Why would audiences want to escape with a genre that stimulates fear and anxiety with horrific events?

LO: to understand and evaluate the relationship

Moral Panic
What do you think is a moral panic? Clue:

Examples
Moral Panics run in a cycle.
Aids Dangerous dogs Video nasties Hoodies Mad cow disease Bird flu Anthrax Petrol

The Media use a scapegoat they persuade us they control

Exaggerated reactions by the public = MASS HYSTERIA.

EVENT A crisis or event happens and is reported in the Media.

SENSIFICATION The public become sensitive to the issue.

COUNTER-ACTION Government/ Legislation/ Punishment is agreed on to take action against the deviants.

WITCH HUNT Deviants in society are found and become scapegoats for the issue.

PANIC The deviant issue is escalated; the original problem disguised. There is panic in general public.

AMPLIFICATION Primary Definers = Doctors, Scotland Yard, BBFC, Government add definition to the issue of the deviant. It now appears to be FACT!

Jamie Bulger
Aged 2 Born in Merseyside Abducted, tortured and murdered in 1993 by Robert Thompson & Jon Venables (aged 10)

November 1999: A juror from the 1993 trial said that instead of being found guilty of murder, the boys should have been found "guilty as frightened and largely unaware children who made a terrible mistake and who are now in urgent need of psychiatric and social help".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/dec/16/bulger2

A Video Nasty
Violence in cinema was censored, videos were not. Regulation for videos was not introduced until 1984. Before this it was following the 1959 Obscene Publications Act which was very broad. Bigger production companies didnt like the idea of video due to ease of piracy so mainly low-budget horror films were released on video instead. Childs Play 3 was dubbed a Video Nasty by the press.

Tasks
1. Put the 6 stages of a moral panic in the right order: AMPLIFICATION, EVENT, COUNTER-ACTION, SENSIFICATION, PANIC, WITCH HUNT.

2. Pick one of the moral panics discussed as an example (not the video nasties) and try and identify the different stages and the scapegoats in that case.

UK Banned Video Nasties

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Absurd (1981, It) Anthropophagous the Beast (1980, It) Axe (1977, US) The Beast in Heat (1977, It) The Beyond (1981, It) Bloodbath (1971, It) Blood Feast (1963, US) Blood Rites (1969, US) Bloody Moon (1980, Sp) The Bogey Man (1980, US) The Burning (1980, US) Cannibal Apocalypse (1980, It) Cannibal Ferox (1981, It) Cannibal Holocaust (1979, It) Cannibal Man (1972, Sp) 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Cannibal Terror (1981, Fr) Contamination (1980, It) Dead & Buried (1981, US) Death Trap (1976, US) Deep River Savages (1972, It) Delirium (1980, US) Devil Hunter (1980, Sp) Dont Go In The House (1979, US) Dont Go In The Woods (1980, US) Dont Go Near The Park! (1979, US) Dont Look In The Basement (1973, US) Driller Killer (1979, US) The Evil Dead (1982, US) Evil Speak (1981, US) Expose (1975, GB)

What do you notice about these film titles?

Audiences of Horror
Why would audiences want to escape with a genre that stimulates fear and anxiety with horrific events?

What is the advantage of a moral panic to a film producer?

Lets start to think of yourselves as film producers.

You are correct that as a producer you may want to construct a film that could generate a moral panic. It might not be morally right, but you would generate lots of money.
Create a list of five new film titles and state the moral panics these may createput these on your blog.

Plenary
Pick a statement that you strongly agree or disagree with. Persuade the person next to you why your statement is correct.

1. 2. 3.

A moral panic is all about someones morals. A moral panic focuses on solving the main event. A moral panic uses a scapegoat to persuade the public to support its cause. 4. A moral panic must exist to get the public on side. 5. A moral panic is stupid and doesnt really exist. 6. Moral panics are everywhere in society. 7. Audiences are mobs waiting for the next scapegoat. 8. Its the deviants fault, not the media. 9. Horror has nothing to do with moral panics. 10. The horror genre has everything to do with moral panics.