Cohen's theses on monsters include descriptions of how monsters can be examples of both fear and desire, as well as visible demonstrations of the other, or taboo things. People who have been labeled as other or wrong often find comfort and familiarity with monsters who are judged on the same principle. Many monster stories can be viewed as allegories for marginalized identities. The YouTube video DanAndPhilCRAFTS - Slime uses demon summoning and human sacrifice (although the entity is only referred to as "he" and "him", the physical characteristics match Baphomet, who has been considered a demonic or magic-related figure) as a metaphor for accepting being queer.
The couple in the video constantly make reference to being stopped or forbidden from what they're doing. Government documents at the beginning of the video indicate that the footage is something taboo or wrong in their society. The things that they are forbidden from doing? While they include things like blood-letting and eventual assisted suicide as a form of ritualistic sacrifice, they also include references to queer relationships. The YouTubers who star in the video were harassed for years, as people speculated that they were romantically involved, they faced discrimination for being "different", and homophobia when they came out as gay. The sacrifice at the end of the video results in the summoning of a winged goat-headed humanoid figure that revives him, and they stand in a reference to two Tarot cards, another thing often associated with the demonic, the Lovers and the Devil.
The Devil card, depicted as a winged goat-headed humanoid figure holding two humans in chains, in Tarot is associated with addiction and harmful patterns, indicating that something needs to stop. The video talks about how this will be their "final ritual" and that they will not and cannot be stopped anymore. The use of the Devil card in the video likely represents the permanent rejection of a society that has hurt them for being different. The Lovers card shows two people holding hands and facing the viewer with an angel behind them. By intentionally summoning the demonic figure and placing it in the angel's position on the card, the lovers are showing that their salvation and acceptance for their relationship is found in the taboo and by others that are also seen as wrong, represented by the demonic.
What an interesting video! I'm going to have watch more of their content. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteInsightful analysis. Connecting Cohen’s monster theory to the video’s demonic and Tarot imagery works well, especially as a metaphor for queer identity, taboo, and self-acceptance.
ReplyDeleteI have the opinion that, oftentimes, monsters and horror are fundamentally queer. All monsters, really, are about a fear of the 'other.' Whether that be in terms of gender, sexuality, race, nationality- or a combination of all of these things. This is all the more reinforced by all of the queer-coded villains featured throughout horror; or monsters who have been claimed by the queer community. For instance, the Babadook.
ReplyDelete