We talked at some length about the cultural politics of Night of the Living Dead and the late 1960s last week. Texas Chainsaw doesn’t foreground race in the way Night does, but we do begin again in a cemetery and on another road trip. Do you think Texas Chainsaw embraces the anti-establishment politics of Night? You could think about the depiction of family, rural life, the slaughter house, or the obviously counter-cultural tastes of the young people in the van.
5 thoughts on “Texas Chainsaw”
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While I understand the logic behind everyone else’s argument of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre being anti-establishment because of its deconstruction of the American family, I think it functions in many ways to uphold normative American culture. For one thing, ableism permeates this film. Franklin, the character in the wheelchair, exhibits fear, anxiety, and anger throughout the film. This contrasts with the typical role of male characters in horror movies. While Franklin’s challenge to the gender norm could be viewed as anti-establishment, I see it more as an ableist critique of men in wheelchairs being demasculinized, since the other men do uphold gender norms in many ways. Further, the “monsters” of this movie are very clearly mentally disturbed individuals. Their mental disabilities are depicted through the strange affect in their speech, and their erratic movements. The way they talk and the content of their speech also seem intended to suggest that they have low IQs typical of intellectual disabilities. I could also see some aspects of this in Franklin, who shared a similar interest in slaughterhouses and reflected some of these speech patterns. I think this movie demonstrated a very obvious fear of otherness, especially in the form of mental and physical disability, and perpetuated already prominent fears of people with mental disorders. The 1970s align with a time when people with mental health disorders were locked up and treated like criminals, or animals, in “insane asylums”, but not long before the DSM-III came out which provided broad diagnostic criteria for mental disorders and a better understanding of mental disability. The ableism and vilification of the mentally disabled (as violent cannibals whom you should always avoid) in this film make it difficult for me to see how it could be anti-establishment.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Night of the Living Dead were released only six years apart, however the two explore different sociopolitical and sociocultural themes overall. In Night of the Living Dead, the audience is encouraged to contemplate matters of race, social hierarchies/familial structures, and influence of media. In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, however, the film does not explicitly explore themes of race, but focuses more on the horrors of white rural America, implicitly portraying antagonists as dehumanized and degenerate elements within society, and clearly delineating a dysfunctional family dynamic. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre also explores themes of gender, presenting a female lead who somehow survives the brutality of the deranged family, ultimately acting as a representation of the possible endurance and resilience of women in the face of a deeply violent and patriarchal environment. Despite exploring slightly different sociopolitical and sociocultural themes, there are interesting overlaps in motifs such as abandoned houses, rural life, road trip/car ride, family dynamics, etc. Each of these motifs function to create eerie atmospheres of dread and isolation. The abandoned house in particular seems to be a symbol of decay, potentially hinting at societal breakdown and moral decline. Additionally, the films both being set in extremely desolate, rural areas, acts as an effective tool for heightening a sense of vulnerability in characters. Overall, despite varying sociopolitical and sociocultural focuses, both films effectively hint at broader societal disintegration and moral vulnerability.
The Texas Chainsaw massacre takes the anti-establishment politics of Night of the Living Dead to an extreme in its portrayal of the home. Whereas “Night” suggests dysfunction in the home and a breakdown of American values associated with it, Texas Chainsaw Massacre presents an utterly bastardized version of the home and family. At first, the slaughter house presents a semblance of “homeliness” and safety to the characters, whether they see it as a place to find some gas, a place to find each other, or a refuge from the killer. However, for each character, this illusion is quickly shattered as they the horrors within. While the audience at first assumes that only Leatherface resides in the house, we come to realize that is is a familial home for himself, the hitchhiker, and the man at the gas station, as well as the mostly dead Grandpa. In this way, the film takes something that we are meant to understand as safe, happy, and loving, and utterly reverses it. While there is no mention of incest in the film, nor do we know who anything about the mother, I interpreted that the family was deeply inbred, functioning as an expression of our fears regarding the incest taboo. This was evident to me in the mental challenges of the brothers and the genetic trait of a death fetish that existed across three generations. The family is so opposite of ordinary that I am not sure it was the filmmaker’s intention to critique the modern American family, as George Romero does in Night of the Living Dead. The film certainly disgusts in its portrayal of home and family, and yet, as I interpreted it, it does not encourage the audience to look inward.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has many anti-establishment politics, just like The Night of the Living Dead. In both movies, the scene of the cemetery and the emptiness in rural America begins with a eerie feeling. To me, the patriarchal stereotype also leaves this movie because of the characteristics of the men. Franklin is depicted as scared and unsure of himself. He is also very limited because he is in a wheelchair, so is unable to run away. When Sally wants to leave to search for the others that have no returned to the van, he seems paralyzed, horrified and not wanting to be alone. He also does not possess strong characteristics by being able to have fun on his own while the others leave, understandably enough. He also keeps asking Sally is she is happy that he is there and seems hesitant to the idea. Quite the opposite, Sally, a female, is depicted very strong. She goes through torture and abuse just to keep fighting to stay alive. Throughout the whole movie, it seems like it will be her last scene or last moment before death, but she just keeps persevering. Also, the men in the family that are torturing her are not seen as heroes, which would stereotypically happen. Sally is seen as the heroine. As a viewer, I was rooting for Sally the whole time while praying on their downfall. Another anti-establishment theme in the film is the idea of a home. Whenever Sally, or the other characters, were in a building or a “home” bad things happened and there was no security. There was no sense of a “homey” feeling. Quite the opposite actually. Towards the end of the film when Sally was in the home and then she jumped out of the window…I felt more secure in the fact that she was outside and running away. At least in the Night of the Living Dead, Ben and the others were able to secure themselves inside and away from the Zombies. In this movie, being inside signified danger and eeriness.
Similar to “Night of the Living Dead,” which conveys anti-establishment sentiments by highlighting the utter ineffectiveness of law enforcement and the triumph of individualism, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” also departs from traditional patriarchal characters and the notion of a “big brother” government. Instead, it underscores the inner strength and resilience of its protagonist, Sally, in the face of the failure of conventional sources of authority, such as the gas station attendant and seemingly secure residences. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” effectively deconstructs the traditional concepts of “family” and secure environments that are typically associated with well-lit homes and “strong” male figures. In contrast to narratives where men assume the role of heroic saviors, in this film, every male character either falls victim to violence, emphasizing their vulnerability or actively engages in tormenting and threatening the female characters. Thus leaving the seemingly helpless Sally to defend herself and fight her way to survival, which promotes individualism and a departure from the protection of government or male figures. Moreover, the idea of a “home” is shattered as none of the houses encountered in the movie offers the expected comfort and safety. Every dwelling appears either overtly disturbing, such as Sally’s childhood home, or is inhabited by individuals with malicious intentions who offer no assistance to Sally. This disruption extends to the core concepts of family security and patriarchal authority figures, all of which are closely associated with these figures of power and the supposed safety they give to everyday citizens. Hence, driving home an anti-establishment message and centering Night of the Dead around inner power and actions.