Online Custom «Halloween» Essay Sample

In modern life, Halloween occupies one of the central places, as it is a popular holiday when people wear costumes and have fun at the parties. Despite the fact that this holiday is dedicated to evil and its creatures, people have turned it into the joyful event. The director John Carpenter decided to alter the situation and shot the terrifying horror movie “Halloween”, which enjoyed a great popularity in the American viewers in 1978. Even today this slasher film is perceived as a masterpiece of horror art.

The plot of the movie shows the story of the young psycho (Michael Myers), who escapes from the Smith’s Gove in order to kill people in Haddonfield. While being a six-year-old boy, Michael killed his older sister with a kitchen knife and decided to continue his bloody activity. The doctor Samuel Loomis traces Michael. The man wears a mask, and on Halloween he manages to move freely. His victims are teenager Laurie Strode and her friends. At the end of the movie, Laurie fights with Michael, and he almost succeeds in his attempt to kill the girl. Dr. Loomis assists Laurie Strode as he shoots Michael six times, and the man falls down from the second floor. The mystery of the movie lies in the fact that the murderer mystically escapes.

It has to be assumed that aside from the horror story presented in the movie the film also portrays the gender-identity issues showing a struggle of sexual orientation and activities. It is the key topic of this film. It is important to note that Michael killed his sister when he noticed that she was having sex with a boy. The same concerned his next victims, who were Laurie’s friends. Mascia-Lees and Sharpe state that “The anxieties about sexuality and ambiguous gender characteristics that are shared by perpetrators (Michael) and victim (Laurie) make then partners in a plot that tends to question the stereotypical gender representations” (36).

There is a viewpoint that with the help of this movie, the director John Carpenter has expressed his inner concerns towards the sexual revolution, which took place in the U.S. at that time. It was his paternalistic and patriarchal response to the issue, and the movie straightforwardly shows that those individuals who “do it”, get their punishment. The two teenagers who survived – Michael Myers and his victim Laurie – shared the common feature, both of them were virgins. It might be assumed that in such a way the director tried to tell the audience that those who indulged in sexual activities are sinners, and they will get their retribution.

Another theme, which has to be mentioned, is the theme of unnatural forces. Glen and Krin Gabbard emphasize that John Carpenter is unique due to his ability to put the speeches about evil in the mouth of a psychiatrist (24). This movie includes a number of slow scenes when people look into the eyes of each other. When the psychiatrist looked into the eyes of Michael he saw the devil there, and in the words of terrified kid it was “a bogeyman”. The doctor was different from all the other individuals who treated the boy as usual. For him, Michael was not the ordinary crazy individual, but the manifestation of evil forces, and the proof for it was the fact that even bullets did not harm him. The theme of unnatural forces is closely connected to the theme of Halloween. The director has portrayed human attitude towards the evil which they exhibit on Halloween. This holiday is the manifestation of human worship to the Devil. Halloween is not a Christian holiday, and it presupposes wearing monstrous costumes and having fun. The director of the movie has shown his inner critique of this Pagan feast. In the Old Testament, it is stated that the punishment for being a witch is death (Exodus 22:18). It is what most of the movie’s characters got. Carpenter showed what might happen when an individual turns to monster not only with the help of outer features (like a costume) but also when his soul becomes evil. It should be stated that Michael’s desire to kill people occurred on Halloween when the whole country promoted the pagan practices.

It is important to note that John Carpenter aimed at popularizing his message that sins lead to punishment. Human practice of the evil actions such as celebrating of Halloween, which presupposes commemorating the dark forces and starting the sexual life without marriage, is sinful. The American society promotes those things as manifestations of freedom. People could be constitutionally free to conduct the things, which they want. However, they should know the moral, ethical, and psychological limits. The absence of those limits turns an individual into a monster like Michael Myers.

The movie shares the message that evil is present everywhere in the world. It could be tied to modern concerns as nothing has actually changed over the years. People have achieved great progress in their way of thinking but not in the morality and ethics. Today, the society perceives a number of issues, such as abortion, as normal things. This practice is legalized. Nevertheless, there exists a great barrier between the legal practices and human morality. In the “Halloween” John Carpenter tried to show that those things which are allowed are not always good for people. In his case, he talked about sexual activities of teenagers and portrayed it as small evil. With the course of time humanity has progressed greatly. Today, everybody treats teenage sex as a norm. The society has moved from the virginity to legalized murders. Certain regulations have been taken for the wide acceptation and promotion of abortion. The conclusion is only one: the evil is here, and it parasites within human society. The consequences of such behavior can be really dramatic as there will come the time of requital.