tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post2108233034447348947..comments2023-10-16T00:15:26.640-07:00Comments on Horror Blogger Alliance: Horror Debates: Is “Torture Porn” a Derogatory Term?Jeremy [Retro]http://www.blogger.com/profile/09912258155288958827noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-58166155500146454702010-03-03T20:01:05.765-08:002010-03-03T20:01:05.765-08:00This was an awesome opportunity, thanks for the sp...This was an awesome opportunity, thanks for the spotlight. Matt had some great points, but no matter what you call it, labels are for jars. The comments have been awesome as well. This is one of my favorite new forums of cohesive thought and valid opinions.Zach S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00036794838503698324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-808871304131839282010-02-25T17:07:37.088-08:002010-02-25T17:07:37.088-08:00Another excellent debate guys! Thanks for the awes...Another excellent debate guys! Thanks for the awesome contributions. <br /><br />While I do feel it was initially meant as a derogatory and demeaning term, we have to look back at other art movements like the Dadaist movement, a name that had the same negative connotation. Critics have attached names like this to all forms of art that they deemed "unworthy," however true art will withstand any criticism, and films like THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, WOLF CREEK, and HOSTEL will end up proving this fact.I Like Horror Movieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15851268002582984544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-72516924949913688452010-02-25T09:35:03.792-08:002010-02-25T09:35:03.792-08:00You can't judge the artistic merits of these m...You can't judge the artistic merits of these movies because of what websites came up when you Googled the words 'torture porn.' It's common sense that you would get nothing but smut, but that is hardly the fault of the filmmakers. And it wasn't them who coined the term, blame the film critic responsible.Christiannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-41205807218470701292010-02-25T09:15:59.941-08:002010-02-25T09:15:59.941-08:00Great debate on Zach's half and some solid and...Great debate on Zach's half and some solid and insightful comments from everyone. I hit 500 words exactly, but could have went another 500 just as easily! As for some of the above comments: I agree that the label "torture" works just fine for me and the Torture type of film has been around for so long without the porn part added on. <br /><br />With the gore money shot comparison to the ejaculating money shot in porno - I don't know about anyone else, but when I see a sick scene of gore, the feeling I get is not that of blowing a load! And that is the comparison as it was intended, not necessarily what is seen on screen, but what the viewer takes from it. <br /><br />Martyrs was also brought up, and that is a film that most (or at least I) consider to be a great film, but it has a Torture aesthetic. So what is Martyrs often referred to? "Existential" Torture Porn, which is a way of saying that Martyrs is too good for being just a Torture Porn film, thus saying that the term only refers to films that are not good enough to be considered art. <br /><br />And lastly, when I did a little bit of research, you have no idea how many results came up for porn sites that depicted torture, so that kinda says it all right there. Thanks to everyone that commented and I hope non of you are ever tortured, but have lots of porn, or something like that!Matt-suzakahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16215962688591291944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-39251569040073110162010-02-25T09:12:36.828-08:002010-02-25T09:12:36.828-08:00Of course it's degrading. Both to the exploita...Of course it's degrading. Both to the exploitation/horror genre as a whole, and to the creators of these films. For one, it's ridiculously simplistic - it labels each of these films as a cookie-cutter, repetitive excuse for violence. Even the worst of these films takes a lot of production hours, and - with few exceptions - are honestly more than an excuse to drench the screen with gore. <br /><br />I don't necessarily subscribe to the theory that the preponderance of torture films has developed from concern over the torture of Guantanamo inmates, but I do believe that the most commonly cited "Torture Porn" examples: Hostel, Wolf Creek, Saw, etc. work on a level outside of simple degradation and unpleasantness. And I honestly don't care for any of those films.<br /><br />But, really, the only proof you need in regards to it being seen as derogatory is that almost all of the creators of these so-called "Torture Porn" films hate their films being labelled this way. There's been an almost wholesale rejection by the directors, not because the label does harm to their box-office, but because it undermines their abilities as artists.Doug Tilleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17291634680094221868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-62992993672165381782010-02-25T08:20:53.624-08:002010-02-25T08:20:53.624-08:00The term 'torture porn' is not stating tha...The term 'torture porn' is not stating that the work itself is pornographic, the term is a reference to the 'money shot' that both porn and graphic horror relies on. In porn it is the ejaculation, in horror it is the special effects. That is the comparison with which the term was created for by Alan Jones.Christiannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-2766716692669146482010-02-25T07:14:55.897-08:002010-02-25T07:14:55.897-08:00With films, especially the oft overlooked genre of...With films, especially the oft overlooked genre of horror, I'm always trying to grasp how they effect what surrounds them: the culture at large and their reactions to them. I think that's what Matt did well here. It's maddening that sometimes the very participants of any cultural group aren't given their fair due of signifying their own products and their own symbols yet authoratative power structures label films "Torture Porn" riddled in negative connotation to affirm their own selfish missions. Our voices as the fans get lost within them and we're stuck constantly having to defend an art form that has as much relevancy as a Spielberg flick. Not that others outside of the constructs can't have an opinion, but those opinions are often written off, dismissed, and even worse marked as inferior and we're again, back at the high vs. low culture debate.Ashlee Blackwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01530884243523757687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-71378847628609348792010-02-25T05:37:19.347-08:002010-02-25T05:37:19.347-08:00Good on Matt for pulling out the Edelstein. I got...Good on Matt for pulling out the Edelstein. I gotta say, you guys trumped me--I've been preparing a piece on this subject for a little while now. I'm not gonna weigh in here, but I will say this: the media ran with "torture porn" without fully understanding Edelstein's comment, which in turn influenced all of us. And by all of us, I mean everyone, those for and against.DMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09642666971813301743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-53713588641294445672010-02-25T04:12:59.633-08:002010-02-25T04:12:59.633-08:00Good debate guys.
Torture porn. Makes sense for a ...Good debate guys.<br />Torture porn. Makes sense for a label of something you enjoy watching but feel dirty for watching it after the fact.<br />As a film maker, it is a tag that needs considering. In my upcoming film, there is a scene that I had to give a large consideration to as to whether or not to 'show', or imply. To make it 'torture porn', or to do it off camera, which a lot of people say is scarier, having to fill in the blanks in their own minds. Like the final act of 'torture' in Martyrs, we see her reaction and hear the sounds, and between the four of us watching, we all squirmed at it for all different reasons for what we thought was happening.<br />While I greatly enjoy 'torture porn' flicks, there does seem to be a stigma attached with that label now, so I'm going with the off screen version.Highly Caffeinatedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17396172014600662249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-7785895303985386442010-02-25T04:12:35.128-08:002010-02-25T04:12:35.128-08:00They aren't porn but have torture, call them t...They aren't porn but have torture, call them torture films. If you go to Wikipedia and look up cannibal films you will not find information about movies depicting real cannibalism, you will find a description of a sub-genre of exploitation films, which torture films are.Call them torture films because they involve torture, not torture porn. You like porn? Fine. But these movies aren't porn and so at the very least it's misleading.forestofthedeadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01283885274602930964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-47790344494204268812010-02-24T22:51:37.594-08:002010-02-24T22:51:37.594-08:00Gotta agree with my buddy Zach, nothing is wrong w...Gotta agree with my buddy Zach, nothing is wrong with the word. It's a sub genre, sure it may have been created by the media, but it disgusts the media too. I mean what sub genre would Hostel or Saw fit in? Giallo? Maybe, slasher? Meh. Torture Porn, DING DING DING.oducerproducerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849607649137693554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8719843468042490180.post-38617865860531128122010-02-24T21:59:38.519-08:002010-02-24T21:59:38.519-08:00Have to say I agree with Mattsuzaka.
He said it ri...Have to say I agree with Mattsuzaka.<br />He said it right when he said that the term implies that the films are nothing more that pornography. Even worse than that is that it implies that the actors in these film are nothing more than porno actors, and that is a fucking travesty.<br />These actors spend hours with make and fake blood plastered all over them. They have to be prepared to look absolutely awful, screaming or crying with snot running from their noses. They deserve respect which the term "Torture Porn" doesn't offer them.<br />That's my 2 cents, anyway.Rach555https://www.blogger.com/profile/14034752665843622007noreply@blogger.com