Canadian horror, American bodies: corporeal obsession and cultural projection in American Nightmare, American Psycho, and American Mary

Vol.39,No.2(2013)

André Loiselle

https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2013-2-8

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/130313

PDF
Abstract
Many Canadian horror films are set in the United States and claim to provide a graphic critique of typically American social problems. Using three made-in-Canada films that explicitly situate themselves "south of the border," – "American Nightmare" (1983, Don McBrearty), "American Psycho" (2000, Mary Harron), and "American Mary" (2012, Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska) – this essay argues that these and other similar cinematic tales of terror have less to do with America than with Canada's own national anxieties. These films project Canadian fears onto the United States to avoid facing our national implication in horror, mayhem and chaos; and more often than not, the body is the preferred site of such projection. In this way, such films unwittingly expose Canada's dark obsessions through cultural displacement. Ultimately, this article suggest that Canadians have a long way to go before they can stop blaming the American monster for everything bad that happens to them, and finally dare to embrace their own demons.

Keywords:
Canadian horror films; the body as site of terror; Imaginary Canadian; Canada-US relationship; Toronto and Vancouver masquerading as American cities

Pages:
123–136
References

" The Soska Sisters & Katharine Isabelle." Grolsch Film Works. http://grolschfilmworks.com

" This isn't Toronto the Good anymore." National Post, 11 June 2009, A15.

" Toronto: Welcome to the Big Smog." Toronto Star, 3 June 2006, H03.

Agrell, Siri (2010) " Toronto the Good awakes to lick its wounds – The G8/G20 Summit Toronto / Weekend Of Violence" Globe and Mail, 28 June, 2010, A10.

Beard, William (1994) " The Canadianness of David Cronenberg." Mosaic 27 (2), 113–133.

Conterio, Martyn (2013) " The Soska Sisters & Katharine Isabelle." Grolsch Film Works, http://grolschfilmworks.com/ca/features/the-soska-sisters-katharine-isabelle. Posted July 1, 2013; accessed on January 2, 2014.

Derry, Charles (2009) Dark Dreams 2. 0: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film from the 1950s to the 21st Century. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Handling, Piers (1983) " A Canadian Cronenberg." In: Handling, Piers (ed.) The Shape of Rage. Toronto: General Publishing, 98–114.

Loiselle, André (2010) " Popular Genres in Quebec Cinema: The Strange Case of Horror in Film and Television." In: Beaty, Bart, Derek Britton, Gloria Filax and Rebecca Sullivan (eds.) How Canadians Communicate III: Contexts of Canadian Popular Culture. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press, 141–159.

Longfellow, Brenda (2006) " Surfing the Toronto New Wave: Policy, Paradigm Shifts and Post-Nationalism." In: Loiselle, André and Tom McSorley (eds.) Self-Protraits: The Cinemas of Canada since Telefilm. Ottawa: Canadian Film Institute, 167–200.

Malpas, Simon (2005) The Postmodern. London and New York: Routledge.

Mckay, John (2000) " Canadian director brings 'restrained' Psycho to the screen." The Canadian Press April 10, 2000, 12:36.

Micallef, Shawn (2010) Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto. Toronto: Coach House Books.

Miller, Rhett. " American Nightmare," Canuxploitation, http://www.canuxploitation.com/ review/amnightmare.html

Murphet, Julian (2002) Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho: A Reader's Guide. New York: Continuum, 2002.

Normanton, Peter (2012[1932]) The Mammoth Book of Slasher Movies. London and Philadelphia: Constable & Robinson and Running Press.

Pevere, Geoff (1998) " We like to watch: 50 years of television in Canada." Take One 7 (20), Summer, 6–19.

Sørensen, Brian. Holm (2011) Monsters: Fictional Representations of Cultural Anxieties. Copenhagen: Aalborg University.

Sutherland, Sam (2012) Perfect Youth: The Birth of Canadian Punk. Toronto: ECW Press.

Tighe, Carl (2005) Writing and Responsibility. London and New York: Psychology Press.

Wilden, Anthony (1980) The Imaginary Canadian. Vancouver: Pulp Press.

Metrics

1

Crossref logo

3

15

Views

0

PDF views

PDF