Sometimes a seminal work of art or pop culture event will reveal deep and dark societal fears and psychosis. Vladimir Nabokov said that after Lolita he was constantly called sick and perverse by men who had understood the myth of the nymphet to be a somewhat accurate description of their young daughters. Obviously, this is a juvenile misinterpretation. It’s also a pretty fucked up freudian interpretation. As Nabokov pointed out the criticism revealed more about the men and the way they viewed women and their daughters than it revealed him about him or his mental state.
My neurosis has to do with towns, I really hate towns. Bad things happen in towns and no one bears witness. Cities get a bad rep but at least if you scream someone will hear you. In Cold Blood is a heavy and packed text (and movie) but the thing that stuck with me was the horror lurking in the corners of banal small town America. Small town America is usually used as a picture of sublime ignorance, happiness and decency but a family of people can be butchered in the middle of the night and forgotten for days (not to mention the recently visible horrors of sexism and racism still lurking behind the facade of small town decency).
A few weeks ago I was in a small town in Massachusetts which is already the way most horror movies begin. Aside from being one of like five POC, I hate towns, I hate the woods and I hate being told that my name sounds “un-American.” Basically, I’ve never been so pleased to be back at the Port Authority. The movies below relate to the horrors lurking in New York because yeah it can be shitty too.
1. C.H.U.D.
I like Ed Wood type movies which is probably why I like this. It’s nice to be able to chuckle through a horror film. Chud chud chud. Say chud, it’ll be the best thing you’ll do all day. It’s one of those words that is just great to say (I have taken to calling people chuds in the last couple of weeks). The acronym actually stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller which save for the cannibal part is a pretty accurate description of me. The basic plot is that these C.H.U.Ds are grabbing at people from sewer grates and on the subway which I honestly might prefer to passing by the rat family that procreates on my street corner.
2. Permanent Vacation
Summers in New York can be disgusting but they can also be great because all of the people that make New York the Yuppie capital of stockbroker assholes have all fled the city to go to the Hamptons. The city becomes empty and serene unlike other holidays (CHRISTMAS) when it becomes the real life sixth circle of hell.
Permanent Vacation is Jim Jarmusch’s debut movie which should really be all you need to read. A young kid wanders around New York dealing with all of the fucking weirdos and psychopaths you’d expect while also dealing with many personal crises and issues.
3. The Witness
In 1964 Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death outside her apartment building in Queens. According to the media reports dozens of people had seen Kitty followed and stabbed by a man but had refused to do anything. The incident became bigger than the sole tragedy of a woman stabbed while walking home alone at night. The media and conservatives hijacked it and used it a symbol of urban apathy and of the moral depravity and selfishness of New York City.
The Witness is a documentary made by Kitty’s brother Bill who sets out to try and figure out what happened to his sister. He sets out to get a more accurate understanding of how his sister could have been murdered with so many witnesses and bystanders. The Witness feels like Bill’s final act of catharsis in confronting the demons of his sister’s murder but also paints a sympathetic and vulnerable portrait of New York.
Film column by Tamim Alnuweiri. Follow her at @tamimalnuweiri.
