Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Medusa from Clash of the Titans (1981)

In the first couple seconds of the clip from Clash Of the Titans (1981), the scene already gives the audience a hint at the evil nature of Medusa, which in turn infers her identity as a monster.
The first thing that comes to mind is that Perseus is slowly creeping down into the lair with a sword and shield, which immediately screams “DANGER” at the audience. The second thing that comes to mind is that the surroundings are dark, and lit by torches flickering in their sconces. This gives the audience a feeling that you cannot exactly see everything within the lair, and most of it is covered in darkness, adding to the mysterious and suspenseful feeling. The third thing that appears are the stone statues of the men that Medusa has frozen before. They emit a sense of foreboding, and almost a sense of absolute terror as the audience looks at the terrified faces of men as they froze over. This reminds of a book series that I've read called Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, which tells a modern version of the slaying of Medusa among other adventures by the same hero. Another thing that appears are the sinister silhouettes of Medusa, and the snakes in her hair were particularly striking. The final thing that shows that Medusa is a monster is the suspenseful music with the loud and soft contrasts in it that scare and frighten the audience.

Later on in the clip, the audience gets their first glimpse of the horror herself. The first thing that comes to mind is that Medusa is most definitely not something human, and it really adds to the definition of being a monster. In addition to that, the writhing snake hair also adds to Medusa’s frightening appearance, contributing to her monstrous identity. The rest of Medusa’s body is also scaly and it adds to the monster definition because snakes are often associated with evil, and it also serves to complement Medusa’s hair. The ugly grimace that is frozen on her face also serves to terrify the audience and contribute to the definition monster because most things that we consider as monstrous are often ugly as well. Finally, throughout the clip, Medusa is almost always cast in some kind of shadow or darkness, whereas Perseus, no matter how dark it gets, almost always has light shining on him. This shows the contrast between light and darkness, and also between good and evil. Since monsters are always associated with evil, the audience infers that Medusa is the monster.


In conclusion, the surroundings within the scene, like the shadows, writhing silhouettes, eerie music, stone statues and the flickering light give evidence to Medusa’s identity as the monster. In addition, her own appearance contributes to her identity as a monster, like the writhing hair, the scales, the ugly facial expression and the shadows surrounding her.



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