Director: Drew Goddard Cabin in the Woods (2012)
The topic of discussion is "Weird", what is it and why does it continue to bring the audience back again and again.
First off, I always thought "weird" just meant something out of the normal social standards expected in whatever society you were a part of, however, this is not entirely the case. If the word "weird" is looked up in the dictionary it is stated as being several other things I never considered in my day to day life. For example, "Weird" could be "involving or suggesting the supernatural" or "having the power to control fate." This makes the word "weird" out to be much more than a term carelessly thrown around in the modern world by teens to describe themselves when they want to be original or by adults when describing said hormonal teens. This definition of "weird" speaks of a time when there was a great belief in the supernatural and fate, when being "weird" was not something that was desired, but rather something to shy away from if you wanted stay within positive public opinion.
Drew Goddard, director of The Cabin in the Woods, definitely has this version of "Weird" on the brain. His 2012 horror flick poses a few interesting questions. What if the super natural really did exist? What would that look like today? How would people deal with it?
Goddard begins his movie with a cliche, five oblivious college students decide to spend the weekend alone in a cabin located in a remote forest somewhere. Not only that, but the five characters all fall under stereotypes seen quite often in many genre's, not just horror. These stereotypes form as the loose party girl, the jock, the nice, smart guy, the crazy guy, and the virgin. This being said the beginning of the movie would have been rather foreboding of cheap predictability had it not been for the peculiar scientists in the background apparently in control of what's happening. The scientists are Goddard's promise of something more going on than what he apparently has set up.
What if the super natural or the "weird" really did exist? The Cabin in the Woods maintains that civilization, in order to remain civilized, allows it's government to perform the greatest cover-up the world has ever seen by hiding all of the supernatural beings under our very feet. This allows society to move forward, eventually pushing the supernatural into a box reserved for fiction. The word "weird" becomes something used so often as to have become cliche.
But, there is a catch.
Yes, the monsters have all been contained, supposedly, but the real problem is "The Ancient Ones". So, Goddard has established that monsters are real and now he answers the question, where did they come from? Where did "Weird" come from? The gods buried somewhere beneath the Earth's surface demanding human sacrifice every year to appease them before they can destroy everything in existence.
Cue the oblivious college students.
What would the supernatural look like today? Well, it looks like billions if not trillions of global currency being spent on scientists and top security subterranean structures with one goal in mind. Choose the human sacrifices, use all that science has to offer and at all costs make sure they die with as much struggle and gore as possible to please the bloodthirsty gods. This all being done, of course, without the common man ever knowing it exists. Ironically, the movie depicts the demise of every working person inside the science lab trying to make a sacrifice to the gods before time runs out, but their deaths apparently mean nothing, because they were not the chosen ones. "Weird"
How would people deal with the revelation that "weird" supernatural beings exist and have existed all along? The scientist's casual acceptance of all things strange is in sharp contrast to the hapless college student's terror and disbelief. Their reaction is probably how most people would react, outside of the spare few that have been waiting for undeniable proof of supernatural existence for all of their natural life. (Key word being few) It's a safe bet to think that most people would be entirely disconcerted with the sudden confrontation of a werewolf, vampire, or ghost. People like to have these creatures remain in fantasy land where they can imagine them as vegetarians that sparkle in the sun and likewise can't spontaneously bite their face off. However, if all things "Weird" did exist and the human race did survive long enough to adjust to their situation then I think the scientists casual acceptance would eventually become the normal mindset.
Certainly for the two characters that actually make it to the movie's conclusion bitter acceptance of the "weird" as their new reality has settled in...right before the displeased gods get antsy.
Required Book:
Feed by: Mira Grant 400 pages in length.
In Mira Grant's Book Feed the idea of the "Weird" existing is not knowledge privy only to scientists in an underground government facility, hidden away from the eyes of the world, it is a way of life for everyone. The old, the young, the sick, the dying, the rich, the poor, and the political figures, no one is exempt from the idea of "weird", because practically overnight everyone had "weird" living in their bloodstreams.
In Feed the supernatural nightmare called zombies is presented as a very real and deadly reality of the near future of 2040. Accidentally created when the two separate cures for the common cold and cancer mix together, the super virus called Kellis-Amberlee is capable of turning any dead mammal over 40 pounds into a zombie.
Mira Grant's book presents a world where the unbelievable has become common place to the point where it affects every cultural aspect, even politics. The book describes this life with extremely well thought out and researched detail that makes easier for the reader to become immersed in the world being described.
For example, the detailed description of required cleansing after coming home from an infected zone. Georgia, the main character, had to take a special shower among other things. The shower meant washing yourself with bleach to kill any residual "infection" from your body, then using an "acid-based lotion, usually formulated around some form of citrus" to help "repair the damage the bleaching does" like "professional swimmers did pre-Rising". The author even goes one step further adding that the acidic lotion gave a "standardized" smell to those that had been recently sterilized, suggesting that humans have to some extent reverted to using more of their senses on a daily basis in order to survive.
I was very appreciative of the fact that Grant constantly added in details that made her fictional world seem like a plausible reality, although I would never wish it to actually exist. Mostly, I'm glad that her zombies were actually important to the books plot and not just white noise set up to trick people into buying the book. If you are going to use a "weird" element then it better be connected to the plot. In this case the use of zombies and fear by a crazed politician to force the people of America to "remember" what America stood for or force them to "go the right direction" was aptly used.
Grant used the existing world as the backbone for her imaginary one and supported her imaginary world with enough fact for it to be believable, however not all "Weird" authors write this way.
Required Book 2:
Railsea by China Miéville
I chose to begin reading this book because it is so drastically different from Mira Grant's Feed. Railsea, by China Miéville, is imaginative to the point that the suspension of reality has to be applied to most things brought up. From the Railsea, a seamingly endless system of train tracks crossing the dried up oceans, to the the "moldywarpes", giant, burrowing moles. Unlike Grant's book, Miéville has made his own world, which has been labeled "Weird Fiction".
"Weird Fiction" is not new, on the contrary, it comes before there were any genres to speak of. This is why it often mixes together supernatural, mythical, and sci-fi elements that we would consider different genres today. H.P. Lovecraft would be one example of Weird Fiction, with his many weird tales, The Call Cthulhu
and At The Mountains of Madness being some of his more recognizable titles.
Miéville explores creating his own myths like the "tooth" or "bone-colored" moldywarpe that took Captain Abacat Naphi's arm (some don't believe it exists), the idea that the Railsea has no end and if it does it must lead to the end of the world, and a cautionary tale of "Angels", sacred engines from "some book of religious instruction". He also describes sci-fi creatures and machines, such as flying aliens in the poisoned upper-sky and working mechanical limbs. The world building gets especially "Weird" or some might say "creative" with it's made up language. Miéville created all kinds of new words, like erouchthonus, which means That which digs up from underneath and emerges.
In short China Miéville's book is an extremely imaginative take on the "Weird", one which does not use the modern world as it's starting point, but is entirely successful in creating its' own niche that the reader can become immersed in.
Required Movie 2:
Freaks (1932) director, Tod Browning
Tod Browning's movie is unique, because unlike the rest of the media I've discussed on this Blog so far it is in part not fictional. By that I mean the so called "Freaks" are actually real life circus performers of the time with deformities. The movie is based on true stories as remembered by these performers as well as a short story by Tod Robbins,"Spurs". Read it Here It is a story of family, love, prejudice, falsehood, and revenge.
Tod Browning does a wonderful job of showing how human the "Freaks" are. An example of this is when they congratulate the Bearded Lady's successful birth of her little girl. They all shared in their friend's happiness.
Rather than finding the deformed performers disturbing or less human, I found the antagonists, Cleopatra and Hercules, to be morbidly disgusting. Their heir of superiority and deception was appalling. Every time Cleopatra was sicky-sweet to Hans it made my nose wrinkle.
That being said, Browning did not draw a definitive line between "Normals" and "Freaks". This can be seen in the charming "Normal" characters of Venus and Phroso, who stand up for their ill treated friends at every turn, even when it meant immediate danger to them.
Overall Browning's Freaks gives the viewer an inner look at what being physically "Weird" could be like. He reminds us that "You could be like them too". Obviously there is prejudice from most except for those that are similar to you. Browning supports a clear message against such behavior. It is shown over and over, that looking different does not change the fact that you are human and as Hans says, "I have the same feelings as they do."
This conveys the answer to the question, "what is weird?"
Weird is what people perceive it to be.
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