Copyright 2018 by Gary L. Pullman
Displays of nudity,
partial nudity, or near-nudity in horror movies are often decried as
gratuitous. Nothing more than cheap ploys, they're meant merely to
sell tickets, such critics contend, and increase box office receipts
for low-budget, less-than-spectacular films. Many a second-rate flick
would have lost money had it not been for a bare breast, a flash of
buttocks, or, at the very least, a bikini-clad victim. No doubt,
these charges are frequently true—in part. But they're not all
always entirely gratuitous. In fact, they often have a purpose other
than mere titillation.
Consider this full-page print ad.
Consider this full-page print ad.
The model, wearing a braand panty set and a pair of light-tan high-heeled shoes, sits, her posture erect, arms at her sides, right leg slightly forward, left leg slightly to the rear, gazing directly into the camera, as though she were making eye contact with the advertisement's viewer, whose eye probably starts with her face, which is framed by her dark, luxuriant hair, travels down and over her breasts, down her slender midriff, turns to trace her right thigh, and detours, at the bend of both knees, to continue down her left calf.
In the lower left corner of the photo, the product's brand name, in elegant white font against a cream-colored carpet, awaits the viewer's gaze: Fayreform, above smaller text in a different style of font that reads, as though it were a subtitle, the command, “Work your curves.”
As this bidding suggests,
the ad is all about the model's curves, curves which any woman who
purchases and wears the same bra and panty set as the model wears
could likewise “work.” As the eye moves along the model's body,
it perhaps takes in the photo's suggestions of the opulence of her
surroundings, the enormous gilt-framed painting, the mahogany doors,
the hardwood floor, the expensive carpets, an upholstered armchair,
and some sort of furniture, only vaguely represented, in the back of the
room.
It is only afterward that
the viewer may (or may not) notice the other white text, in the same font, under the product's name, as that which issues the command,
“Work your curves”: “Bet you didn't notice the armadillo.” If
the ad has succeeded, as it often does, the viewer is apt to think,
What armadillo? It is only by
searching diligently that the viewer is likely, at last, to spy the
animal standing in the luxurious armchair. The advertiser wins the
bet—and implicitly makes the point that the model is so bewitchingly
beautiful, commanding attention so completely, that the armadillo,
although undeniably present, remained, as it were, altogether
invisible. By implication, the woman who buys and wears the bra and
panty set the model is wearing will command equally engrossing
attention from her admirers.
To
be fair, the armadillo's color is similar to that of the chair,
resulting in a sort of camouflage effect. On the other hand, the
white text is fairly noticeable against the contrast of the mahogany
doors. Had the viewer not been distracted by the near-nakedness of
the beautiful model, he or she probably would have seen the text and,
alerted by the question it poses, have been looking for the armadillo as well as at the model.
The
ad uses the same technique that magicians use to fool their
audiences: misdirection. The viewer is too busy admiring the model to
notice the armadillo (or the text that references the animal). As a
result, it is only after he or she has admired the model, if ever,
that the viewer does see the text, the armadillo, or both.
Linnea Quinley in Silent Night, Deadly Night
In
horror movies, displays of nudity, partial nudity, or near-nudity
have the same purpose and the same effect as the near-nakedness of this ad's model. Bare breasts or buttocks
or a tantalizingly brief bikini distracts the audience, and, while
they are appreciating the display of a lovely young lady's bare
flesh, the monster, killer, or other horrible villain abruptly
appears, slashing, hacking, skewering, stabbing, shooting, or
otherwise spindling, folding, or mutilating the beautiful victim or
one of her friends or acquaintances. Titillating displays do
titillate, but they do more than simply stimulate the audience's
libidos; such exhibitions also draw attention away from the bogeyman
who's about to appear. The result is a contrast between the sleek,
nude flesh of a beautiful young woman and the same flesh, a moment
later, after it's been suddenly slashed or otherwise mutilated. The contrast both
conceals and reveals the horror, first distracting from it and then
emphasizing it.
Scream queens help us to
vicariously experience (and feel) the terror, the pain, and the horror
that the scream queens experience. There's a reason scream queens are called "scream queens," and
there's a reason that scream queens are usually naked or only
partially dressed. Besides that of selling tickets, we mean.