A “hard on” for his BIG sister; an “Oedipal” complex as director John Carpenter of the 1978 film explains.
“Young girls are obsessed by sex; so am I-so are we. The actresses were very interested in playing these characters, who seemed familiar to them. They also seemed familiar to me. In Bowling Green, a lot of the girls I went to high school with were just like that. They talked the same way and they were interested in the same things. There were always a couple of girls that who were not sexually active or haven’t found their voices yet, but the girls that I was interested in were the ones who seemed happy and were in love with life. Annie and Linda are just having a blast. The one who is always in pain and worried is Laurie Strode. She has no social life. All I can say about the “Myers-only-kills-the-girls-who have-sex” issue is that the story starts out with a little boy seeing his sister fu*king her boyfriend upstairs and killing her for it. So it seems to me that part of what he’s doing is getting vengeance on her because of an Oedipal or incestual thing.”
Judith and her boyfriend on the couch in “Halloween”
In February of 2000 John Carpenter taught at the University of California at Santa Barbra about sexuality and brutality. Movies like Sam Peckinpah’s “Straw Dogs” and a movie entitled “In the Realm of the Senses” along with “Halloween” and others were discussed.
So basically this really makes total since why Michael was after Laurie; Judith was the one that “got away.” And you thought it was just about a guy in a white mask; seems a bit deeper now huh?
Michael Myers, shocked and upset that he wasn’t Judith’s first
I have a BA in Psychology and Philosophy and in Psyc an Oedipus complex is one in which a male has a deep rooted, unconscious desire to replace his father in order to be with his mother. Women have a similar flip side complex
called the Electra complex, but that’s another story. As far as Michael is concerned it would not technically be an Oedipus complex, rather it would have to fall under something purely incestual in general.
Personally, I don’t buy into the incestual rage hypothesis. If that was the case he would have no reason to kill EVERYONE other than Laurie in H1. Instead, I would say Michael suffered from antisocial personality disorder, a psychological trait shared by ALL known serial killers in history, ie Bundy, Dalmer, etc. Those with antisocial personality disorder, who are killers seek out a particular “type” and in Michael’s case that type may have been young, sexually active, promiscuous women; however, Laurie was not sexually active (atleast to the audiences knowledge) and Bob was a male, so that doesn’t add up to the traditional stringent pattern of a serial killer. Due to that I would have to say Michael killed those who he felt were sinners and committing adulterous sex outside of the confines of marriage. If that’s the case then Michael would have committed his murders in the name of Christianity and NOT a Pagan curse. Just my 2 cents.
I always assumed there was much more to Michael than a simple Psychological disorder. The fact that he gets up and walks away after all the damage he sustained makes it more a case of the super natural. I don’t think we are meant to understand the motive and that’s what makes it so disturbing. He was operating on a different wave length. Much like the movie the Mothman Prophecies when Richard Geer asks Alexander Leek “Didn’t you need to know?” and he answers:
“We’re not allowed to know.”
Incestual rage, and antisocial personality disorder still don’t explain why He would not die.
In H-1 and H-2 this is never explained, but it is asked. Laurie asked Dr. Loomis “why won’t he die”.
We where not supposed to know why he killed and why he himself could not be killed.
Michael is an Enigma.
I personalty for 20yrs - that he didn’t like his sister in that manner “NUDE”, "EXPOSED " ( engaging in sex ) or being taken sexaully by someone…So he killed her for her ( in his eyes) disgusting and inappropriate behavior
THORN
yet the Thorn thing ( which most don’t like ) but it does explain it in a twist - a sacrifice and Michael did it out of being brain washed - the Town folks were in some way run by the higher arc in ( doctors , lawyers, police, some seniors etc ) in this Thorn cultist group …Samhain etc
Also explains alot in H6 ( the jars full of test tube babies) all failed experiments to bring another Michael clone into the world - it explains the whole series- the mark of Thorn, Festival of Samhain , Michaels powers to the occult ( runes , worship , Druids , Halloweens origins ) so I’m with the H6 explanation - cause it embodies HALLOWEEN history ( in general much like black cats and pumpkins to some ) and it’s origins call me crazy
excuse me if i doubt that “BA in Psychology and Philosophy” …but anyway what you say makes no sense basically in a nut shell your saying Michael was a higher than thous don’t break your vows or commit adutly or I will kill you lol come on -this has nothing to do with it -
incestual? lol…WHEN did Michael see his sis do the humpty hump?..we see the boyfriend & Judith go up the steps …he had the quickie of a lifetime…cause he’s right back down the steps. THEN Michael goes up…all He saw was Judiths funbags when he diced and sliced her
Is that quote from Carpenter from the 2000 class you referenced and if not what year did it come from?
The reason I ask is that Carpenter said in older interviews that it was unintentional to have Myers killing only the skanks of the movie and there was no hidden message there. He also said people seem to forget he was chasing Laurie through the whole movie, the slutty girls just got in the way.
Directors and writers always tend to come up with crazy ass perceptions of their own work years after the work was completed that tends to always make the crowd sigh a collective “Wha…?”
Besides, Judith didn’t have sex in the first film. It’s obvious that within the thirty to forty seconds from the time they went up stars to the time the boyfriend came walking down, the only thing that happened is that we see premature ejaculations were a problem for this poor guy.
I think it’s widely known that Judith and her boyfriend went upstairs and had sex, possibility the worlds fastest; in the commentary for “Halloween” it’s discussed, in the BBC documentary during the making of “Halloween” Carpenter is explaining to Donald Pleasence about the “deed” being done in that room. That’s what I got outta it and many others did too.
The interview done with Carpenter was from 1997 and Carpenter was referring to a 1978 review on “Halloween” called “Revenge of the Repressed.” He was mentioning how he felt about the review and adding what he wrote to the reviewer for reviewing ”Halloween” that way. The head of Universal at the time, Tom Pollock also bugged Carpenter about the exact same thing and Carpenter told him this story as well.
I mentioned Carpenter’s “Sexuality and Brutality” college class because “Halloween” was mentioned and this topic I’m sure was discussed.
My mom is a retired Psychologist and she always thought that maybe Michael had a form of “Autism” because several of the key words that Dr. Loomis talked about is “autistic” behaviors.
When you really think about it, maybe that’s why “Myers” couldn’t be stopped; all of the blood was rushing to his “hard on” and he had very little blood where he was being shot. Dr. Loomis should have aimed a little lower.
But there’s a really good quote I love to use when explaining anything about “Myers”….
“Shut up, Mr. Burton! You are not brought upon this world to ‘get it!’” Lo Pan
lol very dam true …funny and true but I am skeptical on your “unintentional to have Myers killing only the shanks of the movie” cause after all it was to be called originally the Baby Sitter Murders wasn’t it? All my babysitters were High-school skanks so assuming that was the fad even in the early 70’s ( mine was 80’s ) and assuming young girls did the babysitting ( not men ) than yeah it makes sense babysitting skanks would be the what was on the menu lol
maybe she was a tease and simply was in the process of getting ready for bed after she sent her bF packing, anyone ever think of that?
Or it was a subjective come one babe - at least give me an quick “Handy J” for the road
I’ve been a street cop for 17 years and while being shot 6 times would certainly seem to be fatal, think again. There is a documented case of a hyped up baddie taking 33 hits…yes 33 HITS and not dying. Somehow, miraculously missing vital areas. I’ve had guys with as many as 7 bullet holes and they were just fine. It is not a stretch by any means that someone could take 6 at close range and live. The two story fall may be another story…Larry
It was genius to not give a concrete reason why he killed in H1. It was a calculated move on JC’s part and it worked. That is the Boogeyman and you shouldn’t ever know his motivations.
To me, it’s just creepier knowing. It’s definitely creepy not knowing, but, knowing why, makes it even scarier. That’s why I love that Rob Zombie added the young Michael part in his movie. It gives you some background and history to why he is the way he is. It’s like watching a documentary on a serial killer. They usually always give you info as to why that person did what he or she did, and it is fascinating.
Dr. Loomis should have aimed a little lower.
but I am skeptical on your “unintentional to have Myers killing only the shanks of the movie” cause after all it was to be called originally the Baby Sitter Murders wasn’t it? All my babysitters were High-school skanks so assuming that was the fad even in the early 70’s ( mine was 80’s ) and assuming young girls did the babysitting ( not men ) than yeah it makes sense babysitting skanks would be the what was on the menu lol 