For this assignment, I decided to listen to an episode called “Whose Nightmares Are We Telling? How Horror Has Evolved for People of Color”. This episode was hosted by B.A Parker and included the opinions of two other critics, Mallory Yu and Richard Newby. The three dived deep into the history of horror. They unraveled the roles poc played in the horror genre. The characters backed then, lacked any depth/growth. These characters only had 3 minutes of screen time, made for a simple kill.
In this episode, the critics mainly focused on the work of Jordan Peele. Specifically his directorial debut, Get Out. They spoke about the evolution of story telling now that there are more black voices in cinema. Get Out introduced a new concept to the movie scene. This movie started the movement of making horror based on poc trauma.
This episode was amazing to listen to. It connected and resonated with me, heavily. As a Mexican film geek, I was able to relate to a lot of their takes. I do enjoy Peeles work and the new direction of cinema he has taken. I think there’s a lot of new territory we can discover with his concepts. Poc voices are expanding throughout this industry. Its becoming more clear that we are more than just a simple kill in a horror movie. I can’t wait to see more Mexican faces in horror with the rise in new voices.
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/27/1159794320/how-horror-has-evolved-for-people-of-color
I agree with your point about Peele’s work creating a new direction for cinema and how it’s opening more doors for diversity in the film industry. I personally love it when I can relate to or laugh at jokes targeted at more culturally significant points for minorities. It is a much-needed representation of marginalized groups of people.
I agree with what you said about diversity being more included in horror films now. It’s better to be more inclusive to everyone and not add people of color just for an easy kill. It feels very stereotypical when a movie starts and you see many characters and then all the people of color get killed off fast then the movie proceeds with more details after. The color of their skin shouldn’t determine how fast they are killed off.
I really like horror films, and have even thought about this fact. I find it incredibly disappointing. I have yet to see “Get Out” but I have heard that it is an amazing film. One note I have is to to make sure to indicate what an acronym stands for, out the acronym in parenthesis, and the you can use the acronym for the rest of the writing. make sure the acronym is always capitalized. It should look something like this: They unraveled the roles people of color (POC) played in the horror genre.
I agree with you how now honor films are become more diverse, but also giving poc more screen time. Honestly I feel like films with poc can actually be more relatable and entertaining,