The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (Rob Zombie, 2009): An Animated Exploitation of Exploitation Cinema
It could be argued that, like any exploitation movie, Rob Zombie’s 2009 animation film, while dealing with transgressive issues, relies on scandalous material in order to “exploit” specific niche audiences. Yet the question remains as to whether the movie also means to play a controversial political...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Association Française d'Etudes Américaines
2016-07-01
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| Series: | Transatlantica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/7918 |
| _version_ | 1818241775804874752 |
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| author | Pierre Floquet |
| author_facet | Pierre Floquet |
| author_sort | Pierre Floquet |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | It could be argued that, like any exploitation movie, Rob Zombie’s 2009 animation film, while dealing with transgressive issues, relies on scandalous material in order to “exploit” specific niche audiences. Yet the question remains as to whether the movie also means to play a controversial political role in showing what Hollywood films (both direct and animated) have repressed—the unseen of culture—or whether it is merely a distanced animated one-off in the directing career of a multi-skilled artist. This animation film is not just an adaptation of the eponymous graphic novel, but, rather, an exploitation of the tricks and clichés of exploitation cinema in the form of animated cinema. Beyond wrestling, it slashes through several sub-genres, including Nazisploitation, bikerfilms, sexploitation and more, making it a carnivalesque ride. Because the medium of animation highlights and intensifies any original code of representation, the film ultimately questions the mise en abyme of cinema within exploitation films, as much as films within animation films. By crossing and blurring the boundaries between these various cinematic forms, Rob Zombie incidentally raises the issue of defining animation within cinema at large, all the while promoting a somewhat ambiguous, reactionary discourse in spite of his own politics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:34:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7d4ebbfce36547a584524afa9aa015cf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1765-2766 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:34:42Z |
| publishDate | 2016-07-01 |
| publisher | Association Française d'Etudes Américaines |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Transatlantica |
| spelling | doaj.art-7d4ebbfce36547a584524afa9aa015cf2022-12-22T00:23:00ZengAssociation Française d'Etudes AméricainesTransatlantica1765-27662016-07-01210.4000/transatlantica.7918The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (Rob Zombie, 2009): An Animated Exploitation of Exploitation CinemaPierre FloquetIt could be argued that, like any exploitation movie, Rob Zombie’s 2009 animation film, while dealing with transgressive issues, relies on scandalous material in order to “exploit” specific niche audiences. Yet the question remains as to whether the movie also means to play a controversial political role in showing what Hollywood films (both direct and animated) have repressed—the unseen of culture—or whether it is merely a distanced animated one-off in the directing career of a multi-skilled artist. This animation film is not just an adaptation of the eponymous graphic novel, but, rather, an exploitation of the tricks and clichés of exploitation cinema in the form of animated cinema. Beyond wrestling, it slashes through several sub-genres, including Nazisploitation, bikerfilms, sexploitation and more, making it a carnivalesque ride. Because the medium of animation highlights and intensifies any original code of representation, the film ultimately questions the mise en abyme of cinema within exploitation films, as much as films within animation films. By crossing and blurring the boundaries between these various cinematic forms, Rob Zombie incidentally raises the issue of defining animation within cinema at large, all the while promoting a somewhat ambiguous, reactionary discourse in spite of his own politics.http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/7918exploitation cinemaanimation filmadaptationsubgenrecarnivalesqueaesthetics |
| spellingShingle | Pierre Floquet The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (Rob Zombie, 2009): An Animated Exploitation of Exploitation Cinema Transatlantica exploitation cinema animation film adaptation subgenre carnivalesque aesthetics |
| title | The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (Rob Zombie, 2009): An Animated Exploitation of Exploitation Cinema |
| title_full | The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (Rob Zombie, 2009): An Animated Exploitation of Exploitation Cinema |
| title_fullStr | The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (Rob Zombie, 2009): An Animated Exploitation of Exploitation Cinema |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (Rob Zombie, 2009): An Animated Exploitation of Exploitation Cinema |
| title_short | The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (Rob Zombie, 2009): An Animated Exploitation of Exploitation Cinema |
| title_sort | haunted world of el superbeasto rob zombie 2009 an animated exploitation of exploitation cinema |
| topic | exploitation cinema animation film adaptation subgenre carnivalesque aesthetics |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/7918 |
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