chosehumanity (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2010-01-04 05:08 am
chosehumanity) wrote in fandomhigh2010-01-04 05:08 am
Entry tags:
Horror 101, Monday
Mitchell waited until everyone piled into the classroom before he began to speak. He was sitting on top of his couch again, with the class supplied with comfortable seats of their own. He always prefered things homey.
He scraped his throat. "I've got this friend," he started. "He says the human condition, human nature, being human, is to be cold and alone. Like someone lost in the woods." He leaned his hands on the surface of the couch and flashed the class a smile. "It's safe to say he's a 'glass-is-half-empty' kind of guy."
He toyed with his own fingers. "I see things differently," he said, "I've always seen the world as full of beautiful things - and unspeakable things. One tends to be the flipside of another." The corner of his mouth tugged up. "What does that have to do with horror? Everything. Horror film as a genre is a reflection of the world through the lens of our own fears, rubbing away at what's real and what's not to uncover the ferocious elegance underneath." He was in a mood to wax poetic today, that much was obvious.
"At least, if you've got a good one. There's more than a bit of shit in any genre if you're not paying attention. And especially in a place like this, you've always got to wonder what's a metaphor, and what's real - where the fiction ends and reality begins. As a rule, though, we reflect our own fears, needs and wants onto the dark. Horror is not about being scared or frightened. It's about finding new places in yourself."
He picked up his cup of coffee. "This is the first day, so we'll be doing introductions. I hope you have your speech ready, because you'll find yourself doing a lot of them this week. I want names and classes, of course, but that's not really the interesting part. What I really want to know is one thing you're afraid of, and one thing you hope to be. That doesn't have to be anything dark or secretive, I don't want you to reveal anything you don't feel like. Just whatever comes to mind."
Beat.
"Speaking of which, if anyone here wants to be a teacher's assistant, there's free coffee and you get to make fun of everyone else."
[[ ocd up! have at ]]
He scraped his throat. "I've got this friend," he started. "He says the human condition, human nature, being human, is to be cold and alone. Like someone lost in the woods." He leaned his hands on the surface of the couch and flashed the class a smile. "It's safe to say he's a 'glass-is-half-empty' kind of guy."
He toyed with his own fingers. "I see things differently," he said, "I've always seen the world as full of beautiful things - and unspeakable things. One tends to be the flipside of another." The corner of his mouth tugged up. "What does that have to do with horror? Everything. Horror film as a genre is a reflection of the world through the lens of our own fears, rubbing away at what's real and what's not to uncover the ferocious elegance underneath." He was in a mood to wax poetic today, that much was obvious.
"At least, if you've got a good one. There's more than a bit of shit in any genre if you're not paying attention. And especially in a place like this, you've always got to wonder what's a metaphor, and what's real - where the fiction ends and reality begins. As a rule, though, we reflect our own fears, needs and wants onto the dark. Horror is not about being scared or frightened. It's about finding new places in yourself."
He picked up his cup of coffee. "This is the first day, so we'll be doing introductions. I hope you have your speech ready, because you'll find yourself doing a lot of them this week. I want names and classes, of course, but that's not really the interesting part. What I really want to know is one thing you're afraid of, and one thing you hope to be. That doesn't have to be anything dark or secretive, I don't want you to reveal anything you don't feel like. Just whatever comes to mind."
Beat.
"Speaking of which, if anyone here wants to be a teacher's assistant, there's free coffee and you get to make fun of everyone else."
[[ ocd up! have at ]]