To help Corey Mitchell kick of the release of his newest book, PURE MURDER, a few of his friends are hosting a Virtual Book Tour for him. He’ll be dropping by various blogs and web sites over the next several days where he will be answering our various questions.
At the end of the tour readers will have a chance to win signed and personalized copies of all of Corey’s Kensington/Pinnacle books, all you have to do is unscramble a few words in order to reveal a quote. You’ll find the Word of the Day at the end of each of post. Unscramble all 15-words and be the first to get the quote right, along with the person who said it, and the books are yours.
My questions for Corey are based on a little Thanksgiving turkey he and I shared last year and our mutual love for the 1st Amendment. But you know… maybe… just maybe… freedom of speech has gone to far, and it’s time to draw a line in order to protect society from the artistic creativity of… well… some of these so-called artists… I wonder what Corey thinks…
Michelle Gray:
Corey, what do you think of violence in entertainment and the public acceptance of it?
Corey Mitchell:
It is nothing new. Violence in entertainment has existed since man deemed it needed excitement. The main difference these days is that most of our violent entertainment is something that can be experienced without actually harming people. We don't throw people to the lions anymore, we merely unleash them into the multiplex theaters or the safety of their worn-out couches.
From caveman conquests to jousts to the Bard to the Grand Guignol to the National Football League to the Bible, humans have always been drawn to violent activities, plays, music, literature, etc. This election year hoo-ha over violence in movies, music, and video games is merely a simplistic argument made by shallow individuals who are unable to think on levels just slightly above remedial. It is easy to blame a horror film for making someone go on a killing rampage. It is much more difficult to truly assess the cause of an individual's outburst because there are usually a multitude of factors that play into the equation.
Blaming violent entertainment for crime is the work of simpletons merely looking to get elected, to make themselves appear superior to others, and to show off their alleged moral righteousness at the expense of millions of other people who enjoy such entertainment and are mature enough to know how to compartmentalize the real world and make-believe.
MG: What about films such as Hostel and the Thanksgiving trailer from Grindhouse by Eli Roth? On one end of the spectrum we have Roth's Hostel series, probably one of the scariest, bloodiest, most terror inducing set of films ever made. On the other, we have his slasher trailer Thanksgiving and what looks to be a humorous parody of murder.
CM: First of all, if you believe the Hostel films are some of the "most terror inducing set of films ever made," you have not seen many horror films. Try In A Glass Cage, Nekromantik 2, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Man Behind the Sun, Irreversible, Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, Lucio Fulci's Zombie, The Three Mothers, Inside, etc. for quality gore and scares.
Roth's films, just like his Grindhouse trailer "Thanksgiving," offer lots of humor beyond the gore and terror. The mere casting of Roger Bart, Bree's wimpy husband from Desperate Housewives, and Richard Burgi, Susan's macho husband from the same show, in Hostel: Part II in reverse roles, is indicative of Roth's sly wit. There is also lots of silly Porky's-esque humor in his debut film, Cabin Fever, such as the kung-fu kid Dennis who loves to scream "Pancakes!" before delivering a martial arts blow on an unsuspecting college partier.
And, of course, if you have not seen Roth's trailer for "Thanksgiving," do yourself a favor and look it up. It is a perfect parody of the 70's holiday-themed slasher films and offers plenty of gore and sick humor in just over two minutes. And, by the way, SPOILER ALERT!, the stuffed body at the end of the trailer is not a woman, but Eli Roth himself!
MG: Do you think that entertainment in the form of murder says something about the state of our society when we can easily watch someone being sliced and diced on the big screen while chewing on a mouthful of Milk Duds or find the cheerleader scene from Thanksgiving amusing?
CM: Horror films are about pushing boundaries. They are the one realm of entertainment where it is forbidden to forbid anything. You know going in what you are going to get and if you are appalled or offended, then you should have known better.
The vast majority of friends and colleagues I have who are into horror (and heavy metal music) are some of the nicest, most intelligent, and gentle people you will ever meet. They are not sociopaths, they are not misogynistic pigs. They are thrill-seekers who are constrained by societal rules and are looking for an outlet. If they are able to laugh at something horrific and experience a cathartic release, more power to them. They are inevitably much more well-adjusted and stress-free than the Uptight Ninny Brigadeers who believe it is their station in life to impose their stringent views on others and castigate those who do not march in lock-step with them.
Besides, how can you not laugh when Ash (Bruce Campbell) from Evil Dead 2 chops off his possessed hand with a chainsaw only to trap it underneath a bucket when the dismembered hand decided to skitter off like an electrocuted scorpion? Of course, he then weighs the bucket down with a hardcover copy of Ernest Hemingway's novel, A Farewell to Arms. Brilliant!
MG: It seems that every horror film that comes out these days has an escalation of violence. Each has to be bloodier and more depraved than the one before. Should someone break Eli Roth's pencils and unplug his camcorder, shut down all those to dare to walk such a path with their creativity?
CM: Actually, the vast majority of mainstream Hollywood horror fare hitting the theater screens today are of the much more sanitized PG-13 variety. Recent remakes of such films as Prom Night and When A Stranger Calls, which were originally R-rated films, are now much safer than their 70's and 80's predecessors. With the possible exceptions of the Saw franchise and the Hostel flicks, most horror is watered down, less gore-filled, and aimed at the zits and hormones crowd.
Believe me, the horror and gore levels are nowhere near the level of the horror output of the 70's and 80's. Back then you had Dawn of the Dead, The Incredible Melting Man, Last House on the Left, Zombie, the canons of Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento, that were far more gruesome and terrifying than today's films.
Ironically, some of the best and most gruesome horror right now is coming out of the allegedly wimpy country of France with films such as Haute Tension, Inside, and Frontier(s). What makes these films even more fascinating is, not only do they harken back to the 70's exploitation movement of American underground horror, they tend to base their plots around seemingly real-life tragedies that any reader of true crime can appreciate. Inside tells the story of a pregnant woman protecting her unborn child from a potential fetus-snatcher. It is grim, bloody, and gripping as hell.
MG: But, Corey, perhaps have we finally become too free with our speech? Perhaps there has there come a time when we should say enough is enough and draw a line on the 1st Amendment that says, "Thou shalt not cross?"
CM: Blasphemy! Never!
When the media is barred from taking photographs of our dead soldiers after they return in coffins from Iraq, then you know our speech is not as free as we delude ourselves into thinking. When corporations kill news pieces that are potentially scabrous to prospective advertisers, you know free speech in our country is a joke.
Technically, only the government can violate the First Amendment of an individual, at least when we are talking about damages, recompense, the whole legal spectacle. The reality, however, is that Big Money rules the day and makes the rules of what we can say. It's all bullshit, of course, but it is the painful truth.
Horror films, death metal music, true crime books, Grand Theft Auto -- they are so far down on the radar as far as Big Money is concerned. The only time these subjects come up are during an election year or when some self-promoting do-gooder decides to go on a rampage against these forms of entertainment to draw attention to themselves.
MG: Come on, Corey, some of this stuff is quite offensive. Shouldn't society, our children for crying out loud, be protected from this type of material?
CM: And that, my friend, is what parents are for. That's what teachers can instill. That's why we should rely on the community mentality. Instead of worrying so much about kids seeing a gory film or reading about a brutal murder in a true crime book, we should be encouraging them to devour this material. The more knowledge our children can glean from these stories, the stronger, more aware, and more confident they will become if and when they ever have to deal with the unfortunate horrors that lurk outside.
Sure, we can lock our kids up or we can hold book burning witch hunts, but what good is that going to do anyone? Our kids are going to find a way to get their hands on this material. So instead of denying them the opportunity, we should readily present it to them, discuss it with them, teach them right from wrong, and then send them on their way when they reach adulthood, hopefully, prepared as can be.
Of course, the Uptight Ninny Brigade want you to play ostrich and stick your head in the dirt. They are afraid of their own shadow, and thus, feel compelled to wag their fingers at the rest of us mature individuals who can handle the truth (or the fake).
No matter what we do as purveyors of filth and gore, of horror and true crime, of screaming music and extreme weirdness -- we cannot let the Uptight Ninny Brigade gain the upper hand. Our unique interests are too important to squelch. We have no desire to live by the narrow-minded guidelines the UNB wish to impose on us. It's all a little too Orwellian and Huxleyian for me to swallow some days.
Go to the theaters and scream at a bloody murder on the screen. Crank up some death metal by Decrepit Birth as you cruise down the street in your neighborhood. Tell your friends about the latest true crime book that scared the hell out of you.
Be proud of your interest in the darker side of life.
You are not alone.
The "Word of the Day" is: ALL
Be sure to follow Corey Mitchell's Pure Murder Virtual Book Tour tomorrow, June 6, at MetalSucks (http://www.metalsucks.net), where Corey is an occasional contributor.
