The Changing Nature of Family Life in Contemporary Society

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The Changing Nature of Family Life in Contemporary Society

From first attempts to transfer Horror fiction from the page to the

silver screen, there have been moral panics in response to the horror

genre. In 1973, "The Exorcist" (directed by William Friedkin, US, 1973)

provoked outrage, and sections of the movie had to be removed in

response to worldwide complaints and panic as to the overtly sexual

and violent nature of it's content, not to mention accusations of

religious blasphemy. Similarly, throughout the 1980s, there were

campaigns against so-called 'video nasties'. Although no clear

definition of the term 'video nasty', was ever agreed upon, it

generally

Referred to examples of horror and pornography, and led to certain

infamous films being banned in Britain for over a decade. Films such

as "Zombie Flesh Eaters", "Driller-Killer", "The Texas Chainsaw

Massacre" and others suffered such fates.

Due to actions such as this, both the Genres of Horror and Pornography

have suffered similar fates; the cultural tag. These tags have led to

a common mindset; that these industries are 'sick' or 'perverted'

forms, capable of contaminating the minds of their audience is, and

thus wider society. This mindset has created problems. Not only has it

been used to support censoring legislation, but also it has prevented

serious investigation of the forms or effects of these genres for a

long time, due to their presumed negativity. However, this paper will

attempt to correct this mistake, by looking at two particular classics

of the newest Genre hybrid - The horror Sci-Fi mix. Whilst Aliens (Director

James Cameron, US, 1986) and Terminator ...

... middle of paper ...

...ration.

* WWW.imdb.com

· SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY RESEARCH DATABASE -

http://library.tamu.edu/cushing/sffrd/.

* "Aliens"- US (1986): Science Fiction, Directed by James Cameron.

Cast

Sigourney Weaver Ripley

Carrie Henn Newt

Michael Biehn Corporal Hicks

* "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" - US (1991): Science Fiction/Action

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger - The Terminator

Linda Hamilton - Sarah Connor

Robert Patrick - T-1000

Edward Furlong - John Connor

Ryan Tyler-Smith

Gender and Society: Gender and Film.

Media Culture and Communications.

Level 2.

Student ID: 0001352350

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1Barbara Creed, 'Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary

Abjection', from SCREEN, Vol.27, 1986

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