Torture Porn and the Desiring Subject in Hostel and Saw
Torture Porn and the Desiring Subject in Hostel and Saw
This chapter investigates the tortured body in the new filmic genre dubbed “torture porn,” particularly in the films Hostel (2005–2007) and Saw (2004–2009), which depict torture as simultaneously useless and replete with enjoyment. In this visual environment, the tortured body becomes an enjoyed body, a body coveted by the torturers who pay for or seek out torture for the thrill of humiliating and degrading rather than for procuring information. These films thus suggest that the torturers enjoyment is a defining element of torture itself. The mise-en-scene of the torture scenes in Hostel and Saw also evokes the images from Abu Ghraib.
Keywords: torture porn, Hostel, Saw, tortured body, humiliation, degradation, Abu Ghraib
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