For this weeks movie we watched Blacula witch is A film about an African-American Dragula this movie is all about breaking the troops that revolve around African-American roles in film and media. Not only does Blacula only transform African-Americans and homosexuals he also acts in a different manner than most African-American roles would portray him as. I really liked this movie I felt like it was very moving there was a couple of parts where Blaxploitation came into play but I felt as if the movie really helped audiences to understand the differences between OK and not OK rules for African-Americans to play. Not only did this movie try to fight unjust rolls it also fought against usual stereotypes around homophobic pretenses Such as “ they all look the same”. where in reality they did not all look the same but the people saying this looked exactly the same to each other because they were wearing the same uniform.
We also had a beautiful presentation about paranormal activity which I thought it went very well Sam talked about Key elements to the movie and why it was a cult movie. I for one have not seen this movie because I don’t watch scary movies just because I was raised in a very religious household where demons were of the real thing and movies like this always freak me out because my mom would always be like that can really happen. I know how that that is not the case but they still kind of give me the heebie-jeebies And Sam did such a great presentation that I even went home and watched it. I thought it was so good and weird that I am now basing one of my photo books off of this movie.
The readings we went over this week were a lot blaxploitation and the role that African-Americans used to play in movies and the unjust light that they were portrayed in which I feel really help me to contextualize Blacula and further my understanding of an OK and a not OK role for African-Americans to play. The reading that really hit me the week was the reading about the media and marketing behind cult movies and how if you try to categorize yourself as a cult movie you will inherently be not a cult movie and just a bad movie. I thought this to be absolutely hilarious because The audience wants what it wants and what are we to tell it what it is and what it is not that all for us to decide. Which I think as an audience member is a very great power to have.
By: Victoria Empson
Cult Movies 
Great post, very thorough. I can really relate about the religious household, things about demons and paranormal activity used to scare the shit out of me because I used to assume that was the real evil in the world because that’s what everyone told me. It’s really freeing when I get older put that stuff aside to look at these movies for their fictitious horror qualities, but it always means something a little different for people that come from that.
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I always find it interesting when I see someone that has never seen a certain horror movie, that could be because I grew up in a town where it seemed like everyone saw the latest horror movie or the latest big movie to be available. Other than that, I enjoyed your post and I enjoyed how you brought up the stereotypes that the film brought up.
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i also can relate!! in high school i used to lie to my parents about what kind of movies me and my friends would watch at movie nights. i can vividly recall all of us in a small living room screaming at this movie, the presentation was a total flashback! also the audience has ALL ZA POWER i love going to the movies and then seeing box office numbers and being like yo i took part in that!! feels good ya know!
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I really enjoyed reading your blog this week. I feel exactly how you feel in respect to scary movies dealing with “other worldly” entities.
I also enjoyed your focus on the marketing of films and how cult movies obtain cult status, and the following that goes with it. Just because you label something, doesn’t mean that the item is going to turn into what you label it.
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