What makes the horror caused by children so horrific? (thoughts, problems, humans)
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Some masterpieces of cinema and literature rely on horrific stuff caused by children.
For example, we got Lord of the Flies, were a bunch of British posh chidren survive a plane accident and become castaways in a remote unhabited island. Little by little they turn into little mosters.
Another good example could be the movie Suddently, Last Summer, by Katherine Hepburn. Here we see this homosexual guy eaten alive by a bunch of poor children in a little town in Spain. ( I am from Spain, I swear that stuff doesn happen here, I don´t know why they decided to portray Spain like that). In this case the whole thing is supposed to be a psychological metaphor, or something)
And many other movies and books: Citá de Deus (depicting the favelas in Rio), etc.
I think the reason why it conveys such a powerful effect is that the horror caused by children is less filtered by cultural aspects, it's more "natural" as to speak, and brings back the basic idea that humans are the product of the orignal sin.
I don´t think it's random the use of children as forced soldiers in Africa, or the pikcpocket rings Oliver Twist style...there's something particularly horrific about infant crime.
Opinions, thoughts?
PS, I know it's not a very happy subject, but I just woke up from a deep nap, and feel kinda heavy and gloomy.
Some masterpieces of cinema and literature rely on horrific stuff caused by children.
For example, we got Lord of the Flies, were a bunch of British posh chidren survive a plane accident and become castaways in a remote unhabited island. Little by little they turn into little mosters.
Another good example could be the movie Suddently, Last Summer, by Katherine Hepburn. Here we see this homosexual guy eaten alive by a bunch of poor children in a little town in Spain. ( I am from Spain, I swear that stuff doesn happen here, I don´t know why they decided to portray Spain like that). In this case the whole thing is supposed to be a psychological metaphor, or something)
And many other movies and books: Citá de Deus (depicting the favelas in Rio), etc.
I think the reason why it conveys such a powerful effect is that the horror caused by children is less filtered by cultural aspects, it's more "natural" as to speak, and brings back the basic idea that humans are the product of the orignal sin.
I don´t think it's random the use of children as forced soldiers in Africa, or the pikcpocket rings Oliver Twist style...there's something particularly horrific about infant crime.
Opinions, thoughts?
PS, I know it's not a very happy subject, but I just woke up from a deep nap, and feel kinda heavy and gloomy.
Perhaps because it runs counter to the image we normally have of children, rightly or wrongly, as innocent, weak, vulnerable and/or subordinate to adults.
I have yet to see "Cita de Deus" ("City of God") about Rio's favelas. I have seen one of Rio's favelas, Vidigal, from the OUTSIDE because it sits right next to Dois Irmaos and can be seen from Ipanema. Everyone knows tourists should never wander into a favela.
In both conditions, the quest for survival is the reason the kids did what they did. In the Western world, where there are fewer difficulties, this is less likely to happen. However, we still have kids in wealthy nations who do crazy things, usually because of behavioral or mental health problems.
I think we tend to view children as being incapable of really horrible things, and often times we get in the habit of viewing humans in general as being "above" animals, and incapable of doing animalistic things. So we tend to find it horrifying or at the very least unsettling when children are depicted giving in to their carnal urges.
You realize, children do not really have morals up to a certain age, until it's - usually - is being hammered into them by society? That's why they can do quite cruel stuff - they do not "know" it's cruel. They are - natural, for lack of better word? And that's when the beast wthin really shows itself.
Btw, why would you even judge based on Hollywood etc movies? They will show anything to tickle human senses. But yeah, kids can get very cruel. So do women. Watch women fight. As in street or bar brawl. They are cruelly mean.
Agree with previous posters, because children have not yet fully adapted to all the social norms, children's cruelty represents those base violent instincts that most adults have innately learned to suppress. Therefore, cruelty by children is scary because essentially it points to the fact that people, at their essence, are cruel, and it is only through a rigid system of rules that that order and a civilized society are preserved. That's the point of Lord of the Flies - that there's a thin line between civilization and anarchy: take away our established social structures, and we degrade back to primitive, cruel beings.
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