirely controlled by the filmmakers, forcing us to see the images from a particular perspective. The jump cuts, changes in color, and changes in medium all make us feel like we are witnessing these events from the minds of the killers themselves.
I like your comment about freak shows. Really cool example of entertainment that is completely based on viewing things solely on the surface. (style over substance)
The circus music was great. I think someone mentioned in class how the whole OJ trial was considered a circus. All of that nonsense is, from OJ to Britney requesting a restraining order against one of her managers or whatever. The media is certainly to blame but is the audience at fault too? It is the people who watch and if no one watched, then the media couldn't produce anything.
ReplyDeleteSome really interesting and original observations here. I want more! I think you're onto something good about the freak show impulse. In a way, contemporary media doesn't have that much to do with it. It's just a newer form of the same thing.
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