PSY-399T.3 Visual violence: It's all in what you see 3 credits
Prerequisites: PSY-254
The course will examine the fascination of modern cinema producers and watchers with the serial killer genre. The question to be asked is why are we so visually interested in telling this tale in so many forms and across so many cultures. We'll consider Hoffman's theory of visual intelligence and how it can be used to understand the fascination with visual aspects of these deviant and highly uncommon individuals. Are we seeking some sort of ultimate self destruction (Freud's thanatos)? Is it an expression or our need for greater and greater fascination with something dangerous outside ourselves or are we reflecting some natural story element that we all understand? Films will include, among others, Lang's 'M', to the trilogy of the ever ambiguous Dr. Lecter.