A01=Aaron Michael Kerner
AARON MICHAEL KERNER
aesthetic
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American violence
and the Cinema of Sensation
Author_Aaron Michael Kerner
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Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=APFA
Category=ATFA
Category=HBJK
Category=JBCC1
Category=JBFV
Category=JFCA
Category=JFM
Category=NHK
cinema
COP=United States
David Edelstein
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Dexter
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eq_nobargain
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Exploitation
Hell's Kitchen
historical
Horror
horror fans
horror film cycles
horror movies
Hostel series
J-horror
Language_English
PA=Available
philosophical
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Active
sadistic
Saw series
slasher movies
softlaunch
The Devil's Reject
The Devil’s Reject
torture porn
Torture Porn in the Wake of 911
War Culture
War on Terror
Product details
- ISBN 9780813564029
- Weight: 426g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 24 Apr 2015
- Publisher: Rutgers University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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Saw, Hostel, The Devil’s Rejects: this wave of horror movies has been classed under the disparaging label “torture porn.” Since David Edelstein coined the term for a New York magazine article a few years after 9/11, many critics have speculated that these movies simply reflect iconic images, anxieties, and sadistic fantasies that have emerged from the War on Terror. In this timely new study, Aaron Kerner challenges that interpretation, arguing that “torture porn” must be understood in a much broader context, as part of a phenomenon that spans multiple media genres and is rooted in a long tradition of American violence.
Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 tackles a series of tough philosophical, historical, and aesthetic questions: What does it mean to call a film “sadistic,” and how has this term been used to shut down critical debate? In what sense does torture porn respond to current events, and in what ways does it draw from much older tropes? How has torture porn been influenced by earlier horror film cycles, from slasher movies to J-horror? And in what ways has the torture porn aesthetic gone mainstream, popping up in everything from the television thriller Dexter to the reality show Hell’s Kitchen?
Reflecting a deep knowledge and appreciation for the genre, Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 is sure to resonate with horror fans. Yet Kerner’s arguments should also strike a chord in anyone with an interest in the history of American violence and its current and future ramifications for the War on Terror.
Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 tackles a series of tough philosophical, historical, and aesthetic questions: What does it mean to call a film “sadistic,” and how has this term been used to shut down critical debate? In what sense does torture porn respond to current events, and in what ways does it draw from much older tropes? How has torture porn been influenced by earlier horror film cycles, from slasher movies to J-horror? And in what ways has the torture porn aesthetic gone mainstream, popping up in everything from the television thriller Dexter to the reality show Hell’s Kitchen?
Reflecting a deep knowledge and appreciation for the genre, Torture Porn in the Wake of 9/11 is sure to resonate with horror fans. Yet Kerner’s arguments should also strike a chord in anyone with an interest in the history of American violence and its current and future ramifications for the War on Terror.
AARON MICHAEL KERNER is an associate professor in the cinema department at San Francisco State University. He is the author of Film and the Holocaust: New Perspectives on Dramas, Documentaries, and Experimental Films.
