PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary works, the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is an international organization that offers university level history, theory and production-based master classes for horror fans of all ages.
Miskatonic London wishes to welcome lecturer, academic and film writer Sarah Crowther, who will teach a class following the history of the dynamic cinematic relationship between drag and horror films, from Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda to the Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, with a stop-over to take a look at where RuPaul’s Drag Race fits into it all.
Interested? Read on for all the details!
From The Miskatonic Press Release
From Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda (1953) to the Boulet Brothers’ Dragula (2017), drag and transvestism have appeared as a recurring theme in genre cinema and television. This history of representation could be argued to have been broadly delineated into two categories: the ‘deviants’ and the divas. Appropriately, perhaps, the double-Ds. A recurrent representation of cross-dressing/gender subversion in horror has been that of the opposite gender embodying the protagonist’s murderous or ‘deviant’ impulses.
Simultaneously, however, some of genre cinema’s greatest anti-heroes have simply just been transvestite (get over it), or played by iconic drag queens. This lecture will explore key cinematic and televisual genre representations, identifying shared symbolic themes and imagery. Progression of representation will be considered in the context of societal change and increased visibility.
The lecture will explore scenes from films which may include A Blade In The Dark (1983), Sleepaway Camp (1983), Homicidal (1961), Der Samurai (2014), Psycho (1960), Switchblade Romance (2004), Dolly Deadly (2016) and Dressed to Kill (1983), alongside the televisual delights of RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009) and Dragula (2017). There may also be a Divine sprinkling of John Waters and the chance to chew over O’Brien/Curry’s Frank’n’Furter.
We will explore the two key categories of representation, while also considering those who fall in between, and what that difference signifies.
Sounds like a fascinating lecture!
Event Details
The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – London – Drag Me to Hell: Representations of Drag and Transvestism in Horror Film and Television
Date: September 13, 2018
Time: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Venue: The Horse Hospital
Address: Colonnade, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1JD
Prices: £10 advance / £11 on the door / £8 concs (students/seniors with ID)
Click HERE for full event details.
That’s quite an assortment of films they plan to cover. I bet this ends up being a really interesting talk. It would be nice if they recorded it and released it to the public!
Any Miskatonic London students out there? Are you planning to check out this lecture? Tell us in the comments!
