Journal III - Research Paper Example

In support of his emphasis on the imagination, Lefebvre elucidated why people relate serial killing to cannibalism, but did not refer to films depicting such themes. Hence, he wanted to establish facts out of the imagination, not through the actual thematic presentation but by way of the figure, which represents “the poetic and imaginary logic,” from where an individual draws his or her conception of the work (Lefebvre 43). The film Monster by Patty Jenkins relates to the reading since it is a story about a lesbian woman, who was compelled to become a prostitute to survive, and later on became a serial killer because of her uncontrollable hatred to men.

Aileen, the prostitute turned serial killer, became a victim of her own memory and lived a life of misery because of her past – the terrible past that left her yearning for love – the love that she found in Selby. Aileen justified her wrongdoings by deeming them as acts of survival with her life already being torn apart. In the end, despite all the sacrifices, despite earning the money she needed for her and Selby to survive, Aileen was again left with no one by her side and was betrayed.

Aileen was jailed and executed for being a serial killer, and now there was no point to life for her. In a major way, there is this connection between the serial killer in Monster and the serial killer that Lefebvre described in his written piece. The serial killer in Lefebvre’s description was motivated to kill for no reason, and Aileen killed some of her victims only because of anguish and despair and not because of hatred to the individual being victimized. Therefore, she had no substantial reason whatsoever to kill some of her victims.

In another way, the film Party Monster by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato also forms a connection with Lefebvre’s idea of the modern day serial killer, which is to him the “locus memoriae of cannibalism” (58). Although there was no serial killing involved, the film showed how the imagination of Michael Alig brought him to the world of drug addiction and to committing a crime that ended his position as the leader of the fabulous and popular group party kids. Michael Alig was blinded by fame and was drowned by it.

All he wanted was to be himself and to show what he could do, but he ended up struggling to prove something. Cannibalism or serial killing may not be the theme of the film but it leaves a message in regard to the significance of loving oneself and to staying away from things that could bring harm to oneself and to others. Drugs turned out to be the reason why the party kids were insanely partying, and drugs were also the cause of the lead character’s downfall. There may be no cannibalism or serial killing, but the act of drug addiction may be likened to the act of killing oneself slowly every single day for no justifiable reason.

A person addicted to drugs is like feeding on his own meat, nourishing it with medicine that brings it to bereavement. The metaphor “queers that kill” was formed because of homosexuality. Homosexuality is viewed by some as a termite eating beneath the surface to inflict damage on the foundations of society. Some people deem homosexuals as a menace to society, which have to be killed, or be forced to live life the way it