Analyzing Evil: Michael Myers, Halloween I & II

welcome everyone to the 10th episode of analyzing evil today's video features michael myers the enigmatic force of evil known in the credits of the early films in the series as the shape i've come across a lot of difficulties when deciding how to approach this video currently there are four distinct timelines in the halloween universe to pull from and each of them have their pros and cons as far as adding to the character of michael the sequel timeline consisting of halloween 1 and 2 and 4 through 6 provide a bit of backstory as far as explaining why michael does what he does with the sixth film taking it to the next level by showing us that michael is a tool of a cult and is under a curse forcing him to kill his family and explaining the origin of his evil the h2o timeline attempts to go back to michael's roots ditching a lot of the supernatural aspects of the first timeline in favor of michael being portrayed as more of an unknown evil who revels in not only the kill but the fear he inflicts upon his victims the robb zombie films portray michael in an alternate scenario where michael's home life and upbringing is drastically different from the other timelines showing that his transformation into a beast begins through troubling behavior at an early age lastly the newest timeline the one comprised only of the first halloween film and the 2018 film keep michael closer to what john carpenter intended when he created the first halloween film in this timeline michael embodies the moniker of the shape quite well remaining an unknown evil that terrorizes the populace of haddenfield for no discernible reason other than being the town he's familiar with but with the exception of the robbed zombie films each timeline does have one thing in common and that's the first film and two of the timelines contain the second film as well it's for this reason that i want to use this video as a baseline to refer back to for potential future videos on each of the timelines this video will be about establishing the themes that more or less stay with michael throughout each timeline that are present within the first two films now with that out of the way let's establish a few things right off the bat about michael what do these two films tell us about michael myers let's look at the physical and vocal aspects of michael michael never says a word in these films and with the exception of a few minor grunts of pain he makes no noise at all his face is shown only briefly in a struggle with lori but other than that he remains masked throughout the entirety of each film the mask is central to his character showing us a faceless evil that has no emotion only the blank stare of a plain white mask leaving the man beneath it a mystery his physique and abilities embody what a monster should be an unstoppable force that knows no limits he can perform feats of superhuman strength such as when he lifts bob in the first film with one hand driving his knife deep into his body with such force that it impales him onto the pantry doors he's also near immortal and impervious to almost all manner of harm the only thing capable of stopping him being to incinerate him overall michael's appearance is quite simple and his capabilities do a good job of portraying him as a monstrous human being now the other thing we need to establish from these films is a simple question why why does michael myers kill in the way he does this is a tricky subject to speak on as there is no clear answer michael as i said before is credited as the shape in these two films and is meant to be viewed as this ominous evil that kills with no other motivation besides the desire to do evil dr loomis lays this line of thinking out perfectly in the following scene i met him 15 years ago i was told there was nothing left no reason no conscience no understanding and even the most rudimentary sense of life or death of good or evil right or wrong i met this six-year-old child with this blank pale emotionless face and the blackest eyes the devil's eyes i spent eight years trying to reach him and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because i realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply evil even though he's meant to be viewed in this way we're given some insight into his motives in the second film and we can make our own inferences about his motivations that lead up to this revelation through dr loomis we learned that michael hasn't said so much as a word the entire 15 years he's been locked up and rarely moves as well though it's never said i believe all this time michael has been focusing on one thing and one thing only the feeling he felt when he murdered his sister and an intense desire to return home and experience that feeling again michael had a strong attachment to his sister so strong that when she was more involved with her boyfriend rather than babysitting him properly as she should have been michael grew jealous and murdered her in a quiet rage punishing her for her actions michael soon learns that this one act isn't enough though and the desire he feels to recreate her murder is so strong it's the only thing that occupies his mind i think this is plain to see in the first film seeing as he returns to his hometown to kill teenagers similar in age to his sister even going as far as to single out the ones who are engaged in the same promiscuous activities that she committed that night his desire to recreate the murder is most apparent in the scene where he's placed judith's gravestone above annie's dead body as if to simultaneously show his undying affection for his sister the jealousy and rage he felt at her quote-unquote betrayal and his innate desire to recreate her murder this thread ties in well to what we learn in the second film that lori is in fact the long-lost sister of michael and that he has targeted her specifically for this reason where annie was his imperfect attempt at a recreation lori can be seen as the new and perfect specimen to replace judith to fulfill his insatiable need to relive that night in the second film however michael kills many people that aren't directly related to his desire to recreate his sister's murder these people either happen to be in the way or present an opportunity for michael to commit more murder showing perhaps that murder itself is still something michael can find fulfillment in an interesting component to michael in the second film is his connection to samhain which loomis describes as the celtic lore of the dead the festival that marks the end of summer the unconscious mind the darkness within oneself this one word actually manages to sum up the character of michael quite well i believe michael views himself as the lord of the dead the shadow who comes on the festival night of all hallows eve to bring death to the people of his choosing now here's the thing this is all well and good and is for the most part established within the second film with a little imagination on my part for the first film but the great thing about michael is that none of this has to be true yes michael's motivation in the second film is shown to be his desire to murder his long-lost sister but that doesn't mean it isn't for any other reason than the fact that it's all he knows and he feels drawn to doing his favorite thing to yet another sister michael is the perfect embodiment of a monster the terror of the unknown and sociopathic killer lurking the dark could be something any of us could encounter in the real world this is a fun take on what could possibly be behind that mask but at the end of the day i also don't want this video to dissuade you from what could be the most terrifying thing about michael the unknown at the end of these videos i typically like to sum up the character to paint a concrete image of who they are and what they are about but in this video i feel it's appropriate to offer you two conclusions on the one hand we have a man who's infected with the evil of jealousy and an intense desire to recreate his first kill who has been brooding for 15 years over his eventual plans to return to the sight of that kill to relive the same rush he felt when he plunged his knife into his sister's flesh a man who's gifted through perhaps genetics or outside supernatural influences an incredible strength and immunity to damage that makes him a veritable unstoppable force in achieving what he wants or on the other hand we have as dr loomis said a man of pure evil whose motivations lie only in the desire to unleash his evil upon the only place he's ever known a mindless monster of supernatural force let loose only to bring terror to the world the shape hiding among the shadows what are your thoughts honestly i'm partial to either but there could be things i've missed or another component to michael's character in these films that i failed to see let me know if i have down in the comments as always though i hope you've enjoyed this entry in the series and if you'd like to see more of my content feel free to subscribe while you're telling me what you thought of this video feel free to also leave any suggestions for a villain you'd like to see featured in a future episode in the series thanks for watching and i'll be seeing you soon you

Channel: The Vile Eye

Views: 304,610

Keywords: #Halloween #Slasher #Spookyseason #October #Evil #Spooktober

Id: mRc76fJPGkM

Length: 9min 4sec (544 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 21 2020