Shock, Trauma and bloody spetacles: analyzing the trauma of violence in the United States in the context of the War on Terror and its relationship with Torture Porn

Abstract

This paper seeks to analyze American horror films of the torture porn subgenre and how they relate to the political discussions of the time about the US invasion of Iraq and the release of photos of torture by US officials in prisons abroad. These films appear in a context in which violence and discussions about war and torture are increasingly present in everyday life in the US, thus these films seek to represent the ethical complexities of a subject that is becoming increasingly talked about. The bibliography was built on three pillars: the aesthetic turn in International Relations, studies on emotions and trauma in political communities and critical literature on horror films. The franchises worked on were the first four “Saw” movies and the first two “Hostel” movies. The 9/11 attacks generated a sense of humiliation and shame that serves, in part, to explain the phenomenon of the War on Terror. The photos released are concrete proof of the widespread use of torture by US soldiers and, more than that, the existence of a state that authorizes human rights violations. Perhaps for the first time, ordinary Americans are confronted with a harsh truth: torture and violence are intrinsically linked to American values and, in many other places, they are the monstrous “Other”.