Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown - Caitlin R Kiernan clip

[Emhilradim]

Caitlin Kiernan is a transexual; that is, a man who dresses like a woman. Apparently he never bothered to try and train his voice, and just watching him talk is unbearably teeth gritting because it's hideous to behold. People who comment on "her beauty," or "that she is a woman" need to get a fucking clue. Just like he needs to get a fucking clue that he is a horror writer, no matter how much he tries to deny it.

Write 95% horror, claim you're not a horror writer. Makes absolute sense!

[RDarkstorm]

Wonderful author, brilliant insight. Bravo

[JudasCrusader]

thats a guy

[scraps992]

I have found myself having a growing concern and dubiety regarding the legitimacy of Caitlin R. Kiernan's femininity. Her voice had reached an octave that was of the caliber of a standard middle-aged man. Her square face and facial hair that had been seemingly ripped from her lip by use of a waxy substance indicated that she was no closer to a female than I am to the truth.

[geppegep]

her / his voice creeps me out

[TheNightSpirit666]

Wrong, if you have only one X chromosome (that is you are born male), instead of XX (as females have) then you are biologically male, despite external physical appearance.

[AdoreLucifer]

@TheNightSpirit666

What about Angel children, who have only one X?

XXY = Hermaphrodite :-D

[Zaxon72]

One of the best fiction writers being published. Very talented.

[hgla1]

Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown is screening at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival in Los Angeles, September 11, 2010! Buy tickets here: brownpapertickets [dot] com/event/117721

[spiralout46]

is this her real voice?!?!? I am flabbergasted....

[MythicDude]

I've never actually heard Kong compared to Lovecraft before...but she does make a few good points

[Giradius]

getting back to lovecraftian elements in non Lovecraft fiction.

I have always thought that the original Japanese Ring movie, had lovecraftian undertones.

Sadako's powers are more telepathic and psionic, than demonic.

Coupled with growing up on an isolated fishing island, and the mystery regarding her father, her obvious (but slight) deformity, as well as the references to goblins in the sea.

I think there is a strong case for Sadako being a deep one hybrid, a japanese "Innsmouth" type.

[formless777]

What did you think of the traditional Japanese abortion cemetery where unwanted babies are exposed to the tides, and mothers come and leave cute presents there for them ? I thought that was the most disturbing thing in the Ring movie.

[Giradius]

Yeah that was interesting, but again it is the kind of thing that a japanese Innsmouth would do.

There are supposed to be cities of the deep ones all over the world (Obed Marsh learned about Dagon in Polynesia I think) and so its not hard to imagine that what happened to Innsmouth has happened in other remote coastal towns, and the goblins in the sea that are mentioned in ring are deep ones.

Maybe putting unwanted babies by the sea is a legacy of much older practices..sacrifices.

[formless777]

Lol, you're right of course Giradius. I always thought Minamata would make a good Japanese Innsmouth.

Regarding Polynesia, are you aware of the Federation of Micronesia's island of Ponape with the amazing ruins ? Apparently when the Japanese occupied the island they went diving and recovered platinum bullion from the watery caves, which is said to be in the vaults of Tokyo museum. Ponape has an interesting history.

[Giradius]

Its actually quite a good point!

There are quite a few non Lovecraft movies which are quite Lovecraftian.

[13shokre13]

omg cloverfield

[Giradius]

There were rumors before Cloverfield came out (and nobody had seen the monster) that it was going to be a Lovecraftian film and the Cloverfield monster was going to be Cthulhu.

To be honest, even though the Cloverfield monster was not a traditional lovecraft monster, it still has undertones.

The buglike parasites which cling to it make it even more so.

[Giradius]

"Are you calling Lovecraft simplistic and trite?"

No, I am calling your interpretation simplistic and trite!

Lovecraftian fiction is nihilistic existential horror, the impact of his work comes from how SMALL a part humanity plays in the larger universe, how insignificant we are.

If you have taken that and turned it a weak attempt at xenophobic metaphor, then you have missed what Lovecraft was trying to say.

You are seeing themes which are not there, which says more about you than him.

[satireknight]

@Giradius So, you're claiming that there ARE no themes except that one. How incredibly dull and narrow.

[Giradius]

"that is the "central theme" of all of Lovecraft's works, does that mean there are secondary, tertiary, etc themes?"

I would say there ARE secondary themes in SOME of lovecraft's works,but you dont seem to realise that the racism evident in Lovecraft's stories was the established common wisdom of the day.

There would be no purpose in having hidden depths describing commonly held beliefs.

The racist content in lovecraft's stories is the common racism of the time,casual racism if you will.

[JapeUK]

Meh, get your point but Lovecraft's views on race were odd and changed a lot. Also for a long time he proudly considered himself an ultra-reactionary, and had little time for anyone not WASP and upper-class. I mean the group he most consistently belittles is white 'farming-types', comparing his numerous redneck (inbred) characters to mere animals half the time. so yeah common racial view, add an element of pseudo racial science popular at the time with some and then just plain snobbery to boot.

[Giradius]

Absolutely!

During the 1920s eugenics was quite fasionable (and state endorsed in the USA), Lovecrafts views regarding race etc, were quite standard for his day.

You find this kind of thing if you read pulp of the era, for instance there are similar remarks made in Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu stories.

People forget that moral and social viewpoints change, the zeitgeist changes, and what people think today will be viewed differenty tommorow.

its a matter of historical context.

[hanshotfirst1138]

@Giradius As Neil Gaiman once said, in spite of the continued insistence of academics and critics, you really can't reconcile what people think and what they write, at least not completely. Was Lovecraft a racist? Probably? Does that show up in his work? Yes. It does. But there is, as ever, more to it than that. Does that mean that artists are the products of historical forces? I'd say partially. In any generation, Mozart was a genius. Greg Lake is a brilliant musician, but imagine if he'd been

[hanshotfirst1138]

@hanshotfirst1138 born in an era before the electric guitar. Two completely different genres, both brilliant. Art can be political while still being timeless (at least in part because of humanity's incessant inability to learn from history). To insist that a work of art exists outside of its context is to make it mysterious and untouchable, and therefore why should it matter to me? To take art only in its context is to limit it to matter too little. If I'm a believer and find out that a genius

[hanshotfirst1138]

@hanshotfirst1138 I idolize was an atheist does that mean I should disregard their work? Such a ridiculous idea! Look at things critically. Use your mind. The fact that we're still talking about these things after all attest to their power. If a work of art has only one meaning, why should it matter to me? Why doesn't Hamlet just kill his uncle? If Shakespeare had answered that, he'd have robbed us of an endlessly fascinating question that makes the play the masterpiece that it is.

[RlyehChurn]

uh, thats a dude.

[o0FreakinStein0o]

FUCK king kong, cthulhu would open up a can of whop-ass, king kong is the size of an ant compatred to cthulhu

[NOUFGT]

is that a man or a woman?

[formless777]

Fair call. I was impressed at how King Kong and H.P. Lovecraft had so much in common.

[somercet1]

None of these writers talk about the literary sublime where Lovecraft resides. S. King writes at the join of horror and psychology (The Shining melds a haunted house with an alcoholic's family) but H.P. was different.

You never inquire of the psychology of the protagonists of "C.D. Ward" or "The Shadow over Innsmouth": both characters exist where the vast inhuman overwhelms this small corner of humanity. Odd.

[eirefrance]

Ive always thought that Lovecraft tapped into a sort of innocent racism in his day. I dont mean that to sound as bad as some may take it. His work is full of stories of barbarous evils that live easily among the non-Anglo Saxon cultures of the world. It is a fear of the unknown, where the unknown is non-Anglo Saxon culture. I still like Lovecraft, I just understand the context of his stories.

[footloosifer]

Yeah but he ate babies.

[Giradius]

If you think that Lovecraft's stories were about racism, then you clearly don't understand the context of his stories!

The central theme of all Lovecraft's works was the unimportance and insignificance of ALL human endeavors, concepts, feelings, and cultures.

Lovecraft created the ultimate nihilistic art, and if you think there are value judgements in his stories then you have TOTALLY missed the point of them.

[eirefrance]

Boy, talk about getting your panties in a bunch. First of all, like all great art, there are 1000s of ways to interpret it, so don't tell me I TOTALLY missed anything. Second of all, layers, my friend, layers. Assuming that is the "central theme" of all of Lovecraft's works, does that mean there are secondary, tertiary, etc themes? Are you calling Lovecraft simplistic and trite?

[Giradius]

"First of all, like all great art, there are 1000s of ways to interpret it,"

Not all interpretations are equal or even accurate!

[satireknight]

@Giradius No, they're not value judgements. They're just his own paranoid biases.

And seriously, what nerve to insist that there's only ONE way to see art, and all other perspectives are wrong.

[SmileOnADog]

I am totally blown away that Caitlin is transsexual. I actually think it's kind of awesome.

[greengirl803]

Wow I agree on the dude thing.I`m a big fan of Kiernan but this is the first time i`ve ever seen her live.Quite frankly i`m a little shocked.Not that it would matter if she started life as a man,just something I didnt know about her.

[pryorandrew]

Yeah I read her book before seeing her! AHHHH! I am shocked buts its all cool I thought she was pretty in the glamour shots in the back cover...

[YourProfessor]

How much does she smoke?

[ultratwist]

Brilliant writer and gorgeous lady. I want to be Caitlin R. Kiernan when I grow up.

[SmileOnADog]

Me too!

[eindoppelganger]

@ultratwist agreed 100% me too!! :)

[nycdom4u2srv]

Caitlin Kiernan is one of my favorites as well ... I just finished reading SILK, and I'm a big fan of her excellent wordsmithing.

She's also a very talented musician ... former lead singer/base player/lyricist for DEATH'S LITTLE SISTER ... a goth/punk band out of Athens, GA in the late 80s/early 90s.

NO ... IT'S NOT A DUDE!!! YES, SHE'S A SHE !!!

[joemasaki]

@nycdom4u2srv Re-read her wikipedia.

[eindoppelganger]

@joemasaki you miss the point.. fucking troglodyte

[ZyioScalebane]

@nycdom4u2srv Nope, that's a dude lol

[cherrybombchick666]

Oh, cool. Thank you for posting this. =) She's one of my favorite authors (if not *the* favorite), but I've never seen her on video before. Neat.

[redcorpse]

Wow, is her voice really that deep? I love Kiernan, her work is absolutely brilliant.

[redcorpse]

lol Re-reading my own comment here and I think it came off a bit funny. What I meant was that her voice suprised me but in a good way. I think it's highly attractive and more than a bit sexy. She's really one of those rare people that's facinating on the inside and out and I think it's fitting that she be on a documentary about a man who's work she not only plays upon but exceedes in bounds and leaps.

[susieqt08]

agreed. she's beautiful, and the combination of her feminine beauty and that surreal voice is really rather captivating.

[yumsalad]

i see what you did there! lol