Dark media

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The VHS cassette in the Japanese horror film Ring is an example of a dark medium. VHS-Video-Tape-Top-Flat.jpg
The VHS cassette in the Japanese horror film Ring is an example of a dark medium.

Dark media are a type of media outlined by American philosopher Eugene Thacker.

Eugene Thacker is an author and Professor at The New School in New York City. His writing is often associated with the philosophy of nihilism and pessimism. Thacker’s most recent books are the Horror of Philosophy series, Cosmic Pessimism and Infinite Resignation. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Washington, and a PhD in Comparative Literature from Rutgers University.

Overview

Discussed at length in the essay of the same name, Eugene Thacker writes that dark media are media that function too well. [1] Thacker writes that, "dark media have, as their aim, the mediation of that which is unavailable or inaccessible to the senses, and thus that which we are normally "in the dark" about." [2] Typically in works of Horror, dark media are relatively commonplace media that show more of the world than is expected, with the dark medium showing what lies beyond the possibility of human sense. Dark media are significant in their ability to breach the, typically unbridgeable, gap between objects being mediated. [3] With dark media, as shown in the J-Horror film Ring, dark media can create a point between the natural and the supernatural. [4] In Ring, the dark medium of the VHS cassette makes it possible for antagonist Sadako Yamamura to cross the threshold of a tv, and subsequently kill those that have viewed the videotape.

Horror fiction genre of fiction

Horror is a genre of speculative fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle its readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere. Horror is frequently supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society.

Japanese horror is Japanese horror fiction in popular culture, noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre in light of western treatments. Japanese horror tends to focus on psychological horror and tension building (suspense), and supernatural horror, particularly involving ghosts (yūrei) and poltergeists, while many contain themes of folk religion such as: possession, exorcism, shamanism, precognition, and yōkai.

<i>Ring</i> (film) 1998 film by Hideo Nakata

Ring is a 1998 Japanese horror film directed by Hideo Nakata, based on the 1991 novel by Kôji Suzuki. The film stars Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rikiya Ōtaka. The film is centered on a reporter who is on the run to investigate the mystery behind a cursed videotape that kills the viewer 7 days after watching it.

Examples of dark media

<i>Long Distance Wireless Photography</i> 1908 film by Georges Méliès

La Photographie électrique à distance, released in the United States as Long Distance Wireless Photography and in Britain as Electrical Photographer, is a 1908 French short silent comedy film directed by Georges Méliès.

<i>Pulse</i> (2001 film) 2001 Japanese horror film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Pulse is a 2001 Japanese horror film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. The movie was well-received critically and has a cult following. An American remake, also titled Pulse, debuted in 2006 and spawned two sequels. The script was also adapted into a novel of the same name by Kurosawa himself.

Related Research Articles

Magnetic tape medium for magnetic recording

Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders respectively. A device that stores computer data on magnetic tape is known as a tape drive.

<i>The Ring</i> (2002 film) 2002 film directed by Gore Verbinski

The Ring is a 2002 American supernatural horror film directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, and Brian Cox. It is a remake of the 1998 Japanese horror film Ring based on the novel of the same name by Koji Suzuki.

Common gull species of bird

The common gull is a medium-sized gull that breeds in northern Asia, northern Europe, and northwestern North America. The North American subspecies is commonly referred to as the mew gull, although that name is also used by some authorities for the whole species. It migrates further south in winter. There are differing accounts as to how the species acquired its vernacular name.

Metafiction is a form of literature that emphasizes its own constructedness in a way that continually reminds the reader to be aware that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, storytelling, and directly or indirectly draw attention to their status as artifacts. Metafiction is frequently used as a form of parody or a tool to undermine literary conventions and explore the relationship between literature and reality, life, and art. Although metafiction is most commonly associated with postmodern literature, its use can be traced back to much earlier works of fiction, such as Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1387), Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605), William Shakespeare's Pericles, Prince of Tyre (c.1608), Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759), William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair (1847), as well as more recent works such as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955), or Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979). Metafiction, however, became particularly prominent in the 1960s, with authors and works such as John Barth's Lost in the Funhouse, Robert Coover's "The Babysitter" and "The Magic Poker", Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman, Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 and William H. Gass's Willie Master's Lonesome Wife.

Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror and psychological fiction that relies on mental, emotional and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle readers, viewers, or players. The subgenre frequently overlaps with the related subgenre of psychological thriller, and it often uses mystery elements and characters with unstable, unreliable, or disturbed psychological states to enhance the suspense, drama, action, and paranoia of the setting and plot and to provide an overall unpleasant, unsettling, or distressing atmosphere.

Audience group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art

An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music, video games, or academics in any medium. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art; some events invite overt audience participation and others allowing only modest clapping and criticism and reception.

<i>The Ring Virus</i> 1999 film by Kim dong-bin

The Ring Virus (Hangul: 링) is a South Korean horror film adapted from the Japanese novel Ring by Koji Suzuki. A joint project between Japan and Korea, this version has Park Eun-Suh as the creator of the cursed videotape. Although the filmmakers claimed that the film was adapted from the novel, there are various scenes in the film that match the 1998 film Ring, such as the sex of the lead character, some of the scenes on the videotape as well as copying other film scenes directly from the original film, including the film's climax.

Alexander R. Galloway (1974) is an author and professor in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. He has a bachelor's degree in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University, and a Ph.D. in Literature from Duke University in 2001. Galloway is known for his writings on philosophy, media theory, contemporary art, film, and video games.

Ghost hunting Process of investigating locations supposedly haunted by ghosts

Ghost hunting is the process of investigating locations that are reported to be haunted by ghosts. Typically, a ghost-hunting team will attempt to collect evidence supporting the existence of paranormal activity. Ghost hunters use a variety of electronic devices, including EMF meters, digital thermometers, both handheld and static digital video cameras, including thermographic and night vision cameras, as well as digital audio recorders. Other more traditional techniques are also used, such as conducting interviews and researching the history of allegedly haunted sites. Ghost hunters may also refer to themselves as "paranormal investigators."

McKenzie Wark is an Australian-born writer and scholar. Wark is known for their writings on media theory, critical theory, new media, and the Situationist International. Their best known works are A Hacker Manifesto and Gamer Theory. They are Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at The New School in New York City.

Speculative realism is a movement in contemporary Continental-inspired philosophy that defines itself loosely in its stance of metaphysical realism against the dominant forms of post-Kantian philosophy.

Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common themes in the genre are the afterlife, the Devil, and demonic possession. Not all supernatural horror films focus on religion and can have "more vivid and gruesome violence".

Urban Gothic

Urban Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction, film horror and television dealing with industrial and post-industrial urban society. It was pioneered in the mid-19th century in Britain, Ireland and the United States and developed in British novels such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), and Irish novels such as Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). In the twentieth century, urban Gothic influenced the creation of the subgenres of Southern Gothic and suburban Gothic. From the 1980s, interest in the urban Gothic revived with books like Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and a number of graphic novels that drew on dark city landscapes, leading to adaptations in film including Batman (1989), The Crow (1994) and From Hell (2001), as well as influencing films like Seven (1995).

Richard Thomas (author) American author, born 1967

Richard Thomas is an American author. His focus is on neo-noir fiction, typically including elements of violence, mental instability, breaks in reality, unreliable narrators, and tragedies. His work is rich in setting and sensory details—often called maximalism. It has also been called transgressive and grotesque. He was Editor-in-Chief at Dark House Press (2012-2016) and is currently Editor-in-Chief of Gamut Magazine.

<i>The Ring</i> (franchise)

Ring, also known as The Ring, is a Japanese horror media franchise, based on the novel series of the same name written by Koji Suzuki. The franchise includes eight Japanese films, two television series, six manga adaptations, five international film remakes, and a video game.

References

  1. Thacker, Eugene (2013). Excommunication. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. p. 92.
  2. Thacker, Eugene (2013). Excommunication. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. p. 85.
  3. Thacker, Eugene (2013). Excommunication. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. p. 84.
  4. Thacker, Eugene (2013). Excommunication. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. p. 92.