Dr. K. Shimabukuro

Dr. K. Shimabukuro

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Notes on Horror Filmography

So I was pulling together, combining the filmography for the edited collection and in the filmography we're listing Movie Title (year). Director. Writers. As I was going through, cleaning things up, going through IMDB, a couple of things struck me. The first was how men dominate the genre. I mean, this is not news to anyone who studies or writes about horror, but to see movie after movie, page after page, of men, men, and more men, really drives the point how. And not just directors but writers, a whole genre that usually centers the torture, rape, and trauma of women, their experiences not as an actual narrative, interested in them or the effect on them, but their use as a plot point, all only put down on paper by men writing about what they cannot know.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Wes Craven. 
Black Christmas (2006). Glen Morgan.
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981). Steve Miner.
Friday the 13th Part 3 3-D (1982). Steve Miner.
Gremlins (1984). Joe Dante.
Halloween (2007). Rob Zombie.
Hostel. 2005. Eli Roth.
It Follows (2015). David Robert Mitchell.
Paranormal Activity (2007). Oren Peli.
Sleepaway Camp (1983). Robert Hiltzik.

There is a particular type of male director who thinks everything they do is "high art" and who often disparages a genre until they make it, then it's different. In many ways all art requires this ego- the belief that you have something new to say, some unique take. I think this is seen in the above list but also in the horror adjacent films like Alien3 (1992) directed by David Fincher or  Terminator (1984) directed by James Cameron. These men certainly go onto make films they argue are high art or revolutionize the field, technically or narratively. 

Pulling together this filmography the second thing that struck me was the repetition. The writer who paired with the director through several sequels, the writer who becomes a director later on, the creator or originator still credited many sequels on. Likewise, the director or writer who made the first film then disappears. Or is placated by a writing credit but not really present in the movie like 2013's Evil Dead. These all tell a story as much as Steve Miner holding tight reins to the first few Friday the 13th sequels. Until single director/writers like John Carl BUuchler and Rob Hedden have their run.

Then there are the television shows who privilege just listing creators over directors or writers of individual episodes, how their vision, process, is what is put forward. Then there are the television series that list no creators like Tales from the Darkside (1984-1988) or series that build on iconic, foundational horror series, yet their creator is not a big name at all like the 2016-2017 series The Exorcist created by Jeremy Slater. On the opposite end of the spectrum there are series that cannot be separated from their makers like J.J. Abrams' Alias (2001-2006). 

For the purposes of our collection we're looking at how contemporary horror films deal with, revise, and revisit the idea of nostalgia. So the listing of title, year, director, and writer(s) is what we want, as the top billed actors aren't really a focus. But again, to look at all these formative, foundational movies that influence sequels, remakes, reboots, the genre itself, and see nothing but men forming the vision, defining the landscape, dictating the terms is still a gut punch. How different does all this look if even half this list were women? If even half the writers were women, if women were the ones writing the dialogue and setting the scene of horror? How different would that feel? 

I only know that horror would not be recognizable if these imaginings were true and neither would horror scholarship. As someone who worked hard to work with partner to create a representative collection, it's still very telling how our references are so dominated by the same voices, the same films, the same men. I think it highlights just how important it is for us to consciously make sure we are actively pulling back against this, fighting and advocating for different, better voices, not supporting the same old same old.

Monday, December 20, 2021

Tattoo Care

 I thought I'd take a break from work and share my ideas on the basics of tattoos.

I recently finished (kind of) my forearm tattoos so new care and such has been on my mind.

I designed all of the right forearm- the shark and bee, and the doves flying out and the fill, and the stars. For the left I had a bunch of reference images for the look but my tattoo artist free drew the tree based on that. The bands on both cap off, but they were a fucking pain in the ass to set taking over an hour for each just to get the placement right. Never try to put straight lines on curved bodies.

The left is done but the right still has a couple of blank spots, but I wasn't sure until it was all on what was and wasn't going to be there.







Even though I am heavily tattooed, and have been for a while now, I swear I always forget what the first few days of tattoos are like. So in case anyone finds it helpful here are my how-to steps. Everyone has their own opinions, what they like, this is just mine.

  • I get old school gold Dial soap
  • I use baby washcloths because they are the softest
  • The first day/night, just keep it covered, the next day/morning, undo, and wash
  • I use Aveeno regular lotion and put on every few hours
  • I tend to not wear clothes that will rub on the tattoo, leaving it free to air
  • The first few days you may feel sensitive, not want to rest it against anything, or rub against anything, and depending where it is the skin may feel tight
  • About day 5 you will start to flake. It is everywhere and gross. The baby wash clothes keep cleaning this from hurting, but you still shouldn't rub hard. Shower (but not too long or too hot) and clean with the Dial
  • I avoid all other lotions except Aveeno for the two weeks
  • For days 5-8 you'll flake depending on size, fill of the tattoo and during all this time I clean in the morning, in shower, maybe once in the afternoon if we're at the itchy-scratchy point, and pat dry and put lotion on after
  • For me after day 3 it's no longer tender
  • I walk every day, exercise, right after, and I've never had a problem. Honestly when I saw an artist who used a rotary machine and mixed their own inks my recover was longer, things were more sensitive longer, but a coil machine is nothing
  • By day 9 or 10 the flaking is all gone, and I just wash in show, put lotion on when it feels tight, but honestly there's not much of that by that point
  • I go back for touch ups in 2 weeks because I'm fully healed by then
So that's it, that's my advice, what works for me.
I avoid baths, pools, anything like that.
I avoid the sun but I also don't put sunscreen on it until it's fully healed, then the lotion I use every day has a sunscreen in it.