{"id":15802,"date":"2021-02-25T20:20:16","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T01:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=15802"},"modified":"2021-02-25T20:20:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-26T01:20:16","slug":"weird-and-wonderful-videodrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2021\/02\/25\/weird-and-wonderful-videodrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Weird and Wonderful: “Videodrome”"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Cronenberg is a filmmaker who knows exactly what he\u2019s doing. He draws in the audience with his signature brand of body horror, then hits them with increasingly relevant social commentary. The cult classic <\/span>Videodrome <\/span><\/i><\/a>is a prime example of his approach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Originally a box-office bomb, it\u2019s gained a following due to its incredible special effects, dark themes, and oddball style. Categorized as science fiction horror, the film demands much more from the audience than one might expect from its genre. The story takes bizarre, surreal twists and turns, so it\u2019s another one of those films that relies on the audience recognizing clues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The main character, television executive Max Renn (James Woods), is constantly on the search for the most shocking show he can find to boost viewership. He isn\u2019t opposed to violence, real or imagined. He\u2019s also perfectly comfortable with showing adult content. When he stumbles upon a transmission of \u201cVideodrome\u201d, a show that consists exclusively of hyper-realistic torture, he makes it his mission to seek out the source of the show. The addition of a sadomasochistic damsel in distress (Debbie Harry), a chillingly familiar corporate villain (Leslie Carlson), and the daughter of a technological prophet of doom (Sonja Smits) add complexity to the discomfort.<\/span><\/p>\n

As soon as Max is subjected to \u201cVideodrome\u201d, he unknowingly becomes complicit in a plot to permanently change the psyche of the public. Slave to the will of \u201cVideodrome\u201d, he becomes programmable in both a metaphorical and a very literal sense. He only realizes the danger he and Nicki Brand (Debbie Harry) are in when it\u2019s too late. Slowly succumbing to constant hallucinations and the influence of various puppet masters, both Max and the audience begin to lose sight of what is real and what is imagined.<\/span><\/p>\n

Videodrome<\/span><\/i> asks how far we\u2019re willing to go for the sake of entertainment. It disgusted me not only due to the gore, but also because it\u2019s more relevant now than ever. The two key recurring themes of the film are desensitization and media control. Since <\/span>Videodrome<\/span><\/i>\u2019s release in 1983, these concepts have only become more central to daily life. In the digital age, anyone has access to the darkest parts of life; simply open an incognito browser and the world is your grim, terrifying oyster.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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It takes advantage of everything it can with an R rating. It\u2019s grotesque, dreamlike — actually, more like nightmarish– and needs a second watch to fully appreciate. The nearly $6 million budget was one of the largest he\u2019s ever had for a film, and it shows in all the effects he was able to pull off. Universal saw the success of his 1981 film <\/span>Scanners <\/span><\/i>and decided to take a chance, but unfortunately this didn\u2019t end up benefiting them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Videodrome <\/span><\/i>has slowly but surely gained a fanbase, and I couldn\u2019t be more pleased. Whether you\u2019re intrigued by its message or just in it for the carnage, please give Cronenberg\u2019s dystopian prophecy a chance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDeath to Videodrome! Long live the new flesh!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Cronenberg is a filmmaker who knows exactly what he\u2019s doing. He draws in the audience with his signature brand of body horror, then hits them with increasingly relevant social commentary. The cult classic Videodrome is a prime example of his approach.\u00a0 Originally a box-office bomb, it\u2019s gained a following due to its incredible special […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2236,"featured_media":15807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2236"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15806,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15802\/revisions\/15806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}