Clute's Thoughts

I tend to be longwinded, sorry about that. I'll try to keep things shorter.

I found this article very interesting! I never would have thought about comparing three genre's views of the world and its problems. After reading what Clute wrote, I can easily agree with his argument, though as with everything, the lines between genres can easily be blurred.

His analysis of the four phases of horror also makes sense. However, I think this is not seen only in horror. Compare the four phases of the monomyth cycle or even to the simple gradeschool definition of a story: beginning, climax, end. Must it follow the four phases to be horror or if it contains the four phases does that make it horror?

I have not seen "It's a Wonderful Life" since I was young, so I do not remember it well enough to see the phases. However, another Christmas movie that seems to follow the phases is "A Christmas Carol". The sighting could be when Scrooge sees Marley's ghost, the thickening when he travels with the first two ghosts, the revel when he is with Christmas Future and the aftermath when he wakes up. But you could also say it follows the monomyth: the call to action, trip underworld, and change of the character.

Clute's phases do make me more confident about watching scary movies. Now that I think about it, his phases are similar to the scary movie jokes everyone always says such as who is going to die first, when the jumpy moments are and the jump at the very end after everything is over. At least I know what to look out for now.