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The Horror of Toxic Masculinity
How horror films reflect society’s evolving understanding of what it means to be a man.
Picture a terrifying monster from a horror movie.
What are you thinking of? A serial killer, wearing someone else’s face as a mask? A killer clown? A demon? An evil witch? Aliens that hunt by sound? Jeff Goldblum in fly makeup?
Whatever you’re picturing, you’re probably not thinking of an everyday man, dressed in civilian clothes, going about his day like nothing is amiss.
What’s so scary about that?
For many, the horror genre is nothing more than a collection of jump scares, shallow protagonists, and grotesque special effects. Just a cheap way to generate a visceral adrenaline rush. And yes, part of the enjoyment of a good horror movie is the way it gets your blood pumping, but if you dig past the monster makeup, horror cinema becomes vividly unique. Horror has an innate ability to reflect larger cultural anxieties — anthropomorphized through demons, clowns, or flesh-eating zombies.
Social commentary and horror go hand in blood-soaked hand.
Take Godzilla. Throughout its various incarnations, the terrifying Japanese creation is often viewed as a metaphor for the Atomic bombs dropped during…
