- Jul 24, 2018
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I'm just happy to be discussing something other than "so what Icons are actually in the Icons house?"
I'm just happy to be discussing something other than "so what Icons are actually in the Icons house?"
I think Shudder even has an extended edition now that was not there when I watched the first time!To add to @Grabnar in regards to the topic of racism in the horror genre I cannot recommend the documentary Horror Noire enough. It’s available to watch through Shudder and Apple TV if you’ve got an AMC+ subscription, it’s a really interesting deep dive into the genre from the black perspective and I learned a lot.
Amazon product ASIN B07NDQLVS7
To add to @Grabnar in regards to the topic of racism in the horror genre I cannot recommend the documentary Horror Noire enough. It’s available to watch through Shudder and Apple TV if you’ve got an AMC+ subscription, it’s a really interesting deep dive into the genre from the black perspective and I learned a lot.
Amazon product ASIN B07NDQLVS7
Oh yes I know my comment was rooted in sarcasm but it's a good discussion to have. I enjoy seeing something different in here. I worked at one of the top independent haunts in the country and BOY OH BOY could I blow out some crazy stuff that happened there.I know it's not a fun discussion, but it's a tough and necessary one. I appreciate everyone's thoughts on the matter, however.
I would like to hear the storiesOh yes I know my comment was rooted in sarcasm but it's a good discussion to have. I enjoy seeing something different in here. I worked at one of the top independent haunts in the country and BOY OH BOY could I blow out some crazy stuff that happened there.
I always enjoy when they do that, and then they get rekt by the SA they didn't noticeI always have gripes with the bros that act like they're tough poop in front of the scareactors. Like, dude no one is impressed. It's a theme park. I can see Spongebob from here.
Those people are normally dealt with pretty quick. If someone is acting like that and they seem drunk and like they may be a threat to a guest or another scareactor, there's a system to get security involved. Most get away with it just because there's so many (and we also can't just flag everyone), but if you seem off the rails, we're gonna do our best to flag you down ASAP.I always have gripes with the bros that act like they're tough poop in front of the scareactors. Like, dude no one is impressed. It's a theme park. I can see Spongebob from here.
As far as at HHN - I gotta say that the go-go dancers in Hellbilly Deluxe probably did NOT apply to HHN thinking they would be doing that. I can only imagine how bad it could have been had they not been 10 feet in the air.
I do also think that HHN should be taking some of the blame. We all love HHN or we wouldn't be discussing it, but they've fostered a fairly toxic community through the years (or at least they haven't tried to put a stop to anything) by stereotypically dressing the females up in "sexy" costumes each year. I get certain IPs just call for that, but their original houses and/or streets certainly don't and yet they still do the same thing and fall into those tropes. Vanity Ball aside, it's extremely rare to see a male sexualized in the way females are at HHN.
I do also think that HHN should be taking some of the blame. We all love HHN or we wouldn't be discussing it, but they've fostered a fairly toxic community through the years (or at least they haven't tried to put a stop to anything) by stereotypically dressing the females up in "sexy" costumes each year. I get certain IPs just call for that, but their original houses and/or streets certainly don't and yet they still do the same thing and fall into those tropes. Vanity Ball aside, it's extremely rare to see a male sexualized in the way females are at HHN.
The same thing (or worse) applies to Mardi Gras, where men are a bit more sexualized, too. I get the reason why they are (and people working that event have a bit more idea of what they are walking into), but the stories i've heard from friends who've done Mardi gras are really pretty bad, too.
These performers are all getting paid Universal's minimum wage when they do these jobs, so around $13.50/hour (Only recently has it gone up that much, a few years ago it was <$10/hour). With what you have to deal with to get that money, for a lot of people it's just not worth it in the end.
I know one of the guys who worked in that zone and I remember him saying he had to fight multiple battles - the pervs trying to peek up on the go-go dancers by looking up their skirts and then protecting the females on the ground, which was next to an impossible task. And this was coming from a guy who has worked HHN for I believe over 20 years.I could go on an entire rant about the size discrimination that goes on particularly for female performers. Women (honestly, PEOPLE in general, but the inherent misogyny in Horror and theme park entertainment casting hurts women worst of all) of all shapes, sizes, ethnicities, orientations, etc. deserve an equal opportunity to work.
But on the subject of female performers being harrassed, It absolutely doesn't help that so many female performers are used as sexual objects for the enjoyment of men. That's no fault of the performers, its the fault of the people designing the characters/costumes and the fault of the creators of the IPs the creative team brings in. Frankly, I get frustrated seeing people call zones like Rob Zombie a really good zone when the living dead girl scareactresses were really the ONLY scareactresses who weren't there to be sexy eye candy. That fault lays on Rob Zombie's content and aesthetic, but I wish there was a bit more of a critical eye and view
I believe firmly that the horror/haunt community and industry need to take a step back to deal with the misogyny, racism, homophobia, and transphobia that has become so prominent in the genre. Even though it seems we’re moving away from it with scarezones like VB, which felt like a celebration of being LGBT instead of using the LGBT community as the bad guys, we also get scarezones like Hellbilly which was just uncomfortable to be in. With LGBT, BIPOC, and women being so prominent in the haunt and horror community, I’d have expected the industry to have learned by now. I’m both male and white, so I can’t speak much on the misogyny and racism in the community as I haven’t personally experienced it (though I have seen it happen excessively to others and it needs to be addressed), but as a part of the LGBT community, I’d like to offer this video essay on the impact horror has played on how society views us, and how we view horror. I want to see this change, I no longer want us to be seen as the villains or monsters.
I don’t mind at all! Keep in mind, this is all personal taste and if you liked Hellbilly, that’s great, you don’t have to agree.If you don’t mind me asking what made you uncomfortable about Hellbilly?