Paranormal Activity 4: Hope for Horror

This post won't be in my usual categorized layout of themes, characters, etc. This is mainly responding to what I've conceived to be the general negative opinion of the Paranormal Activity films, and my response.

The Paranormal Activity franchise has cleverly wedged itself into a place that is very hard to fall from.

Anyone who has seen one of the four found-footage films, which created one of the biggest "copy cat" splashes I've ever seen (to see what I mean, watch Paranormal Entity, The Amityville Haunting, Paranormal Incident--it's almost funny) knows that its biggest critics can rightly claim three things:

1) Sometimes they aren't as "terrifying" as the trailers and hype say they should be.
2) Sometimes they seem to be trying too hard.
3) The story seems so vague that it makes us wonder if they actually have an overall story in mind.

Before I delve into my almost embarrassing love for these movies, I do want to validate all of these claims. While PA 2 terrified me, I can understand why there might be an audience whose eyes would simply glaze over at half a movie surrounding a slamming door, falling pans, and pool cleaners. And does Paranormal Activity sometimes feel like it's "trying" too much to scare us? To raise suspense? That is an "no duh" yes--but I don't necessary understand this "flaw" as any horror movie does this, and I will go on record saying that Paranormal Activity probably does it the most subtly and flawlessly that I've seen in any contemporary horror. For example, the fan scene in PA 3 was a work of genius. Hitchcock was probably rolling around his grave trying to high five Joost and Schulman for that one. It's easy to scare people with a huge budget for fake blood and weapons and CGI monsters--but to make someone's blood curl with simply a girl, a room, a sheet, and a fan? That's talent. That's the craft.

As for the story--do they know what they're doing? Or are they just tacking on arbitrary "paranormal" history from the most basic stereotypes of demon worship and witchcraft?

Here's where I love these guys even more than I do when their movies make me scream and wake up my roommates at 3am: they do know what they're doing. They honestly do.  There is a definite (and very likely) possibility that to some extent they are coming up with these things as they go. But they do it smartly and convincingly enough--still having enough of a through-line, still remaining true to all of the original movies--that it doesn't matter.

If you were to go back and watch the four movies in sequence (PA 3, PA 2/PA 1, PA 4) it actually really does make sense. (Take a moment to look at this video from Screenrant--it explains it perfectly).
Now, I'm not saying that there aren't still loopholes. Where's Hunter's sister? Why was he adopted by a random family, only to have Katie come for him later? And what is the true importance of Robbie?

Once again, here's the genius: these missing links of information are gaping enough to intrigue us, but not enough to poke holes through the story we already have (as one of my screenwriting professors would say, it's beguiling enough that we willingly "suspend our disbelief").  Paranormal Activity 5 (which is already in the making,  thank all of the Gods ever) could explain all of that. Or it could explain absolutely none of it and only give us more questions. But we will still watch it. And PA 6 and 7 and 8. I don't know when they'll lose steam, as I don't think they have at all yet, but here's to hoping they can stretch it out to PA 10 (the obsessive compulsive in me will be happy with that).  I have a glorious hope that whatever the final PA is it will cleverly and perfectly cinch every plot hole and question into a fantastically crafty ending, sewing the finishing stitches on a perfect, contemporary tale of horror. I don't think you need to have the entire story plotted out before making the movies to be able to pull this off--you just need some fantastic storytellers.

I know that there is a good chance that I will be gravely disappointed in the last movie, just because I am so invested in this franchise. But my overall opinion on Paranormal Activity is that, despite it's nebulous plot, and it's sometimes "expected" "cheap" or "uninspired" scares, there are too many truly masterfully terrifying scenes, too enthralling a story, and too much invested nostalgia for this Californian family, for us to stop watching any time soon.

Breaking Bad

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS UP TO:  Season 4 Ep 13

I can't think of anything more worthy of my first post.

This is a show I would heartily recommend to anyone. This includes my mother, who hates blood and guts and gore; my friends, most of whom like more sci-fi/fantastical stories (think Joss Whedon and Dr. Who type deals); even those soft-shelled acquaintances who revel in the predictable keystone of the romantic comedy. This show offers something for everyone. Here's why.

Overriding Themes:

Ego= Mr. White wouldn't be Mr. White without an incurable desire to take care of himself--and let absolutely no one help him. It's almost comedic (hell, I laughed out loud a few times) to watch him go through these very intense, physically and emotionally exhausting scenarios in which he's shot at, almost caught committing a felony by the police, and forced to kill to preserve his identity, but we never see him as uncomfortable as he is when people offer him money. Like, jeez. When Walter Jr. (so affectionately known as Flynn)  creates a website gathering money for his Dad's operation Walter looks like someone lit a puppy on fire. And then ran over said puppy. But what did he do when he watched Jesse's girlfriend choke on her own vomit? Went home. Cried a bit. Made his daughter breakfast. Such a weirdo. But he's our meth-cookin' chemistry-teachin' weirdo, so we love him.

The fine line between bad vs. good= Probably one of my favorite aspects of this show-how we see all these people from different walks of life, but it's never really clear who's genuinely good and genuinely bad. The best example of this would definitely be Jesse Pinkman, whom I adore to an unhealthy extent. The episode in which he ended up taking care of "Spooge"'s son while he waits for his drug money was too much for me to bear--he is such an honest to good person, who's been dealt such an awful hand in life. He can't help the fact that he didn't realize leaving the key i the ignition would leave the battery on, Mr. White. Chill out. This guy just needs a hug and a better mother. He may deal drugs, he may be responsible for some deaths and get high out of his mind at really bad times, but he's a royal fuckup because that's what everyone expects him to be, and no one has ever asked him to be any different.
Now, look at Marie. The wife of the DEA agent and the sister to Skyler. You'd think she'd be one of the good ones, right? Nope. She's not only a shoplifter (granted, this is one of the lesser crimes in the show) but her real downfall is simply how she treats people. Besides taking forever to apologize to Skyler after almost getting her arrensted, she's always the person in the conversation who blabs without thinking about what she's saying, making everyone uncomfortable, and really only thinking of herself. She's just self-centered and annoying. If I were to look at someone for substance I'd go to Pinkman way before I thought of trying to dredge up any amount of selfless decency from Mrs. Schrader. 

Academia vs. street learning= The chemistry in the show is obviously one of the coolest things--it's part of what made this show such a fantastic idea. When Mr. White has to teach Jesse all over again about different chemicals so that they can make some kick ass meth? Come on. Pure genius. And then Jesse has to teach him a lot too--there's always a balance between what one really needs to know to survive. It's not just how to ace high school classes, and it isn't just how to live on the streets and make some dough, its a little of both. And this show perfectly exemplifies that.

Favorite Characters: 

Mr. White: endearingly bull-headed with the most lovable flaw you could think of--loving his family so much that he's willing to risk everything and go against all that he believes in. This becomes more of a blatant issue when he starts letting his need to care for his family override common sense, but it never comes into question whether or not his heart is in the right place. 

Jesse Pinkman: As previously described, dear god--my immediate response to half of his scenes is to hug him. But I can't, because he isn't real, of course. All I'll do is neurotically follow him throughout the rest of the show and pray that his life gets better, because I want him to be happy so much.

Main Gripes:

Skyler is one of my least favorite characters, and I think she hinders the plot as well. Her passive agression and subtle self pity makes it hard for me to empathize with her. I just find it so hard to take that her husband has cancer and she whines more than he ever does. And her suddenly asking for a divorce? That was so out of the blue. And for such a stupid reason. "What? You made a million dollars all on your own? And you AREN'T having an affair? Divorce." I get the drug dealer thing isn't the greatest discovery, but jesus. He's saving you from dealing with a horrible amount of debt after he dies and almost got killed just hiding it from you. And oh yeah, he was dealing with lung cancer and a nagging crank of a wife through the whole thing. Cut him some slack.

What I Think:  

This show deserves every ounce of hype it's recieved. I cleared a whole weekend just so that I could finally give it a go, and I'm very glad I did. Not only do I now take every issue I have and remind myself mentally "is this as bad as a #jessepinkman problem? Did I just watch a dude's head get crunched under an ATM? No? Could be worse, s'pose," but it manages to succeed in all that it tries to accomplish. It took what is usually a big cliche and a huge dramatic no-no in approaching the "C" word, but did it in such an original way, that it never feels melodramatic, it never feels like it's pining to grab at our emotions. It organically draws out of it's audience (and now loyal fandom) a healthy dose of fear, of joy, or adrenaline. It's fantastic, and it's on Netflix instant. Go watch it.