Beschreibung
When evil clowns menace the screen, do we scream or laugh? When zombies converge to tear a victim limb from limb, do we cringe and hide our eyes, or shriek What??! Play that again!!? What about those instances when these seemingly opposite reactions happen at once? This is the phenomenon known as sLaughter.Horrific Humor and the Moment of Droll Grimness in Cinema: Sidesplitting sLaughter presents the first focused look at the moment in audience reception where screams and laughter collide. John A. Dowell and Cynthia J. Miller bring together twelve essays from an international collection of authors across the disciplines. The volume begins with an examination of the aesthetics and mechanics of the sLaughter moment, then moves closer to look at the impact of its awkward frission of humor and horror on the individual viewer, and finally, broadens its lens to explore sLaughters implications for the human condition more generally. The chapters discuss such box office hits such asA Clockwork Orange (1971),Fargo (1996),The Dark Knight (2008), andThe Cabin in the Woods(2012), as well as cult classics such asThe Toxic Avenger (1984) andDead Snow (2009).Engaging and thought provoking,Horrific Humor and the Moment of Droll Grimness in Cinemawill be of great interest to scholars of both humor and horror, as well as to those working in reception studies and fans of cult cinema.
Autorenportrait
John A. Dowell is an independent scholar. He is also the Technology Specialist for Michigan State University's Neighborhood Student Success Collaborative.Cynthia J. Miller is senior faculty at Emerson College's Institute for the Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies.
Inhalt
Foreword: From Stairway to Heaven to I Hate Mondays: Is Understanding sLaughter Essential?Molly MerrymanIntroduction: The Hilarity of Terror: Toward an Understanding of sLaughterJohn A. Dowell, with Cynthia J. MillerPart I: The Aesthetics and Mechanics of sLaughter, or Welcome to the Funhouse of CarnographyPlease Watch Your Head1. Troma-tized by PunkIain J.W. Ellis2. Must I Remind You of a Little Movie CalledDeliverance?: sLaughter and the Postmodern PasticheDon Tresca3. Phallic Noses, Blood-Filled Balloons, Exploding Popcorn, and Laughing-Gas-Squirting Flowers: Reading Images of the Evil ClownMoritz Fink4. The Mechanical sLaughterhouse: Horror, Humor, and Repetition inAmerican Psycho andFight ClubColin YeoPart II: Bodies in the sLaughterhouse, or You Might Feel a Little Pinch5. Michael Eat Your Meat: Trauma, Satire, and Nostalgia in Bob BalabansParentsWilliam Quiterio6. Ha!/Aaah!: The Painful Relationship between Humor and HorrorDavid Misch7. Igniting the Fuse of Destructive History: Nation and Ablation in the sLaughterhouse Thomas Britt8. sLaughter as Existential EpiphanyBen UrishPart III: Beyond Mere War, or So Long and Thanks for All the Jokes!9. Surfing Fascists and the Masses: (Non-)Evolving Images of the CinenaziBen Betka10. In the UnDead of Winter: Humor and the Horrific inDead SnowCynthia J. Miller11. Too Soon?: Laughing at Disaster on the CinematicTitanicAnn LarabeeAbout the EditorsNotes on the Contributors
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