SCENARIOS OF MILITARIZATION OF EVERYDAY LIFE IN AMERICAN HORROR FILMS. PART 2

Abstract

In the second part of the article, the authors continue to analyze the militaristic practices of Hollywood, which have been comprehensively tested on the extensive visual material of American horror films. Militarization of everyday life quite naturally becomes one of the leading themes of this genre. Moreover, the everyday life of the elite representatives paradoxically turns out to be much more intimidating than the life of ordinary Americans. Two very successful Hollywood film projects – “American Psychopath” by Mary Harron and “The Game” by David Fincher become direct artistic material for analysis. Successful banker Patrick Bateman turns into a notorious sadist within the boundaries of his home, taking revenge on his elite colleagues for the forced comfort of official elite existence. The theme of elite horror is continued by the character of Michael Douglas, who embodied the phantasmagoric suffering of a man who paid for his professional success with the collapse of his business reputation and a prosperous personal lifein the image of Nicholas Van Orton. Thus, the American horror film consistently and professionally promotes biopolitical conflicts and low-intensity wars as the essence of elite social communication and the ideal of personal self-improvement.

For citation:
Malenko, S. A., & Nekita, A. G. (2023). Scenarios of militarization of everyday life in american horror films. Part 2. Experience industries. Socio-Cultural Research Technologies (EISCRT), 3 (4), 149-170. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.34680/EISCRT-2023-3(4)-149-170