I have a theory about the taste for horror films in America, specifically.
It's not all-inclusive, there are exceptions all over the place, but I find it interesting and it seems to be more telling every year.
Wanna hear it?
Tough, we're doing this anyway.
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Here is my theory.
Our taste for horror, the really successful films, seems to run towards a very specific track that has trended very steadily for almost NINETY YEARS now.
In one direction. Along one prominent factor.
To arrive where we are now.
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What is that factor?
Economics. Not of the film-making, but of the actual characters and plots.
Follow with me, and you WILL think of exceptions. But overall picture, I think it's compelling.
It was inspired by a visit Frank Herbert made to my tiny little home town on the Oregon Coast. Not NEAR my hometown, my tiny hometown specially, which has some of the tallest sand dunes in the world.
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Frank Herbert’s daughter lives here currently, and kindly donated her father’s research materials to our relatively small, but still awesome public library, the Siuslaw Public Library, where it’s currently on display.
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One of the reasons I love it here is the bizarre strata of natural landscapes..
It goes immediately from the ocean, with volcanic rock formations, to the tallest sand dunes in the world, then forests and lakes, all within just a couple miles, a bit further and it’s mountains. 3/
Okay, here is a little thread about something that absolutely made my brain explode yesterday. I had never even put it together, somehow. But a tiny jump down a rabbit hole explained a HUGE part of my life in comics.
Wanna hear? It's weird.
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I have talked about growing up on a remote farm in the boonies quite a lot. There were mostly farmers, fishermen, and loggers where I lived, very tough, strong guys. Mostly very nice guys, too!
But we didn't get a lot of tv reception, so access to movies was limited.
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I can't remember the exact circumstances, but the only movie theater in our tiny town showed older movies on the weekends as matinees. They had a double feature of Doc Savage and The Man With the Golden Gun. I was just a kid, can't remember how old, but really young.
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