Influence of Romanticism in the Contemporary Shows True Blood, American Horror Story, and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas

From the beginning of the movie it tells you its about Halloween with a wonderful song called “This is Halloween.” The story starts in Halloween town not in Christmas town and most of the movie is in Halloween town including the end of the movie. Near the end of the movie Jack goes to send presents over the world yet his sleigh is shot down and he lands in a cemetery where he sings a song about how he is meant for Halloween and not for Christmas or any other holiday.

The Nightmare Before Christmas originated in a poem written by Tim Burton in 1982 that was later published October 13, 1993 as a film with his original hopes of  making “The Nightmare Before Christmas” a short film turned out to be a smashing hit out of his many films. Tim Burton's films often show mysterious worlds filled with wonder and horror that bring us to see the world in new ways that we never knew. In this film just like many other of Burton’s films the character is searching to find a new meaning to their life, or even going out of the way to make their life better by filling the empty void by finding a certain something or someone. What begins to puzzle the reader or viewer is when confusion comes up on who the bad guy or monster is in reality.

I believe that The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween movie because the main events occur in Halloween town. For example, when the kids steal Santa, they take him to Halloween town to show Jack how clever they are to capture him. Santa stays in Halloween town so he can not continue Christmas. When the kids send Santa down the chute, he meets the Oogie Boogie man. He starts singing a song, which are important in this movie because they can give information about a character.

Stephen King wrote the short story “Why We Crave Horror Films” explaining why our mind gets so excited during horror movies. He continues to make the statement “the horror film has become the modern public lynching” (paragraph 6) showing that no matter what generation a person is in the excitement of gore will always exist. King proves this statement discussing emotions and psychiatric points in his work.

Romanticism was a movement that started in the 1700's that focused on emphasizing pathos, inspiration, individualism and superiority. Most films have a dimension of romance between a main character and a supporting character. A romance film is any film that the central storyline features the romantic involvement of two characters.

Tim Burton’s fictional worlds are ones of clear compartmentalization, quite often between literal shades of black and white. Through visual contrasts the audience is not only drawn into the plot, but also given explicit messages about how to interpret the actions and motives of the characters. His macabre art style and purposeful storytelling both hint at his rejection of the status quo; throughout his stories he reinforces the idea that normality is not synonymous with morality through the use of stark lighting contrast, yin and yang style settings, and costumes that are polarly different.

The American Romantic period of American literature propagated itself throughout the United States and multiple artistic medium from 1800 to 1850. Despite possible confusion caused by the name’s Western implications, this particular literary style originated in Germany with the publication of Goethe’s “Sorrows of Young Werther”. (11. http://www.westga.edu/~mmcfar/american%20ROMANTICISM%20OVERVIEW.html) Stories originating from this period were typically about improbable feats of adventure which provided readers with euphoric experiences not typically common in everyday life. (11. http://www.westga.edu/~mmcfar/american%20ROMANTICISM%20OVERVIEW.html) Eventually spreading throughout English culture, romanticism soon infected the colossal talents

Ever since the invention of language, humans have been obsessed and intrigued with the aspect of storytelling. Each story, whether written or spoken, holds an important theme within its creative words and exciting plot. While each story is special and unique, over the course of history, different periods of literature have formed where authors tend to focus on similar themes and messages. One of which was the American Romantic era, where authors used their stories to challenge the boundaries of society, and delve deeper into what makes people inherently human, both the flaws and perfections. Some of America’s greatest works of literature were born in this period, like those of Poe, and Hawthorne. A very common literary theme during the romantic period was that of good versus evil, in both individual characters and society as a whole; this theme is especially evident in works such as The Tell Tale Heart, The Raven, and Young Goodman Brown.

Classic texts are valued as their representation of cultural and social concerns are constructed in a way that continues to resonate with audiences despite their personal context. Cultural values are regarded by larger society as they reflect the social and political attitudes of the time. “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, is a gothic science fiction novel written in 1818, which explores the dark side of the human psyche, a highly valued cultural value, formed from the romanticism era. Shelley explores the role of man as creator as she forewarns of the impact of scientific advancement. These issues are re-examined in the twenty- first century film, “Edward Scissorhands”. ‘Edward Scissorhands’ is an appropriation of Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’, directed by Tim Burton in the 1990. ‘Edward Scissorhands’ also explores the dark side of human psyche. Burton examines on what makes us human, as well as the perspective of living in society, being regarded as a ‘monster’. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is a 1975 gender bender, sci-fi, comedy, horror musical film, directed by Richard O’Brien. O’Brien pursue in encouraging to expand our society’s social standards, a cultural value from the sexual revolution throughout the eras of the 1960’s to 1980’s. Shelley’s “Frankenstein” has been adapted by Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands” as well as O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. These films have adapted to “Frankenstein” as it explores the cultural value of the dark side of human psyche

A creak from a distant floor board echoed from across the asylum’s hall. The setting was engulfed in darkness with no trace of light or the warmth embrace of a flickering light bulb to serve as a haven to this living nightmare... A living nightmare. No three words could best describe the playground of ingenious maniacs that sparked the Romanticist movement. A movement in which maniacs, psychopaths and enthusiasts of all kinds had dared to translate their demented reveries into brush strokes and pages of surrealistic art. Henry Fuseli, one such maniac with a passion, explored for the “black rose” of humanity’s horrors and provoked humanity with the sublimity of his canvases. His scope of horror and fear was limitless, and all with one goal,

All too often the gothic literature genre is reduced in its interpretation to gloomy weather and archaic haunted houses. These patterns do exist, but they do not define the genre. Gothic literature found its niche in the 18th and 19th centuries, and during the Victorian era it served a more nuanced purpose than simply to scare readers. Many gothic authors used a monster as a vessel to symbolize topics that the Victorian era sensibilities would label as “monstrous.” They are the incarnation of the taboo subjects society is trying to repress. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart”, the authors use Freudian symbolism along with literary symbolism to demonstrate the repercussions of repressing “id” desires.

Edgar Allan Poe was a famous American author who specialised in short story and gothic fiction. One of Poe’s most famous works was The Tell-Tale Heart which explores murder, mental illness, cruelty and horror. The viewer becomes aware of the unprovoked mental challenges between characters which heightens the tension and fear, as darkness envelops the reader and the strong beating of a heart gradually grows louder. In order to create a more dramatic storyline, Poe has applied a range of narrative techniques including characters, point of view, setting, and theme, to amplify the intensity of the text and to elicit fear within the reader.

A story of mystery, tragedy, and terror, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein continues to captivate millions. She writes the tale of mankind’s obsession of the unknown, pulling readers to Frankenstein’s many lessons. Mary Shelley affects literature with her seemingly paradoxical use of both Romanticism and Gothicism. Shelley takes elements of romanticism, such as heavy use of emotions, innocence, and characters achievements, while also using gothic aspects like death, violence, and dark weather. Weaving the two genres together, Mary Shelley creates a timeless science fiction novel containing characteristics of serenity with a sense of eeriness.

Wuthering Heights, a well know classic novel that incorporates romantic aspects, gothic horror, and tragedy to create an intense and opaque plot. Indeed, Emily Bronte’s novel Wuthering Heights, challenged the concepts of the Victorian era, by using the notion of Romantic novels. In the other hands Bronte uses overflow of senses and emotion along with the awe of nature to create an eerie novel. The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, is characterized by the use of romantic aspects to object which is a common fact of novelist in the Victorian era. Certainly, both authors incorporate romantic characteristics into their novels to show the impression of how intense each character’s emotions

Through the late 1700s and early 1800s, the period of Romanticism blossomed. “Romanticism” very loosely describes the era in which modern culture began to take shape. During the Romantic era, many advancements were made in all aspects of people’s lives and cultures. One aspect in particular has held great value even to this day. That aspect being the expansive amount of literature created during the era. The era of Romanticism had its name for a reason. It can be greatly attributed to the romantic style or genre of literature that defined the period. Romantic writers wove many tales of admiration, longing, and aspirations. They were fantastical, in a sense, and almost the antithesis of realism, even. Amidst the great breadth of literature