Offensive Films

Brottman offers up a study of movies so offensive, some are practically unwatchable. From the ever-popularFaces of Deathmovies to purported snuff films, from classic B-movies such asThe Tingler, to more popular but no less controversial films such as TheTexas Chainsaw Massacre,Brottman takes a wide-eyed look at movies most folks watch only through parted fingers.While most critics have been quick to dismiss such films as mere shock-fests (if they even bother to talk about them at all), Brottman argues that these movies tell us quite a bit about who we are as a society, what makes us anxious, and what taboos we truly believe cannot be crossed. Part anthropology, part psychoanalysis,Offensive Filmsvivisects these movies in order to figure out just what about them is so offensive, obscene, or bizarre. In the end, Brottman proves that these films, shunned from the cinematic canon, work on us in sophisticated ways we often choose to remain unaware of.

Mikita Brottman is Professor in the Department of Language, Literature and Culture at the Maryland Institute College of Art