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expect that o ne or ano th er film might evoke tea rs (on th e screen and in th e
audi ence) that were no t indu ced by ange r.
Aiml ess and arbitrary killin g and maiming-by ve hi cles, knives, gun s,
and o ther firea rms-are bound
to
remind us of th e imponderabl es of post–
modern society, where anything goes, wh ere anything may happen . Still ,
to
th e point that prejudi ce and hurtful behav io r are di sturbin g and ambiva–
lence is retained, a few o f these fes ti va l films may quali fy as art. Thi s yea r's
crop does no t fea ture wa rs o r to tali w 'ian to rture except peri ph erall y and
instead offers many graphi c, drawn-out close- ups o f mas turbati on and sex–
ual intercourse. Is pubi c hair rea ll y o f interes t o r does it merel y titil ate?
Why linger so lo ng on pools o f bl ood o r the wo unds o n victims' bodi es?
To judge by th e applause o r laughter at the most o utrageous scenes, thi s
audi ence of film peopl e appea red to apprec iate bes t th e no isies t and mos t
appallin g spectacl es and th ose combinin g adul te ry with shoo tin gs.
It's easy enough to j oke that " it's th e cul ture, stupid ,"
to
reco il and say
that " it's time to push fo r fa mil y va lu es," o r to shrug and ass ume that pos t–
moder nism as an o utgrowth o f moderni sm must continu e to transgress
bo undari es. (N eve r mind that some pos tmodern theo ri sts argue th e oppo–
site.) I find that Mappl eth o rpe's and Se rrano's depi cti o ns pale by
compari son with , fo r instance, Coral, who serves ra t po ison to one victim
and cl obbers ano ther befo re embalmin g her, o r w ith th e stunnin gly lovely
Nikki , who so routin ely kill s wh oeve r crosses her path . Under th e cir–
cumstances, what road may lead us
to
th e fa mil y va lu es we all egedl y crave?
