Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Ditch the candy, this Halloween sign yourself up for some good ol' fashion fear mongering!

Everyone has their own Halloween traditions. In his documentary Hell House, director/ producer George Radliff shows the not-so-common Halloween traditions of a town on the outskirts of Dallas, where the production of "Hell House" is annually held.

Hell House is a haunted house-style play focused on decisions that will exempt a person from the pearly gates. Teens and parents alike try out in large numbers, hoping to play "rave master" or"school shooting kid."

During Halloween season, "those who dare enter" watch a series of five-minute skits, showing what each character did to get in Hell. There's the boy who "chose the gay lifestyle" and became HIV positive; the woman who cheats on her abusive, alcoholic husband; the girl who took the abortion pill and died from blood loss, the boy who was so fed up with teasing that he commits suicide in front of his class and (can't forget this one!) the girl who goes to a rave, gets drugged and raped and commits suicide because of her guilt!

After seeing the characters tortured and burned in the final "Hell" scene, the audience is taken to calm room. Here, a person asks the group if they know where they would go if they were to die that night. Those who would like to go to heaven are offered entrance into a room where they can pray with church members.

This is where I sat on my couch, watching and thinking "WHAAAAAT! WAY TO BLAME THE VICTIM!"
This movie put things in the most disgusting terms: It's not the rapist who goes to hell, its the poor survivor. It's not the abuser or the mean students, it's the abused and the taunted.
It's time to identify this as what it is: fear mongering! They are showing extreme situations as scare tactics to sway their audience towards their unrealistic cause. To find out more about Hell House, rent it!


1 comment:

Ellen said...

oh my gosh, I just heard about this on "This American Life" and was talking with my friend about how completely messed up this is.

I honestly don't understand how something like this is possible, much less acceptable in our society. When is it ever ok to use rape and suffering as entertainment? Never.