The Slasher and the Real-World Murderer: The Reinforcement of the Established Discourse
The 1970s and 1980s witnessed the birth of the slasher subgenre, as well as a transformation in the public discourse of the serial killer. Robert Ressler, Howard Teten and other FBI officers explored serial killers through mixing psychological and police techniques and offered innovative insights about profiling and investigation. At the same time, talk shows and true crime fiction focused on serial killers. Thus, the construction of the serial killer as a unique criminal went a step further in that time thanks to the interconnection of media and police discourse. From a political perspective, as Philip Jenkins demonstrated, the serial killer became the domestic enemy for the conservative rhetoric that personified the decline of society. As a result, the normalisation of the serial killer as a white man, and the only one who could be a powerful and fearsome monster, pervaded all the discourses. Regarding the slasher, monstrosity represented the transformation of the realistic 1970s serial killer into a kind of urban legend that was a remorseless human man.
This paper aims to analyse the historical dialogue between the slasher and historical changes in the discourse of the serial killer. First, the discourse of the serial killer in other spheres, such as media or criminology, will be examined. Second, the main elements (ethnic group, class, gender, place of origin) that constructed the slasher monster between 1978 and 1986 will be explored. To conclude, Slasher is understood not only as fiction but key to reinforce established ideas about real serial killers.
- Erika Tiburcio Moreno (University Carlos III of Madrid & Complutense University of Madrid, ES)
The 1970s and 1980s witnessed the birth of the slasher subgenre, as well as a transformation in the public discourse of the serial killer. Robert Ressler, Howard Teten and other FBI officers explored serial killers through mixing psychological and police techniques and offered innovative insights about profiling and investigation. At the same time, talk shows and true crime fiction focused on serial killers. Thus, the construction of the serial killer as a unique criminal went a step further in that time thanks to the interconnection of media and police discourse. From a political perspective, as Philip Jenkins demonstrated, the serial killer became the domestic enemy for the conservative rhetoric that personified the decline of society. As a result, the normalisation of the serial killer as a white man, and the only one who could be a powerful and fearsome monster, pervaded all the discourses. Regarding the slasher, monstrosity represented the transformation of the realistic 1970s serial killer into a kind of urban legend that was a remorseless human man.
This paper aims to analyse the historical dialogue between the slasher and historical changes in the discourse of the serial killer. First, the discourse of the serial killer in other spheres, such as media or criminology, will be examined. Second, the main elements (ethnic group, class, gender, place of origin) that constructed the slasher monster between 1978 and 1986 will be explored. To conclude, Slasher is understood not only as fiction but key to reinforce established ideas about real serial killers.
True North, Strong and Obscene: Mapping the Snuff Mythos in Canadian Case Law Post-Butler
In this paper I explore the relationship between the snuff mythos and obscenity case law in Canada. In 1992, the Supreme Court decision in R. v. Butler affirmed that s. 163 of the Criminal Code (outlining obscenity provisions) was constitutional because it sought to address harm rather than police morality, and thus became the legal precedent regarding obscenity law. If s. 163 of the Code is constitutional following Butler because it “prevents harm,” have those harms become better defined in the decades following the decision? Are the harms of obscenity proportionate to the harms of criminalization? Are the harms of fictional and non-fictional texts the same for Canadian society? Reviewing case law following the Butler decision, I examine how the myth of authentic snuff films has impacted the criminalization of obscene, extreme, and objectionable materials in nearly a quarter of available obscenity cases in the past 28 years: R. v. Smith (2002), R. v. Price (2004), R. v. Magnotta (2014), and R. v. Marek (2015). Through content analysis of the case law and media reports surrounding these cases, I demonstrate how the snuff mythos impacts the ongoing use of obscenity previsions. I also unpack the tensions of criminalizing fictional content and authentic content with the same Criminal Code provisions.
- Meg Lonergan (Carleton University, CA)
In this paper I explore the relationship between the snuff mythos and obscenity case law in Canada. In 1992, the Supreme Court decision in R. v. Butler affirmed that s. 163 of the Criminal Code (outlining obscenity provisions) was constitutional because it sought to address harm rather than police morality, and thus became the legal precedent regarding obscenity law. If s. 163 of the Code is constitutional following Butler because it “prevents harm,” have those harms become better defined in the decades following the decision? Are the harms of obscenity proportionate to the harms of criminalization? Are the harms of fictional and non-fictional texts the same for Canadian society? Reviewing case law following the Butler decision, I examine how the myth of authentic snuff films has impacted the criminalization of obscene, extreme, and objectionable materials in nearly a quarter of available obscenity cases in the past 28 years: R. v. Smith (2002), R. v. Price (2004), R. v. Magnotta (2014), and R. v. Marek (2015). Through content analysis of the case law and media reports surrounding these cases, I demonstrate how the snuff mythos impacts the ongoing use of obscenity previsions. I also unpack the tensions of criminalizing fictional content and authentic content with the same Criminal Code provisions.
"Come and See, See and Come": Tom Six’s Aesthetics of Offence
Having first garnered attention with The Human Centipede in 2009, Tom Six’s films have had a history of polarizing audience reactions. Ever since the sequel was refused a certification by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) before eventually being granted an 18 rating with more than two-and-a-half minutes of material being cut, Tom Six has continued to push the envelope with his eccentric films. Picking up from Adrian Smith’s comparison of The Human Centipede films to the Italian Mondo films of the Sixties and Seventies, this paper attempts to analyze the filmography of Tom Six in light of the deliberate nature of the shock value associated with it. Given his seemingly self-proclaimed mission against political correctness and banality, this paper argues that Tom Six operates on an aesthetics of offence. In doing this, we look to build on Steve Jones’ (2013) conception of strategic repulsion, in an attempt to understand it as an aesthetic framework beyond representations of corporeality. For this, we will extend our analysis beyond the Human Centipede trilogy to include Six’s upcoming film The Onania Club and one of his earlier works I Love Dries (2008).
- Elloit Cardozo (Independent Scholar, IN) & Aditi Khandelwal (Mithibai College of Arts, IN)
Having first garnered attention with The Human Centipede in 2009, Tom Six’s films have had a history of polarizing audience reactions. Ever since the sequel was refused a certification by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) before eventually being granted an 18 rating with more than two-and-a-half minutes of material being cut, Tom Six has continued to push the envelope with his eccentric films. Picking up from Adrian Smith’s comparison of The Human Centipede films to the Italian Mondo films of the Sixties and Seventies, this paper attempts to analyze the filmography of Tom Six in light of the deliberate nature of the shock value associated with it. Given his seemingly self-proclaimed mission against political correctness and banality, this paper argues that Tom Six operates on an aesthetics of offence. In doing this, we look to build on Steve Jones’ (2013) conception of strategic repulsion, in an attempt to understand it as an aesthetic framework beyond representations of corporeality. For this, we will extend our analysis beyond the Human Centipede trilogy to include Six’s upcoming film The Onania Club and one of his earlier works I Love Dries (2008).