Mutations And Metamorphoses By Ronald Allan Lopez Cruz

According authors like Carroll, one of the most important themes in horror culture is the idea of impurity (Carroll, 99). This usually takes the form of the monster, functioning to make the human, as well as its physical and behavioural characteristics, resemble the pure form. The idea of purity is consistent across many of the genre’s tropes with examples like body horror, which focusses on the disregard for the purity of the human body (Cruz, 161). Thus, while many monsters in horror do not necessarily resemble a recognizable body like a human or animal, the trope of body horror desecrates these properties to make the audience feel uneasy. In the article “Mutations and Metamorphoses,” author Ronald Allan Lopez Cruz analyzes the trope

While mutation is a natural part of evolution for all species, a process which is biologically miraculous, Cruz states that the idea of evolution is frightening due to the lack of control, and quick change of biology and behaviour (Cruz, 164). The fear of a lack of control is a consistent theme in horror culture, and was discussed in lecture following the screening of Halloween, in which Dr. Morris identified a lack of control to be a theme in characters like Laurie, who feared a lack of control due to the actions and murders of the monster, Michael Myers (Lecture, 2015). Cruz continues by identifying the body horror of mutation to play on physical characteristics like symmetry and asymmetry, seen through examples like the Japanese manga “Uzumaki,” by Junji Ito, as well as the use of unwanted bodily fluids which are seen as repulsive, like feces and vomit (165). The use of mutation is seen through examples like the film The Exorcist, where the possessed child Regan mutates from a symmetrical normal girl to a physically asymmetrical demon-like monster. In addition, the director uses vomit as an unwanted bodily fluid to repulse the viewer. Thus, similar to metamorphoses, the use of mutation serves to take attractive, or pure, characteristics of the human body, and violate them to create both monstrous and impure