Horror as Social Commentary: Unmasking the 2024 Election
Art via Ayushi Das
AYUSHI DAS: Halloween may have come to an end but something much scarier is approaching…the outcomes of the 2024 election.
If October was the season of scary movies, then November is the season of political tension and events from the last four years culminating in one final decision.
But as it turns out, scary movies and scary politics might be more related than you think
Horror as a genre relies on hyperbolizing common fears in society, like murders or kidnappings. There’s nothing scarier than the fear of the unknown, which horror films do a great job at playing on. So it’s natural that throughout the years, horror films have served as a candid reflection of the culture of the times.
However, because of this, the cult classic horror films we all know and love are actually quite full of stereotypes against marginalized groups. They capitalized off of society’s discomfort of segregated groups, twisting stereotypes into shock factors.
As a horror enthusiast myself, I often joke about the way the characters of color are the first to die in horror movies. But as it turns out, this was much more strategic in constructing a frightening image of society. Mid-1900s Hollywood refused large roles to Black actors, forcing them to play small parts with minimal screen time in mainly thriller and horror films. On screen, this added to a larger narrative that Black people were nothing more than side characters.
Candyman (1992) played into social fears of Black men being aggressive and dangerous. Skeleton Key (2005) and I Walked With a Zombie (1943) racialize the practice of voodoo, purposely igniting fear of African spirituality amongst audiences. Disabled bodies have also been caricatured and villanized through our perception of what monsters are. Frankenstein (1931) plays on unconventional beauty standards to construct the character of The Monster, while Phantom of the Opera (1910) antagonizes a man with a severe facial deformity.
In recent years, horror has evolved with the growth of social and political progress. Now films portray sexism, racism, ableism, and homophobia as the villianious twists, reclaiming the genre as a platform to critique society.
Get Out (2017) tells a powerful story of the hauntingly deceiving ways racism fetishizes black identities. I Saw the TV Glow (2024) serves as an allegory for the self-actualization that trans teenagers grapple with. Midsommar (2017) exaggerates the power of a woman’s agency, straying away from age-old stories that make trauma porn out of violence towards women.
As society has become increasingly more tolerant of diverse communities and the importance of social justice in politics, horror movies have become an unexpected tool of tracking the evolution of American politics. While films have re-centered their plotlines to avoid antagonizing certain identities, the emphasis on social commentary in recent horror shows that there is still a long way to go.
So what does this have to do with the upcoming presidential election? Well, the realities of modern day horror reflect the very real fear Americans have towards the outcome of November 5th.
Hot topics from this election cycle include expanding access to reproductive healthcare, bridging economic divides in public education, and balancing foreign policy interests with the public’s consensus, all of which intersect with race, disability, and sexism. These films remind us exactly what is at stake on the ballots, and the portrayal of American culture in old-age horror remind us exactly of where we don’t want to be again.
It’s important that while enjoying our favorite Halloween horror movies, we are aware of the deeper message they tell, the inner biases of ours they try to exploit or unlearn, and the fact that there is really no other film genre that reflects the darkest parts of American society.
Scary films might mean scary politics now, but there’s still time to amend this. For information on the upcoming election and how you can vote, check out this link.