Over the semester, I have taken great joy in seeing the development of not only students, but myself, in our discussions of global cinema and horror. When I began the CUTF, my expectation was to lead discussions in horror, specifically for two units: trauma & violence (with the films Smile and Possessor) and taboo sexualities (X and Titane). On the first day of the trauma & violence unit, Dr. Heinzl and I posed the question, “How do you define horror?” The list we created as a class includes ideas about the anxiety and suspense horror can induce: ambiguity surrounding the supernatural, a sense of destiny you can’t escape, or the fear of uncovering disturbing truths. Even historically, students pointed out the evolution from slow-approaching killers (Michael Myers, Jason) to psychological horror and more grotesque violence. As we moved throughout the units, students continued adding to our list of horror characteristics and building upon previous ideas: anticipation of guts and gore, use of sound in creating emotion, psychological terror versus body horror.
As students developed their ideas and conversations in both units, I realized that rather than leading discussions, my role as a UTA is to supplement or complement discussions. My role as an educator is to support students as they form their own ideas. Rather than “lead” conversations and “define” horror for students, I reconfigured my own interactions with students in a way that aimed to not only attentively respond to their thoughts, but raise further questions regarding other films we’ve watched or genres we’ve explored.
Pertaining to assignments outside the classroom, Dr. Heinzl guided me in developing and constructing the horror poster assignment. Through this assignment, students reflected on the characteristics of horror and created a poster with carefully crafted elements tying to our readings. The design choices of poster submissions ranged from collages of film stills to completely abstract designs, as shown by the two images attached in this post.
In class, we discussed some student posters, giving students a chance to outline the creative elements they included and the inspiration behind them. Rachel Rinehart, who created the Titane poster, utilized a duotone purple/orange concept to bring to life the “dichotomy of being a kind of machine that arises, literally by her anatomy and by the machines that grab [the protagonist’s] attention.” Hearing her talk about her poster was quite exciting, as it truly felt like a full-circle moment witnessing our class discussions brought to life! The second poster, created by Delaney Gatenby for the movie Possessor, conveys a more disorienting feeling: “something that you need to get closer to and squint at to piece together what is going on—just as the movie makes the viewer do.”
The uncertainty raised by Possessor and central to Delaney’s poster is all too familiar to me these days. As I wrap up the CUTF and my final semester at Pitt, my future stands at a precarious balance. While I am beyond excited to share that I will be beginning medical school in the fall here at Pitt, I am also quite scared for what the future holds and if I’ll be able to handle it. One can only prepare so much for graduate school and the challenges it will bring.
However, there’s one thing I’ll keep with me from my time at Pitt: community brings strength. The community of scholars, educators, classmates, friends, and family I’ve grown at Pitt is one that has supported me endlessly and that I am honored to be a part of. And as Delaney so elegantly revealed, there is a “beauty [in] the frames encapsulating the gore.” Delaney illustrated this idea within the realm of horror, yet her thought is inextricably intertwined with our own real-world expectations. Such is the elegance of horror: that which brings fear can also bring hope.
