Why did the people go bonkers? Sounds a little like Sunshine actually, the whole first ship goes out and goes missing and then second smaller ships finds the first one. It sounds like a pretty bad movie. You might enjoy The Core The entire premise was terrible. I still got scared though.
I actually love The Core. Yes, the premise is utterly redonkulous, but I would sell my grandma for one night with Aaron Eckhart. I would sell my other grandma for the following night with Stanley Tucci. Both are in this film and all up in each other's grill the whole time. It's so... subtextie. Yes. True story.
The Core would have been much better if it were redeveloped as Monty Python at the Earth's Core. It would have made more sense. Just sayin'.
I'm watching ALIENS just now, and I'm noticing that this is not the first time this happens in the Alien universe. They are just now going through the wake-up/breakfast scene on board the Sulaco where first Ripley becomes aware that Bishop is a robot and from there the briefing scene where Ripley 'splains what they're in for. The lieutenant gives a brief "sorry there wasn't time to brief you before leaving Gateway" and then Ripley gives the 411. It's the same deal! An entire, military Marine mission is sent out and they get briefed just at arrival? No, no, no.
I think they are only given a few details before they begin the space journey. Plus they are marines. They only follow orders.
Even marines who follow orders know in advance about their missions - it gives them time to make plans (both primary and contingency) A-ha! That's the problem!! If the film-makers gave the marines time to plan, the Aliens wouldn't survive the first half an hour of the film and no-one's going to the cinema to watch a 30 minute film where the baddies get their ass kicked in 30 minutes because the marines stuck to the mission that was planned three weeks before they set off.
And why is there always one (or two) absolutely stupid thick characters doing jobs there's no way they would actually be qualified to do in the first place? The Prometheus pilots for example! I wouldn't trust them to drive my car!! And the whole robot, surgical pod thing ... no, no, no! I don't care how far into the future we are with medical advances, our bodies have not evolved enough to go through a C-section, take a couple of pills and less than twenty minutes later, be running around a foreign planet/falling/jumping and generally trying to whoop ass!
Hey horror fans - did ANY of you watch that horror about the centipede? This scientist guy who decides it'd be lovely to sew 3 human beings together to create a human centipede. I saw the trailer for it and got freaked out. But I never saw it come into the cinemas - at least I don't remember. On Wiki it said that the script was so horrific the actors supposedly weren't allowed to read it before they've signed the contract. Did anyone actually see that? And was it scary?
It was producers, actually: Tom Six, the director/writer/co-producer, pitched the film to the producers without mentioning the mouth-to-anus aspect of the human centipede 'cause he feared it would freak out the producers and that they'd pull their funding. [quick side note]Why are they still wearing underwear? I'd imagine it would be highly inconvenient for the bad guy, so why not keep them naked?[/quick side note] I haven't seen it, but I do kinda agree with Six (I feel like I'm talking about Caprica Six...) about horror: I, too, often find monster scenarios boring (there are exceptions, of course) and many slasher/serial killer movies boring when the bad guys don't display the imagination/cruelty that many real life killers do. I mean, look at guys like Mengele, Dahmer, Gacy, Bundy, Bittaker & Norris etc. The things they did to their victims are imaginative (in the worst sense of the word) and particularly cruel and despicable, which makes their crimes all the more horrific. In a way, I find mild depictions of things like serial killings etc. to be almost insulting to the real victims of such deeds. I'll explain, bear with me: In plenty of fiction, a killer is portrayed as the evilest of evils, yet his deeds aren't even in the same ballpark as the abovementioned examples. Then I think of the horrors the victims of the real life monsters had to endure before their deaths and... well, it feels almost like an insult towards the real victims when in fiction those horrors are diluted into much milder things, as if the suffering of the real victims was belittled by leaving out some of the more gruesome things done to them. Now, I don't mean you have to be graphic/explicit, but at least allude to, or mention some of the things the victims go through in order to elevate (or lower, actually) your human monster to the level of his/her real counterparts. When I write horror-type scenes, I follow the mantra of director Christophe Gans during the filming of Silent Hill (I'm paraphrasing it, but I'm pretty sure he said it like this in the extras): "I don't want disgusting, I want disturbing." And disturbing doesn't even call for graphic depictions or explicit description. If you look at the real accounts of the murders of the aforementioned killers, the accounts themselves usually aren't graphic, but they are disturbing. That's also my goal: I don't want to disgust the reader (although if they're disgusted, it's a bonus) because it's such a fleeting thing. I want to disturb them on a deeper emotional level, leave a permanent imprint in their minds, something that will leave them feeling sick to their stomachs, gets their adrenaline going, and gives them nightmares, i.e. I want to make them feel the scene, as if they were there, as if they were in the victim's place. Of course it's impossible to replicate that level of intensity in fiction, but I believe that it's an effective way to make the scene more... well, effective. And I also want to make the reader feel sick and disturbed by the scenes because I never want to portray violence in a way that makes it appear fun, cool etc. I'll probably never be able to reach the level of the emotional charge a real violent incident produces, but that's my goal.
@T.Trian - hmm, I get your point, but here's where I'll just have to disagree and perhaps it also explains why I don't read or watch horror. Sure I'm fascinated by horror, but I don't enjoy it and don't deliberately expose myself to it anymore. The kind of gruesome violence you talk about does indeed happen, and to tell the truth, I NEVER want anyone to ever feel the way those victims would. Why on earth would you? And for the same reason I'll never understand your desire and need to make your readers disturbed and sick to the stomach. It's cruel, and cruelty is unnecessary. It's precisely why the violence we're talking about is disturbing, after all - it shouldn't have happened in the first place - so why would I want to replicate even a glimmer of such a thing in innocent minds? It's better never to know, and a blessing too. If we want to do something for the victims of violence and feel with them and comfort them, and understand their pain and their plight - then we'd better spend our time talking to victims of violence and providing help, changing laws and protecting survivors, not writing fiction. (for example, the programme set up for prisoners and victims of violence to sit in the same room and communicate - I think such a thing is amazing) Fiction can and should shed light on moral issues and different perspective of things - but making your readers sick to the stomach isn't necessary for that - not sick in the way you're talking about. I see no point in it other than the pleasure of pain and creating pain. But like I said, I guess that's why I don't actually read, write or watch horror. I'll never understand it, and I'm not sure I want to either.
@Mckk, first, sorry about the novel-length post, but I can't put this shortly without leaving out things that I consider relevant to my answer. For a few reasons. One is to give an idea of how horrible real world violence is to those who have not experienced it since I've met plenty of people (usually young guys who've led sheltered lives) who actually enjoy violent fiction (be it books, movies, video games etc) because of the violence, some even have fantasies of committing violent acts. That is, until they experience it themselves (or encounter the reality through other channels, such as reading true accounts or even fiction that portrays the violence in a realistic manner). One 17yo guy I knew was like that. After he got mugged and beaten by three guys, his views on violence changed radically and he no longer joked about it like he used to (in a way that's insulting to the victims). Likewise, there was a guy (didn't know him personally, but had interacted with him a few times) who used to joke about rape until another man attempted to rape our mutual friend (luckily she managed to escape with only a few bumps and bruises, but she was still shaken and understandably so). When it hit home, his attitude changed completely and he no longer cracked jokes about it like he used to, usually in a way that could be seen as victim-shaming. Neither guy had much sympathy for victims of violence until something happened that forced them to step into the shoes of the victim, to see it from the victim's POV. Reading fiction that has realistic portrayals of violence doesn't have as strong of an effect as real experiences, of course, but I know of people who've been heavily influenced by the fiction they have read, so why not aim for that in this instance as well? It may be a slim chance, but it's a chance to influence them for the better nonetheless. My family would probably agree with you (they don't want to even discuss the darker issues, claiming talking about child abuse, rape, murder etc. is like digging shit: you'll only find more shit. I think that allegory is faulty when applied to this issue), but I don't want to close my eyes to the horrors that go on in the world. They were shocked when @KaTrian gave me the book, Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz by Lucette Lagnado for Christmas a few years back. My dad asked me why I'd ever want to read anything like that. My sister didn't get it either. I loved it. Not because I get some sick kicks out of reading horrible accounts of torture and murder, but because I believe those stories deserve to be told, they deserve to be spread around so more and more people know about the wrongs the victims have suffered so we can better prevent them from happening again, so that we can better understand the victims which, in turn, allows us to better help them any way we can. As long as such evils happen (forever in all likelihood), I believe we should shout the victims' stories from mountain tops to inform as many people as we can about those horrors, to wake them up to the fact that people are suffering horribly all over the world and that something should be done about it. The thing where I agree with you is that in addition to spreading the word (through blogging, talking about it, and, yes, even writing fiction or songs about it, among other things), we should all do whatever we can to help the victims and to prevent such things from happening again to the degree that we can as individuals. Some people have more power than others, so since I, for instance, don't have much influence, being a normal ant in the hive, I do what I can, and that includes, among other things, spreading information through my writing and songs, trying to portray the issues as realistically as I can, so those who have previously taken these things lightly, will understand the severity of the issue. I know that's mostly wishful thinking, but I do believe it can't hurt to try. Just as an example, you'd be surprised how many "normal" boys and men are still in the "she was probably asking for it" -camp when it comes to, say, news about a local rape incident. That's just not right. I realize I may come off as a holier than though -crusader, but that's not my intent: I'm just trying to explain how I see the role of horror/violence in fiction and one of the many reasons why I write the way I do/why I write what I do. It's not my intention to be preachy either (even though I may come off like that in this post; if that's the case, I apologize), just to do what little I can to shed light on some issues that I think deserve more attention. Even if it never helps anyone, I'll still keep trying because I believe it's the right thing to do for me. As with so many things, this is not the way, just a way. And I think you and I are on the same side here, we just approach the same issue from different angles.
Marines are highly trained individuals and, yes, they follow orders (that's how a military works), but no team goes out on a mission without knowing the full scope of that mission in order to have all bases covered regarding proper training and materials. Yep. This. Perhaps one of the stupidest parts of the film, in hindsight... Even if she were feeling no pain at all, the compromised muscles of her abdomen would have presented a mechanical issue even just walking. Did you see the size of that incision!? There's a quick scene right after her highly invasive, yet seemingly "day surgery" procedure where she zips herself into that really tight fitting jump suit and all I can think is that it was the directer's attempt to give the audience a reason to believe that half of her isn't spilling out all over the place... le sigh
Your post isn't novel-length - you've seen *my* posts around here, right? And don't worry about coming off as preachy - I go to church every Sunday, I'm kinda used to being preached at If the message is good, it doesn't bother me. I'm not surprised that many men still think the girl was asking for it when it comes to rape incidents, and that's pretty sad. I've come to view male rape as even more dangerous, because men have even fewer channels of help. I'm glad to hear your friends had a change of heart after witnessing violence - yes, sometimes we don't stop and think until we're forced to. It's like the homophobic parents who change their minds when they find out their child's gay, it's similar in principle. It does give your argument validity too, I think, that perhaps realistic portrayals of violence could be beneficial. I don't actually know anything about the Auschwitz twins - got a link? As for parents - I think it's often that your partner knows you better than your parents. Happened to my husband, though for something far less meaningful lol. His mum ordered a cake for his birthday and she got him a profiterole cake (cream-filled pastry balls covered in chocolate sauce). My husband doesn't even like cream - cream usually makes him sick afterwards. It's been 2 months and my husband's still thinking about it because he was actually hurt by the fact that his mother doesn't even know something so basic about him. I do agree with you that the victims' stories should be shouted from the rooftops - if nothing else, then to give them some recognition and in that way a measure of justice. I do believe, along with you, that it is meaningful to read real life accounts of violence. I once read a book called the Tailless Animals, I forget the author's name though. It's a first hand account of North Korean prisons. But real life accounts I can see the point of. Fiction, I still struggle to understand. Perhaps because I see fiction as entertainment, which, in addition to making you think etc, it is. Fiction is powerful - I think maybe more powerful than non-fiction simply because somehow, non-fiction don't tend to be written in a creative way. You get the facts but you don't really get to the person's head and heart. Fiction takes you deeper. But isn't it counterproductive to write gruesome violence in fiction? People do tend to read things they believe they would enjoy - those whose minds would be changed by the realistic violence wouldn't want to revisit that same violence, because now they know, which means well, your readers would disappear. I guess your books would be more for people who want heavy realism. Btw those guys you mention who enjoy violence - they sound deeply unpleasant. I don't agree that child abuse, rape etc shouldn't be talked about. They should be talked about. It's when subjects are taboo that fear and hatred and a whole host of other unpleasant things like guilt and shame grow. I think some people have greater or lesser strength to face these issues, and they can face these issues to varying extents. It's ironic though of course, because the ones who might care the most are usually also too sensitive for such things, to the point where they avoid it instead. It's rare to have someone with the sensitivity to care, but with the right degree of detachment that they can also face it. Well, I can understand honesty in your portrayal of violence, and I can see where you're coming from. I do agree that we're on the same side - but taking on violence in this way isn't in my nature. I sometimes feel on the verge of tears just watching Disney lol. Like I say, fiction takes you too deep, I think. For violence, I'll stay with non-fiction lol. Mind you, even non-fiction violence takes you quite deep. I saw a couple of animal maltreatment videos - it's stuck with me, and I almost wish it hasn't. I waited a week before I watched one of those videos because I just really didn't want to. Visuals stick with me - again, 'tis why I don't watch horror lol!
That's good considering this one's gonna be a long one (and quote heavy!) as well. These give you some idea of the kind of stuff that Mengele did to them: http://remember.org/educate/medexp.html (scroll down to the bottom to see the experiments on twins) http://www.longwood.k12.ny.us/lhs/science/mos/twins/mengele.html That's true. That Christmas proved to me what I'd suspected for a long time: that Kat knows me better than anyone and that my family doesn't really know me. In all fairness, though, that cake does sound delicious. That's maybe one way our viewpoints differ: I see that there's several kinds of fiction. Some is just meant as light entertainment, something fun to do when you're bored or want to escape a dreary reality. Then there's the more serious stuff, books that make you think and contemplate who you are, humanity etc, i.e. "meaning of life" -stuff. That's also why I think fiction can and should be used for other purposes besides entertainment (mind, I do like entertainment and also seek to entertain readers, but I want there to be other substance in my writing as well). Because fiction takes you deeper, it can be used to, in a way, "force" the reader to step into another person's shoes, give them new perspectives, new insights, and sometimes even to educate on some level (I always love it when I learn something new from a fictional work, be it about horseback riding, firearms, military protocol or whatever when the author has done their homework and gotten the details right). I don't think e.g. my family would enjoy our (Kat's and mine) writing because they'd rather read about, well, happy things. So yeah, not everybody will like what we write, but, then again, show me a book that nobody hates and everybody loves and I'll show you a flying cow. Seriously, though, because it's impossible to please everyone anyway, I'm not worried about alienating readers. Besides, plenty of betas who aren't afraid to tear us a new one if they don't like something we've written have already said they've enjoyed our current WIP, so perhaps it would have some readership if it ever gets exposed to the world. Time will tell. In any case, I don't think the author can control how readers take their writings. For instance, we all know how Charlie Manson understood Helter Skelter, which probably wasn't written to be an anthem for murder, but what can you do? So if someone who gets their kicks from reading violence reads our writing and gets off on it... I'm afraid that's just how it's gonna be; there's nothing we can do about it except stop writing. Then again, people have even Pokemon and Simpsons fetishes so writing easy reading doesn't ensure that some weirdoes don't get off on it. Although e.g. people who get off on rape fantasies probably prefer the unrealistic depictions of forced sex, pieces where it's portrayed as something sexy and arousing (yeah, they exist, unfortunately), i.e. (s)exploitation. Now, if you went and wrote it in a very gruesome and realistic way, quite a few of them probably couldn't draw their kicks from it, seeing the ugliness of it all. Kinda like how most normal men would have trouble jacking off to a porn flick if they saw inside the porn starlet's head, saw how she pukes into a bucket between takes/during failed takes, saw the post-shoot tears etc. Not saying that's what happens on every porn set, but the sad fact is, it does happen on some. As for victims of violence reading violent fiction: they aren't all carved out of the same tree. Some victims deny anything ever happened, some want to never get exposed to violence again, some embrace violence as a natural part of life (take up martial arts, focus on self-defense, buy a gun etc), some start drinking/doing drugs, having lots of casual sex etc. to drown out their pain, some choose productive ways to deal with their experiences, others choose desctructive paths. That being said, some victims of violence won't like reading violent fiction while there are some who will draw parallels between their own experiences and those depicted in the fictional work they are reading, and some of them feel a sort of camaraderie between the character(s) who goes through similar things; the reader gets the feeling that they are not alone, that they aren't the only person who's ever gone through something like that. I've also spoken to a few war vets who like reading military fiction because they get the impression that they're not alone dealing with PTSD, they aren't the only ones haunted by their experiences etc. The same goes for some rape victims who read a fictional story with a rape scene. Of course, in the case of rape, the depiction is extremely important, and this is where we get to the crux of what I'm aiming at: Because rape often involves elements that some people do for fun (e.g. intercourse), it can be depicted as something sexy, arousing, fun. That is something I suspect most rape victims would not appreciate (nor do I). But if the scene is portrayed realistically, shown in all its ugliness (note: again, it doesn't have to be explicit/graphic to be realistic), if its aftermath and effects on the character(s) is realistic etc, it can be like peer support, especially the aftermath (e.g. dealing with feelings of guilt, shame, fear, how to tell your family/spouse, how to get over it if it's even possible etc). That's why I think it's so important to focus more on how things are done instead of what is done because almost every scenario can be written well or badly. I, for one, would like nothing more than a victim of violence to read our story and get the feeling that they are not alone, that others know about the kind of suffering they have endured, that others speak about it, push it to the forefront, and help, in their own, little way, to make more and more people gain some understanding of what's going on in the darker side of humanity. So many violent situations and their effects on people are misunderstood that we still need to raise awareness. For instance, compare how difficult it would have been only 50 years ago for a girl to tell her parents she was raped, especially since back then so many people didn't understand much about the nature of the crime. Today we understand a bit more, so the situation is better, but there's still so much ignorance in the world that it's no wonder so many rapes go unreported, that so many victims still can't bring themselves to tell anyone about what happened to them. I've known almost half a dozen rape victims (that I know of) and only one of them ever took it to the police, so yeah, I believe we still have a long way to go before knowledge of these matters is widespread enough that the victims don't need to fear harmful repercussions of coming forward with their experiences as much as they still do today. They do, don't they? But the sad thing is, they weren't miscreants, petty crooks, or raging psychos. They were normal, average teenage boys from good, whole families. Normal. So that's another example of how poorly educated people are even today about matters of violence, and how twisted their attitudes are because of that ignorance. Imagine if they grew up and ended up in positions of power while still as ignorant about violence as they were then, thinking rape is little more than a sexy joke... There haven't been many instances when I've been quite as strongly affected by a video than when I saw one about bear baiting. If I had magically appeared amidst the crowd in the video with a couple of guns, I might not have been able to contain the anger I felt towards those people and their "entertainment." There have been only a handful of occasions when I've been more ashamed of being human. Needless to say, a bear baiting scene found its way into my writing (it actually ended up in my entry to the WF sci-fi short story contest). Wow, this one turned out even longer that my previous post. Oh well... Good talk!
I *saw* a little of it before being totally freaked out - I believe there was a second one too ... Makes me physically gip (heave as if to be sick) just thinking about it!
YES!!!! YES YES YES!! And I actually said out loud to the TV, "oh, as if!" I know it's fiction, I know it's futuristic but for me, that part was laughable. I would have been more impressed if Spock had entered the scene and transported it out with a tiny intense transporter ray.
Makes sense. Also how come expeditors never bring weapons when they are going to explore a possible dangerous environment? They either get killed by monsters, cannibals, or wild animals.
Lol the cake was delicious actually, but then again I personally love cream The creamier the better. Whereas the hubby prefers sour and/or plain things, berries, sponge, that kinda thing. It's great that your wife knows you so well that she can even find a book for you - I think picking books for people is probably one of the hardest things ever. Nah I don't think our views actually differ re the purpose of fiction - I do not think *all* fiction are intended for entertainment. I mean, 1984, Handmaid's Tale, Mockingbird - these books were social critiques and their primary purpose, for me, is to educate and make people think. Entertainment in these books is secondary. My personal reading preferences, however, is in books that both entertain AND educate. It's why I adored Hunger Games so much - it made me think, a lot, it was poetic and well-written in narrative and in characterisation, and it was very entertaining - I devoured the trilogy in just over a week, couldn't put it down. So anyway, back to the topic - I do agree with you that not all fiction's primary purpose is entertainment, nor should it always be so. The best books for me though would be fiction that has both education value and entertainment value. (I think it's also why I loved the films LOTR and Dark Knight - again I felt the dialogue and acting were superb, and it's so thought-provoking. Phone Booth also - its dialogue was especially excellent, in fact. I never tire of watching these films - and I've watched all of them many times) I'd LOVE to see a flying cow by the way You're right that you should write what you need to write, and not be burdened by how others may or may not misinterpret your work. Your intentions are noble, I find, and we're all just finding our own ways of doing good. Sometimes I think that's all we can do, and learn as we go. Intentions for me matter most of all anyway. Your insights are very interesting - I never thought that a victim of violence might actually find solace in reading of other people's accounts of suffering. I don't say enjoy, because I don't think you can enjoy this kind of thing. But solace, some measure of comfort. You make a very good case for why the portrayal of violence might be very important. I would be extremely interested in the response of one who enjoys rape fetishes when they come round to reading a realistic account of rape. I have a rape scene in my novel, actually, but it serves as my character's background and I don't really explore it much - looking back I wonder if I've done it justice. I don't mean the scene - the scene I think is fine. I mean her story afterwards, because the rape is never really mentioned again, almost as if it were pushed to the background. In my story, she was raped and murdered - she exists in my book as a spirit (it's a fantasy novel) - but I've always thought of her as being shaped by her lover leaving her and marrying her sister, and that's the story she actually came back for. I now feel like I've focused on that to the neglect of her tragic death, having talked about the importance of realistic violence with you. Because realistic violence surely doesn't just apply to the violent act, but the aftermath and how this violence shapes you and continues in your life in various forms. Well, we *do* have people in power who think some terrible things are just jokes, don't we? I watched a short video once where this American politician was saying how abortions should be banned, and then the journalist asks him, "Why do you think women want abortions?" And the politician was stumped. He actually said, "I don't know. You know, I've never thought about it." I guess he gets some points for honesty. I hope he went home and thought about it some more. My world knowledge is not terribly great - who's Charles Manson and Helter Skewer? Btw how did you come to know so much about violence? Got a link to the bear-baiting entry? Would be interested Btw I agree with you and Kat, the accounts of the twins under Joseph Mengele's "care" would be horrific but very, very interesting to read. I would actually read that. Reading those links you gave me, I am reminded of a friend of mine on FB who was advocating that we stop animal testing. She said no matter the reason or outcome, there's no excuse for torture. And I'm kinda thinking, if we didn't have animal testing, surely we'd have to sanction similar things Mengele did... It's a difficult one, animal testing.
In our world it's (hopefully) not likely, but this is a fictional world where the right hand is deliberately prevented from knowing what the left hand is doing, and where everything but profit is expendable. So I wouldn't be so sure that the lack of advance information was intentional. (Er, that is, unintentional. On the part of the scriptwriters, I mean.)
I'm the same, that's why I love mille-feuilles and all things filled/covered with creamy goodness. There is some of that, yeah, at least with some people. From my own life, I could say that for a long time, when I was still in my early teens, I thought I was a coward because I felt intense fear in violent confrontations. It was only when I was around 18 or so that I learned that everyone feels the same in such situations (the physical and psychological effects of adrenaline) after reading about it in both, fiction and non-fiction. When I read realistic portrayals of violence in fiction, it made me feel better about myself when I saw that other people are afraid too, even people who are portrayed as heroes. And, of course, in non-fiction it was a relief to read that even the toughest guys out there feel the same exact fear when they're in dangerous situations, so yeah, comfort, solace etc. can definitely be found in books if you're the kind of person who's inclined to "study" their bad experiences on your quest to overcome them and the negative effects they've had on your life. First, your story sounds really interesting. I love fantasy and especially ghost/spirit stories. Second... yeah, rape does leave deep scars that a person bears for the rest of their, er, time of sentience. I've known several girls who've been raped, I've talked with them about their experiences, how it has affected and still affects their lives, and I've seen those effects. It's heart-breaking to watch when some completely mundane and harmless thing triggers a strong emotional response in a person, bringing back vivid memories of a bad experience that may have happened years ago. Not to mention how tragic it is if it happens between lovers: the guy might do something the girl previously liked doing with him, but after she was raped, if the rapist did the same thing, it could trigger a strong memory and leave her a crying, panicking mess while her boyfriend can only do what (very) little he can to console her while seething with impotent rage (yeah, I know, a corny image, but that's what it's like). I do think your story could possibly benefit from examining how the rape has affected the character. For instance, some thing might trigger a memory like I explained above. It might even be just a thought or her own memory that then triggers another memory. It could even be just a smell, a song she hears etc. It also smears a lot of good memories (like the above example about the lovers). She might not want to wear the same clothes again or listen to the song that was playing in the background during the experience etc. And of course then there are the feelings of guilt, self-loathing, doubt etc. Did she fight back? If so, she might wonder if she could've done something differently to survive? Could she have screamed for help louder? Could she have gouged out his eyes? Could she have carried something she could have used as a weapon? What if she usually carried pepper spray and a knife, but that day left them home for some reason? If she didn't fight, she might feel guilty about that. She could ask herself repeatedly why she didn't fight: is she a coward? Is it her fault that it happened because of her lack of resistance? Did she deserve it for not putting up a fight? Of course none of those really make sense: we all know (I hope) that the only guilty party in a rape is the rapist, but pretty much every girl I've spoken to who has been raped has asked themselves such questions, they've had doubts, intense feelings of guilt and shame. What varies a great deal is how deeply they bury those feelings or do the feelings stay close to the surface, often resulting in crying fits, bouts of panic etc. They might also trigger psychological problems like depression, anxiety attacks etc. If they are able to dam the feelings and keep them pent up... sometimes the dam breaks, often while they're drunk or on drugs, and then all hell breaks loose. It's common to even fear the reaction/consequences of telling anyone about what happened (those I knew never told their families): how would their friends/family/lover react? Would they be supportive, understanding, or condemn them, blame it on them? Would they even believe them that it was, indeed, rape instead of consensual sex she just now regrets? I don't think everyone even realizes what kind of scars an experience like that leaves on a person. They may fade over time, but from what I've seen, they will never go away completely whereas something like, say, a bar fight, you can pretty much just shrug off unless there were serious casualties. Oh, and I'm sure you know this already, but no two people react the same way to such an experience, so in that sense, you can't really go horribly wrong (unless you take it to some ridiculous extreme, perhaps) with whatever way you choose to portray it. Then again, since your character is a spirit, you have a lot of leeway: do spirits feel/experience things the same way humans do? Does she still feel (like we do)? Has her state of consciousness changed somehow? And so on and so forth. Hmm... this is starting to veer quite far from the topic. I hope aliens abduct, probe (deeply), and impregnate him. Helter Skelter was a Beatles song and Charles Manson is an American serial killer who thought he heard "messages" or some such in Helter Skelter and came up with all kinds of bs. I think if you search "bear baiting" in YouTube, the first search result is the same footage I saw in the documentary, but I'm not sure 'cause I don't want to watch those videos. They put me in a thoroughly misanthropic mood. Anyway, I've gotten somewhat familiar with violence from starting martial arts training when I was 6yo, then just being exposed to violence through people I knew and hung out with through my teens. When I was around 18 or so, I started studying fear and violence from a more scientific standpoint. That's when I found Geoff Thompson's books (he talks about the "science" of fear, i.e. how adrenaline works, what causes its secretion, how you can manipulate it in your body and in other people, i.e. turning it on and off, how it affects you psychologically and physically in a violent confrontation etc.) as well as other books and articles on the subject (explaining how and why e.g. muggers choose certain types of victims, how serial rapists operate etc). There was a time when I was obsessed with learning as much as I could because, having experienced and seen some violence, I wanted to be as good as I could at, well, self-defense, I guess, and all its aspects (including awareness and avoidance), so my current knowledge stems from those years. I'm glad I went through all that because it's helped me write what I consider relatively realistic portrayals of violence and their psychological and physical effects on people (including the after effects), but I'm definitely not an expert or anything. When I need expert level information, I turn to my more knowledgeable friends (cops, soldiers, bouncers etc). That would be a good topic for the Debate Room.
Animal testing - I am firmly against it, test it on the many criminals in prison that perhaps deserve to have their eyeballs burned. And a few other balls too!
@cutecat22, I've been saying the same thing for a long time. And that Åland should be turned into Finland's very own prison island.
Back on topic with the "why do they always ...?" I've thought of another one. When the good guys are setting bombs/explosive charges/spying devices, they always either flash, bleep or both. WHY????? Are the bad guys always blind and deaf? I'm sure if I walked into my dark office after hours (or even in the middle of the day) I would notice a bleep bleep bleep from somewhere or a flashing light under my desk. The phrase "should've gone to specsavers ..." comes to mind! (I think they do hearing tests too don't ya know!)
There was a quote on FB the other day saying something like "put all the elderly in prison where they will get three hot meals, access to the internet/books/learning/crafts/work, a clean bed and wages. Put all the prisoners into care homes where they will get cold/very little/no food, bad treatment, be abused and have to pay £400.00 a week rent for the privilege ..." Makes you think, doesn't it?
