Comments on: Creeping Tentacles of Lovecraftian Horror — and Janice Erlbaum! http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/ Conservatism for punks. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:32:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.9 by: Todd Seavey http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11413 Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:43:11 +0000 http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11413 Tweren't nothin' -- and after all the complaining comments I got on this site after writing an entry criticizing feminism about a year ago, I have to support the woman brave enough to write this: http://girlbomb.typepad.com/blog/2006/01/feminist_men_ox.html Though the Erlbaum feminist credentials remain more impeccable than mine, of course. Tweren’t nothin’ — and after all the complaining comments I got on this site after writing an entry criticizing feminism about a year ago, I have to support the woman brave enough to write this:

http://girlbomb.typepad.com/blog/2006/01/feminist_men_ox.html

Though the Erlbaum feminist credentials remain more impeccable than mine, of course.

]]> by: Janice "Aw Shucks" Erlbaum http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11404 Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:07:43 +0000 http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11404 Todd, I am beyond honored by your association of me with Lovecraft. If I can inspire existential dread in just one person...*sniff*... Todd, I am beyond honored by your association of me with Lovecraft. If I can inspire existential dread in just one person…*sniff*…

]]> by: Christopher http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11392 Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:52:29 +0000 http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11392 And today she said her first words. While no symbols crafted by the human mind can truly capture their monstrous blasphemy, they sounded something like, "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" or was it "ga ga GAA dadada gahh"? Hard to say. In either case, kids make the darnedest incantations! And today she said her first words. While no symbols crafted by the human mind can truly capture their monstrous blasphemy, they sounded something like, “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn” or was it “ga ga GAA dadada gahh”? Hard to say. In either case, kids make the darnedest incantations!

]]> by: Todd Seavey http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11390 Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:38:47 +0000 http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11390 I liked _Event Horizon_, too. And though _2001_ (of which _Event Horizon_ is sort of a dark cousin) is no horror movie, it's hard to beat the apes' encounter with the Monolith for a sheer sense of existential dread -- in some ways (to tie things into the religion/atheism theme on the blog this month), _2001_ is really the ultimate "intelligent design" movie, it must be conceded, since the one unifying idea, if there's a plot there, is that some progressive force is driving evolution (ape to man, moon-explorer to Jupiter-explorer, submissive computer to self-defending computer, man to godthing) rather than it being a random process. The Monolith/apes scene, then, is arguably the best filmic depiction of how terrifying it would be to behold the face of God, if there were one, and it's pretty effective, I'd say. P.S. I hope Chris doesn't mind me mentioning, by the way, that my previous entry, also about Lovecraft, inspired him to read "The Call of Cthulhu" aloud to his infant (and thus unharmed) daughter, which amuses me. P.P.S. And I think Xine needs to rewatch _2001_ as an adult with an interest in theology, now that she has the slower pulse and more sophisticated tastes of a grown-up and won't just get bored and cranky about it as she did when she saw it as a child. I liked _Event Horizon_, too.

And though _2001_ (of which _Event Horizon_ is sort of a dark cousin) is no horror movie, it’s hard to beat the apes’ encounter with the Monolith for a sheer sense of existential dread — in some ways (to tie things into the religion/atheism theme on the blog this month), _2001_ is really the ultimate “intelligent design” movie, it must be conceded, since the one unifying idea, if there’s a plot there, is that some progressive force is driving evolution (ape to man, moon-explorer to Jupiter-explorer, submissive computer to self-defending computer, man to godthing) rather than it being a random process.

The Monolith/apes scene, then, is arguably the best filmic depiction of how terrifying it would be to behold the face of God, if there were one, and it’s pretty effective, I’d say.

P.S. I hope Chris doesn’t mind me mentioning, by the way, that my previous entry, also about Lovecraft, inspired him to read “The Call of Cthulhu” aloud to his infant (and thus unharmed) daughter, which amuses me.

P.P.S. And I think Xine needs to rewatch _2001_ as an adult with an interest in theology, now that she has the slower pulse and more sophisticated tastes of a grown-up and won’t just get bored and cranky about it as she did when she saw it as a child.

]]> by: Christopher http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11389 Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:03:16 +0000 http://toddseavey.com/2008/02/12/creeping-tentacles-of-lovecraftian-horror-and-janice-erlbaum/#comment-11389 Though many will disagree, I found "Event Horizon" (with Lawrence Fishburn and Sam Neill) to be one of the more creepy and disturbing films I've seen as an adult. I was out of sorts for days after seeing it and couldn't shake a sense of insidious dread. The people I saw it with and I were all silent for the first ten minutes of our car ride home from the theater, until one of us said, "That shit freaked me out" and the rest mumbled agreement. As for M. Night Shyamalan (not "Knight," I believe, but he somewhat pathetically made it up in college anyway), I liked "The Sixth Sense" (in spite of knowing the twist going in) and thought "Unbreakable" was underrated. Everything after that has been total shit (though I know you liked "The Village"). Though many will disagree, I found “Event Horizon” (with Lawrence Fishburn and Sam Neill) to be one of the more creepy and disturbing films I’ve seen as an adult. I was out of sorts for days after seeing it and couldn’t shake a sense of insidious dread. The people I saw it with and I were all silent for the first ten minutes of our car ride home from the theater, until one of us said, “That shit freaked me out” and the rest mumbled agreement.

As for M. Night Shyamalan (not “Knight,” I believe, but he somewhat pathetically made it up in college anyway), I liked “The Sixth Sense” (in spite of knowing the twist going in) and thought “Unbreakable” was underrated. Everything after that has been total shit (though I know you liked “The Village”).

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