CULTURAL CRITIC-IN-RESIDENCE DR. ARTEL GREAT PRESENTS The Pleasures of Fear: Black Horror Films & the American Dream

The Pleasures of Fear is an illuminating in-person conversation between Black cinema scholar and MoAD's Cultural Critic-in-Residence, Dr. Artel Great (San Francisco State University) and Black film historian, author, and professor Dr. Ed Guerrero (NYU). They are the co-editors of the best-selling anthology Black Cinema & Visual Culture: Art and Politics in the 21st Century. With "The Pleasures of Fear" program they will explore the uneasy tensions between the nightmares of the Black horror film and the (broken) promises of the American Dream. Drs. Guerrero and Great will dive into the cultural history of Black horror movies and tackle critical concerns including: the box office success of the genre-blending hit Get Out and its influences; the deep, and barely repressed, pyschological and social issues mediated in Black horror as a cinematic sub-genre; the origins of Black racial tropes in Hollywood horror flicks; and the progressive evolution of the Black horror movies' narratives, tales, clichés, and conventions. This dynamic conversation will also include insights into a wide-range of horror films, from 1970s Soul classics like Blacula and J.D.'s Revenge to the contemporary milestones of Candyman and They Cloned Tyrone.