{"id":{"repo_id":"wfu","oai_identifier":"oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/39301"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/wfu/oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/39301","repository":{"repo_id":"wfu","name":"Wake Forest University","base_url":"https://wakespace.lib.wfu.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Filmic Bodies as Terministic (Silver) Screens: Embodied Social Anxieties in Videodrome","abstract":"The horror film genre utilizes spectacles of the human body while alluding to our worst fears beyond the silver screen. \"Body horror\" is a unique sub-genre that distorts the very nature of human flesh for horrific effect. David Cronenberg's <italic>Videodrome</italic> (1983) is an exemplary body horror text that incorporates themes of disease, metamorphosis, and gendering bodies to allude to a litany of social problems facing the larger body politic. I explore how such fears are rooted in the loss of human control surrounding mortality, identity, exploitative media, technology, corporate influence, and gendered power dynamics. I argue for the extension of Kenneth Burke's terministic screen theory into the realm of filmic visual rhetoric, identifying ways that cinematic bodies in <italic>Videodrome</italic> shape particular messages regarding broader social problems. In doing so, I argue that rhetorical critics should focus not only on <italic>what</italic> horror films communicate, but <italic>how</italic> they do so.","abstract_html":"The horror film genre utilizes spectacles of the human body while alluding to our worst fears beyond the silver screen. &quot;Body horror&quot; is a unique sub-genre that distorts the very nature of human flesh for horrific effect. David Cronenberg&#x27;s &lt;italic&gt;Videodrome&lt;/italic&gt; (1983) is an exemplary body horror text that incorporates themes of disease, metamorphosis, and gendering bodies to allude to a litany of social problems facing the larger body politic. I explore how such fears are rooted in the loss of human control surrounding mortality, identity, exploitative media, technology, corporate influence, and gendered power dynamics. I argue for the extension of Kenneth Burke&#x27;s terministic screen theory into the realm of filmic visual rhetoric, identifying ways that cinematic bodies in &lt;italic&gt;Videodrome&lt;/italic&gt; shape particular messages regarding broader social problems. In doing so, I argue that rhetorical critics should focus not only on &lt;italic&gt;what&lt;/italic&gt; horror films communicate, but &lt;italic&gt;how&lt;/italic&gt; they do so.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bagwell, Daniel Steven"],"institution":"Wake Forest University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014","date_published":"2014","updated_at":"2026-07-27T22:01:46Z","subjects":["bodies"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10339/39301","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bagwell, Daniel Steven"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-07-10T08:35:37Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-07-10T08:35:37Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Wake Forest University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["bodies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10339/39301"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The horror film genre utilizes spectacles of the human body while alluding to our worst fears beyond the silver screen. \"Body horror\" is a unique sub-genre that distorts the very nature of human flesh for horrific effect. David Cronenberg's <italic>Videodrome</italic> (1983) is an exemplary body horror text that incorporates themes of disease, metamorphosis, and gendering bodies to allude to a litany of social problems facing the larger body politic. I explore how such fears are rooted in the loss of human control surrounding mortality, identity, exploitative media, technology, corporate influence, and gendered power dynamics. I argue for the extension of Kenneth Burke's terministic screen theory into the realm of filmic visual rhetoric, identifying ways that cinematic bodies in <italic>Videodrome</italic> shape particular messages regarding broader social problems. In doing so, I argue that rhetorical critics should focus not only on <italic>what</italic> horror films communicate, but <italic>how</italic> they do so."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Filmic Bodies as Terministic (Silver) Screens: Embodied Social Anxieties in Videodrome"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Bagwell, Daniel Steven"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-07-10T08:35:37Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-07-10T08:35:37Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014"],"dc:description.abstract":["The horror film genre utilizes spectacles of the human body while alluding to our worst fears beyond the silver screen. \"Body horror\" is a unique sub-genre that distorts the very nature of human flesh for horrific effect. David Cronenberg's <italic>Videodrome</italic> (1983) is an exemplary body horror text that incorporates themes of disease, metamorphosis, and gendering bodies to allude to a litany of social problems facing the larger body politic. I explore how such fears are rooted in the loss of human control surrounding mortality, identity, exploitative media, technology, corporate influence, and gendered power dynamics. I argue for the extension of Kenneth Burke's terministic screen theory into the realm of filmic visual rhetoric, identifying ways that cinematic bodies in <italic>Videodrome</italic> shape particular messages regarding broader social problems. In doing so, I argue that rhetorical critics should focus not only on <italic>what</italic> horror films communicate, but <italic>how</italic> they do so."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10339/39301"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Wake Forest University"],"dc:subject":["bodies"],"dc:title":["Filmic Bodies as Terministic (Silver) Screens: Embodied Social Anxieties in Videodrome"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T22:01:46Z"}