How Far is too Far?

I think an interesting question for horror movie fans to consider is: just exactly how far is too far?  The line for what is acceptable in a movie keeps moving further and further toward the extreme end of the spectrum.  A movie like Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 would have probably been banned 15 or 20 years ago.  Now people barely bat an eyelash.  But as extreme as that movie is, H2 doesn't hold a candle to the extreme end of the really nasty titles that have been coming out.

We've seen some incredibly graphic moives scrape the surface of mainstream horror in recent years like: The Human Centipede 2 and A Serbian Film; both blowing past the boundaries of what is considered acceptable, even for jaded gore fans.  Also this year also brings the Criterion blur-ray release of Salo, a film with content still quite shocking even though it is nearly 40 years old (I had nightmares just from reading the plot synopsis from wikipedia).

I think one of the reasons horror movies have become even more extreme is that is getting harder and harder to shock audiences.  Horror movies rely on pure shock to disgust and frighten the audience, however with the advent of the internet granting us real-life horrors that people document with their own home video cameras is simply something that most fictional movies can not compete with.  Honestly, what is gross after seeing 2 girls 1 cup?  That video is as as disgusting as anything I have ever seen, yet it is an internet "meme" and even an archetype for the awful things you can view online with just a quick Google search. 

That may be one answer "why" these movies are getting more extreme, but there still remains the important question: "Why do we watch?"  This is a question I'm not even sure I have a good answer for.  I myself am curious about watching movies like Salo, Human Centipede 2, and Cannibal Holocaust.  (No thanks at A Serbian film, I draw a firm line at child rape).  But what is it about them?

I think there is just something about looking into the darkest parts of the human mind.  Movies like these allow us to look at the filthiest parts of ourselves while still allowing us the safe abstraction of knowing they are nonfiction.  I would compare it to trying to stare into the sun... if we gazed directly, and for too long we might go blind. In this case we might literally go mad if we spend too much time with these thoughts and in these spaces.  Some unhinged people, somewhat like the killer in Human Centipede 2, may wallow in that sort of depravity.  However, I think for most healthy people, it is simply just trying to take a peak without losing ourselves.

I don't think I'd want to spend much time there personally.  I love to write, and am fairly convinced I could write a script with acts as disgusting as those in these movies I've mentioned.  However, I have absolutely no desire to turn my creative gaze toward the darkest and most vile recesses of my own mind.  It's just not a space I want to dwell in, for any reason whatsoever.

Are these films justifiable, and are they art?  With the new release of Salo I find it interesting that both Salo and A Serbian Film are justified in the same way:  both are political allegories, and both are beautifully shot.  I feel like these justifications are simply excuses.  There is nothing else positive you can say about them, so that is all there is...  However, to play devil's advocate, I think it may be fair to say the supporters find merit in the existence of these films, even though it is almost impossible to articulate just what it is, and there is also absolutely nothing traditionally artistic about them. 

And again I think these movies exist so we can catch a glimpse of something genuinely human.  And while there may be no "line" to cross anymore when it comes to what you can put in a movie, or what people will watch anymore, I will never call these types of movies "art."  As far as I am concerned these types of movies are not art, they are pornography.

And that is not to say I am above ever looking at them, because I am not.  It is just that they serve no purpose, other than to gawk at human depravity.  There is no lesson to be learned or story to be told.  There is only the exploitation of the most disgusting aspects of ourselves.