SCREEN VICTIMS: ARCHAIC MYTH AND THE HOLLYWOOD CHORROR-REANIMATION OF MASS CULTURE

Abstract

The chase in an American horror movie reveals the archetypal motivation of the Hero and the anti-Hero, who pursues him. If the Hero runs away in the hope to save his life, his pursuer driven by mythological motifs forms the post-modern antithesis of the classical tradition, as pathomyth of modern civilization. Such logic explains the process of turning ordinary "prey" into a culturally significant victim, and the persecution itself into a ritual rite. "Prey" becomes a victim because of his/her own choice, unconsciously always ready for such a scenario. He/she takes responsibility for his/her own future and for the prospects of existence of the entire social community. This is done by the victim's acceptance of guilt for all previous collective crimes committed by distant ancestors. Therefore, the victim performs consolidating functions for the society, becoming a sacred being, purifying the society from the elements of destruction and aggression. The murder and then the resurrection of the victim visualize a scheme of symbolic reunification of individual differences as a condition of dialectics of society and culture. An American horror film tests two scenarios of the victim's persecution. The first tells the story of a duel with a Pursuer as an interpersonal encounter, which allows to identify and position relevant personal meanings for the viewer. The second scenario unfolds in the space of personal mythologies of the participants of a bloody chase, although the symbolism of this type of persecution is based on common cultural archetypal meanings. They set the structure and content of individual processes aimed at the formation of the Self-running man.