Exploring Fear and Ethics in Media
Matthew and Riki explore horror as a vehicle for ethical discussion and social commentary. From the urban-rural tensions in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to AI anxieties in modern thrillers, they examine how horror reflects society’s deepest fears across decades—and why some manufactured scares (sharks, clowns) persist despite lacking real-world danger.
In this episode we discuss:
- Does horror require supernatural elements, or can pure human evil drive the genre?
- How do horror tropes evolve as audiences become aware of them?
- What’s the difference between Alien as horror versus Aliens as action, and where does Jurassic Park fit?
- Why did vampires dominate Gen X fears while zombies captured millennial anxieties?
- How did McCarthyism inadvertently allow horror filmmakers to critique Cold War politics?
