mariyahdenise

[mariyahdenise]

BLOG #6

When I watched Horror Noire: An Anthology, I loved how it was different stories and segments in one movie. My favorite was Brand of Evil. A Black artist named Naconi had gotten a job from some random guy who saw his artwork on a wall at his job. When this random guy called his job, one of the Black workers answered the phone, and when Naconi came to get the call, the worker stated that it sounded like a white guy. When Naconi first got on the phone, it sounded really sketchy to me, especially when he said he needed art by the end of the day for $5,000. Something else that caught my attention was when he said he could only give him the instructions verbally.

So, after Naconi completed the first symbol, the drunk man who was at Naconi's job ended up dead by the symbol Naconi had made. When he went to work that day and saw a whole bunch of blood, he did not know how the man had died. Then Naconi got another call from this mysterious man, saying he needed another symbol by sunset, and he would give him $10,000. So, the price was going up for each symbol. Naconi wanted to take off from work to do the guy’s symbol. So, Naconi went to talk to his boss, Ms. Lawrence, and he lied, saying he was so sick that he needed to go home and finish it. When Ms. Lawrence and Naconi were having a talk, Ms. Lawrence said something that caught my attention. Naconi said, “You never hear white people guilt-trip you about their community,” and Ms. Lawrence responded, “White people don’t need to look out for each other; they build whole systems to make sure they stay on top, and all Black people have is community.” What she said is so true, in my opinion, in real-life matters. As the movie goes on, Ms. Lawrence ends up dying because of the second symbol.

Then Naconi finds out from a guy who works with Kordell that the symbol he has been making for this guy is a hate symbol and racist. He didn’t believe it and just kept doing it because the money was good. So, after Naconi finds out his boss died, he confronted the guy who kept asking him to do these art symbols. The mysterious guy asked for another art symbol, and this time he was offering Naconi $20,000. This made me so mad because Naconi saw what this was doing to the people around him in his community, yet he still said yes to it. This time, he made the symbol, and it killed Kordell, someone he was close with.

The "Consequences of Actions" trope is clear as Naconi's greed causes the death of a Black man, showing how his desire for money leads to tragic results. His change from an optimistic artist to a morally lost person shows the "Corruption of Innocence." Naconi’s inner conflict is highlighted by the "Guilt-Trip of the Protagonist," as Ms. Lawrence makes him face his actions and the importance of Black community support. The "Black People as Sacrificial Lambs" trope appears as Naconi’s art puts his own people in danger, while the "Unseen Threat/Antagonist" is represented by the mysterious voice controlling him from a distance. In the end, the film focuses on Greed and Moral Corruption, showing how Naconi’s growing willingness to hurt others for money reveals the dangers of unchecked ambition.

[mariyahdenise]

Blog #5

After watching the movies and doing the readings, I found 3 movies that inspired me to want to create a short film: The Wake by Bree Newsome, Tales from the Hood, and Eve’s Bayou. Each movie inspired me in different ways. For example, I really loved The Wake, and I got really in tune with the movie when Charmaine watched her father die and kind of used him to get a man in her life. When that scene happened, it made me have so many thoughts. So when I was thinking about Charmaine's part in the film, how she conjured a lady and gave the lady something in exchange for her father, I thought of twisting that part of the film I wanted to do for my final project. Instead, I want to have a character who, when the woman is getting cheated on by her boyfriend and after she finds out about his betrayal, tries to conjure someone or do something that involves voodoo. So that is what inspired that part of my film.

Next is Tales from the Hood. My favorite part of that movie is the story with the little boy, Walter. In the movie, Walter would go to school with bruises on his face and would be disturbed at night by the “monster.” But as the movie progresses, in reality, the monster he keeps referring to in the movie is his stepfather, Carl. At the end of the story, Walter uses a drawing of the monster that he drew on a piece of paper and folds it in different ways, which stops the monster from being violent and folds up Carl like Walter folded the paper. I really like how Walter used hoodoo in a good way instead of bad use. So this inspired me to put my own little twist for my own film. Once my character finds out her boyfriend is cheating, I want to have her do some type of hoodoo as revenge for her boyfriend’s betrayal. So something that I have in mind is I want to print out some pictures of his face and have the character stick needles in it as some form of hoodoo.

Lastly, Eve’s Bayou was inspiring because of the family secrets that were taking place in the family household. So, in my film, the boyfriend's secrets will be the price he has to pay, and at the end of the film, the boyfriend’s death will be a direct result of the hoodoo performed by the character. After carrying out the ritual as a form of revenge for his betrayal, the boyfriend begins to experience the negative effects of the magic. Slowly, his life unravels as his health deteriorates and everything he holds dear falls apart. The character watches it all unfold with satisfaction and a sense of power, feeling justified in her actions. She doesn’t feel any guilt—only a deep sense of victory, knowing that her revenge has been successful and that he has paid for his betrayal.

The main message I want the film to have is how betrayal can lead to bad results when someone seeks revenge. The horror comes from the main character’s lack of guilt, showing how wanting revenge can turn a person cold and emotionless. It warns against using dark magic like hoodoo to hurt others, as it destroys both the victim and the person seeking revenge. In the end, the film shows that revenge may feel good at first, but it causes lasting damage.

[mariyahdenise]

Blog #4

Watching Tales from the Hood was so interesting to me, just seeing how everything is set up and played out. I love how detailed the movie is; it's so cool to see how each storyline plays out and how there’s so much horror in place. But as I got into it, I realized it was way deeper than I expected. The film follows three Black men who go to a funeral home looking for drugs. They act tough, but I could tell they were nervous. The funeral director, Mr. Simms, starts telling them creepy stories, each one connected to real issues in the Black community.

One story that really stood out to me was about Martin Morehouse, a Black activist speaking out against corrupt cops. He gets pulled over by three white officers and a Black rookie cop named Clarence. Right away, I knew it was going to end badly. The white cops smash Morehouse’s taillights and beat him for no reason. Clarence doesn’t like it, but he’s scared to speak up. When he finally realizes Morehouse is an important figure, he tries to step in, but the white cops shut him down. Instead of taking Morehouse to the hospital, they inject him with drugs and kill him.

Clarence feels guilty. Later, he gets drunk and visits Morehouse’s grave. Morehouse’s ghost appears and tells him to bring the crooked cops to him. When Clarence does, they mock Morehouse by urinating on his grave big mistake. Morehouse comes back from the dead and takes his revenge.

I honestly felt bad for Clarence. I believe he was a good guy deep down, but he didn’t do enough to stop what happened. When Morehouse asks, “Where were you when I needed you?” it hit me hard. Clarence wasn’t the villain, but he still got blamed in the end.

Another story that got to me was about a little boy named Walter. His teacher notices bruises on him, and it turns out his stepfather is abusing him and his mom. Walter has the power to make people disappear using drawings. When he fights back, it shows voodoo in a positive way, letting him protect himself.

The tropes that were so interesting to me were the final twist, how each story had a shocking ending, the urban horror setting, how it showed real-life struggles, and lastly, how the stereotypes in the movie challenged ideas about Black criminals and anger.

[mariyahdenise]

Blog #3

I just want to start off by saying I loved the movie The Blackening. There was so much comedy and dark humor in the movie, which was hilarious. As a Black woman, I definitely understood all the humor and jokes being said, which made it even funnier. Especially when King was making Kool-Aid and pouring so much sugar in it, and Lisa said it was the “Black way.”

In the beginning of the movie, I could already tell it was going to be a comedy black horror movie. The group of friends were celebrating Juneteenth and doing a reunion vacation in a house next to the woods. As the friend group was getting to the house they were staying in, a white park ranger was giving them a hard time because they forgot the verification to get into the house they were renting for the celebration. Some more of the friends showed up and showed them what they needed. Then Lisa questioned the park ranger because he made a comment about how only certain people rent that house. She asked, "What, only white families?" In my opinion, I look at it as he gave them a hard time because he saw it was a group of young Black friends.

Something that really caught my attention was when Nnamdi was talking to King outside and said, "You are really in the sunken place." Then King responded, "I’m balls deep." This scene reminded me of Get Out because Chris actually went to the sunken place after having a relationship with a white woman, and King was with a white woman in the movie. So, I definitely caught that reference.

Some of the tropes I saw in The Blackening were survival, survival as a friend group, dark humor, the stereotypical roles in the friend group, an isolated location, and the scary game setup. When watching the movie, I definitely could identify each trope, which was so cool to see. If I hadn’t taken this class, I probably wouldn’t have paid attention to these things. I would’ve been more focused on how each character is going to survive and hoping the characters don’t do anything stupid.

The plot twist in this movie caught me so off guard because I did not expect Clifton to be the one to set everything up and have the group of Black friends killed. When he got up from the dead, I was shocked and disappointed. Clifton wanted to kill them because something happened a long time ago when they were playing spades, and Lisa revoked his Black card because he messed up. Then Clifton expressed to the friend group that he didn’t feel Black enough because of what Lisa had done. I kind of feel bad for him because, personally, I wouldn’t want anyone Black to feel that way. But again, he took it to the extreme and put them through so much trauma over that incident. Overall, I really liked this movie because of the comedy in it, and the plot twists caught me so off guard. I personally thought it would’ve been the park ranger behind all of it, but nope.

[mariyahdenise]

[mariyahdenise]

Blog #2

When Get Out came out, I was around 13 years old, and I remember going to watch it in theaters. At that age, I just thought the movie was another scary movie that was really good. Now, as I am in college, I’ve developed a better understanding of society and can see things for what they actually are. I recently re-watched Get Out because of this class, and I quite literally see things through a whole different lens, perceiving the movie in a whole new way.

At the beginning of the movie, Chris asks his girlfriend Rose if her parents knew he was a black man. It showed that he was concerned about her parents knowing his race before she showed up. Then, Chris's friend Rod gave him so many warning signs, like when they were on the phone, Rod said, “You know I’m mad at you because you never take my advice.” Chris asked Rod what advice, and Rod replied, “Never go to a white girl’s parents’ house”—sign number one.

When Chris arrived at Rose's parents' house, Rose’s father greeted him by saying, “My man.” Thinking back on it, the father wouldn’t have greeted Chris like that if he were a white man. Later on, Rose mentioned it to Chris, and he just replied in such a nonchalant way. As I analyze the movie, I notice that Rose’s parents only had black people as servants, and the vibe both servants gave off in the movie was very weird. They looked hypnotized, with little to no personality.

Another warning sign Chris should’ve paid attention to was when he woke up in the middle of the night to get some air and went outside. The man-servant, Walter, came running toward Chris at full speed, and you had Georgina just staring out the window, looking very creepy at Chris. I always try to imagine myself in that scene, and just that little bit would have me on my way out of there.

In the movie, at first, the white people seemed friendly but still had some weirdness to them. As I continued to watch, though, I realized that Rose and her family didn’t have Chris's best interests at all. Honestly, this movie shows you that sometimes things are not always what they seem—people can have secret vendettas. I believe the message behind Get Out is not mainly about racism being shown openly, but more about the system that is created to keep certain people trapped. I also see it as another way black identity is appropriated. I’ve never experienced anything like the movie, but I definitely have been in places where I felt like I didn’t belong.

I have to mention, Rod was my favorite character in the whole movie. He was literally the funniest, and I loved his part in warning Chris in the most hilarious way.

[mariyahdenise]

Blog #1

Growing up, I never watched horror movies on a consistent basis—only here and there, and if it was trending. When I did watch them, I never analyzed them in different ways; I would just watch them for the excitement and enjoyment. For me, horror movies were always just about the rush and the unexpected. This class caught my attention because it dives deeper into horror films and allows you to see the messages behind the film and subliminals.

One of the films that really caught my attention was Bre Newsome’s Wake. The reason why this particular film caught my attention was because of how Charmaine let her father die. It is almost like she was waiting for that moment because she did not budge to help him in his time of need. The thing that really surprised me was when Charmaine saved some of her father's dirt and then went to conjure a witch lady to give the witch her father's dirt. Basically, it was a trade because Charmaine wanted to create a man to her liking—"the man of her dreams." This particular scene reminded me of the movie Eve’s Bayou, when the little girl Eve went to the witch lady to get her father killed through voodoo. Eve had gotten some of her father's hair to give to Elzora (the witch), and I believe she had put it in the mouth of a snake. The way I compare these two movies is by the trade and the need for something done and the sacrifice, although they are in two different situations. Eve wanted her father to die because of what her sister Cisely told her about her being sexually assaulted by her father. In Wake, Charmaine wanted her father dead because she wanted a man. At the end of both movies, both girls had a feeling of regret for what they had done because it was not worth it.

I come from a Christian background, so growing up, I was taught not to conjure demons or even play with that type of stuff because it's not good, and the outcomes behind it are terrible. From watching the film Wake, I see what really can happen when you conjure things. The thing I learned from last week that surprised me was the way I changed my perspective on black horror and how, back in the day, black horror was used in a negative way. I remember from the lecture when we saw the film The Birth of a Nation, where a white man was painted in blackface and was chasing after a white woman, and she looked terrified. This depicted the black man as something to be afraid of.

This course is different than what I expected. Honestly, I did not know what to expect, but so far, I am loving this course. I am actually very interested in it and learning more about black horror. Overall, I just love hearing different people's perspectives on the films—it helps me to look at things through a different lens.

[mariyahdenise]

Jonathan Owens + Simone Biles Owens

[mariyahdenise]

Yes!!!

And dont you forget it!!!