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Old 11-11-2019, 12:53 PM
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Shift in staples?

Now I don't have any definitive theories or many arguments to support theories. I also do not have the intention to judge wether or not this is a good or a bad thing. It's more of a general impression and I am curious wether or not some of you experience something similar while viewing films.

Over the past few decades, we have had several genre staples in the horror genre. However, in the past few years and the last decade, a lot has changed in the general culture and sometimes I have the impression that horror films reflect that change in different ways.

Sometimes clearly, like with Daddy's Girl, where the director admitted he changed the original ending because it would not work in today's culture. Sometimes, it's more subtle like with the character portrayal. Example: while the stoner himself may have stayed, between say Friday the 13th 3 (with more hippie like stoners) and recent films like Cabin in the woods and the Friday remake, the stoners do seem to have to gotten an update.

We also seem to have developed new staples. Take for example movies like Hush and The Boy, where we see the appearance of the ex-bf who can't let go. With probably more movies with (young) heroines coming up, I can imagine there are still a lot ways you can go with this character.

So what do you think? Is there a shift in character types, storytelling? Are there perhaps other things you noticed and that I left out?
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Old 11-15-2019, 02:13 PM
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"Sometimes clearly, like with Daddy's Girl, where the director admitted he changed the original ending because it would not work in today's culture. Sometimes, it's more subtle like with the character portrayal." Didn't see Daddy's Girl. What was changed and for what reason do you think?

I think there's a fair degree of 'equality' demonstrated in modern films, where, to a degree, the female is not the damsel in distress anymore. She can be a detective, or otherwise a strong character.

I think to some degree the way young people are displayed is a bit different. They appear to be more independent, self-assured and detached from parents and family concerns.
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Old 11-16-2019, 01:44 AM
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Originally Posted by Sculpt View Post
"Sometimes clearly, like with Daddy's Girl, where the director admitted he changed the original ending because it would not work in today's culture. Sometimes, it's more subtle like with the character portrayal." Didn't see Daddy's Girl. What was changed and for what reason do you think?
I saw the film during a festival. During an interview before the screening, the director said that the original script had been lying around for a few years. When he eventually got around to filming the script, the MeToo-movement had already started and he figured the original ending would not work/be appropriate in these times. He did not specify for obvious reasons (spoilers and such) and I did not attend the Q&A after the screening (last train home to catch), so while I might have a sneaking suspicion, I can only speculate.

So the story is: a man and his daughter live together on a farm. Evenings, they go to bars in the surrounding areas - where she poses as his girlfriend - with the intent to pick up and take home vulnerable women that he can then torture.

Throughout the movie, the subject of suicide comes into play quite heavily. The mother of the main character commits suicide at the start and she offers suicide as a "way out" to her father's victims. So the end might be her committing suicide as well after stopping her father. Whereas now, she and the final victim join forces in order to go on a Dexter-like killing spree.

For me as a viewer, the new ending works very well (also if you just look at it for what it is without the - for lack of a better word - baggage) and the reasoning for changing it makes sense, so that makes this a good example of how the times are changing.
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Old 11-17-2019, 03:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Tommy Jarvis View Post
I saw the film during a festival. During an interview before the screening, the director said that the original script had been lying around for a few years. When he eventually got around to filming the script, the MeToo-movement had already started and he figured the original ending would not work/be appropriate in these times. He did not specify for obvious reasons (spoilers and such) and I did not attend the Q&A after the screening (last train home to catch), so while I might have a sneaking suspicion, I can only speculate.

So the story is: a man and his daughter live together on a farm. Evenings, they go to bars in the surrounding areas - where she poses as his girlfriend - with the intent to pick up and take home vulnerable women that he can then torture.

Throughout the movie, the subject of suicide comes into play quite heavily. The mother of the main character commits suicide at the start and she offers suicide as a "way out" to her father's victims. So the end might be her committing suicide as well after stopping her father. Whereas now, she and the final victim join forces in order to go on a Dexter-like killing spree.

For me as a viewer, the new ending works very well (also if you just look at it for what it is without the - for lack of a better word - baggage) and the reasoning for changing it makes sense, so that makes this a good example of how the times are changing.
OK, so you suspect the original had the daughter committing suicide, but the director updated it to something else, such as attacking the father and not ending it all? I understand you're speculating a bit cause you didn't hear the director's Q&A.

I guess there have been films where the female main character commits suicide at the end, like The Haunting, kind of in Carrie, but that's extremely uncommon, not sure I would call that an 'older-times trope'. Not really sure how the Me-too movement moves the scale on the daughter committing suicide or not... you know, compared to the decision of whether or not the film maker would even make a film about a dude who uses his daughter to entice women to his home where he can torture/kill them in light of Me-too.

Do you think modern films make the females less damsels in distress, as I do?
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Old 11-18-2019, 02:53 AM
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One wonders if modern horror films are a tool of the Illuminati!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 11-18-2019, 11:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Sculpt View Post
OK, so you suspect the original had the daughter committing suicide, but the director updated it to something else, such as attacking the father and not ending it all? I understand you're speculating a bit cause you didn't hear the director's Q&A.

I guess there have been films where the female main character commits suicide at the end, like The Haunting, kind of in Carrie, but that's extremely uncommon, not sure I would call that an 'older-times trope'. Not really sure how the Me-too movement moves the scale on the daughter committing suicide or not... you know, compared to the decision of whether or not the film maker would even make a film about a dude who uses his daughter to entice women to his home where he can torture/kill them in light of Me-too.
Well, more than the spcific element of suicide, I was more thinking of the idea of artists openly admitting to changing their art because it did not fit the ideas of the current age. What I do know is that the movie is referred to as post-Me Too torture porn.

I guess his idea was changing a submissive character into an assertive heroine who makes men like her father answer and pay for their actions. That said, your point is valid as well.

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Do you think modern films make the females less damsels in distress, as I do?
Depends on how you define the D.I.D., I guess.

I mean, what is the most recent example of such a damsel in distress that you can think of?
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Old 11-18-2019, 12:17 PM
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One wonders if modern horror films are a tool of the Illuminati!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nah, that would be the Clintons. Everybody knows the Illuminati are fake news.
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