Friday the 13th blog-a-thon special. Woohoo!

So, a couple weeks ago, I'm checking out what's probably my favorite blog, Final Girl, and I see that Stacie has decided to do a Friday the 13th Blog-a-thon. Naturally, I think to myself "A what's that now?" My interest piqued, I continued to read.

"Basically, the blog-a-thon is a great melding of the minds about a common subject all across the super cyberverse: a blogger chooses a topic, gives a date, and folks who choose to participate write about the given subject"

I think to myself, "Self, you know. Being a blogger sure is great. I mean, look at the life it affords me. Private jets, international super stardom. Lots of money. Oh my god, so much money. Fancy cars. All the chicks just want to be with me, and the guys want to be me. Self, your life sure is super, but it's lacking. You should participate in this blog-a-thingie, be a part of the community. Didn't you start this thing because you wanted to alk about movies with people? This is your chance, man!"

"Me, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Jets? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"That's harsh, Self. Why ya gotta be like that. I didn't insult you. But oh, you have to turn around and talk shit. Well, fuck you man. I don't need you. I got my mother fuckin jet. So piss off."

"Yeah. Whatever, dude."

So, it would seem that the task is to write a Friday the 13th post on, of all days, Friday the 13th.

Holy shit that's today!!

"Uh, Me?"

"Oh sure, now you want to talk to me, Self. What?"

"Uh, you do remember that I've never SEEN Friday the 13th, right?"

"Oh. Shit. Well, good luck dude. I'm outta here."

"Shit."

Ok, so, the cat is officially out of the bag. I have never seen Friday the 13th. In fact, I was pretty young when I didn't see it. I must have been 12 I guess the first time I didn't watch it. I remember, it was on USA one night while I was watching something on TNT. I don't remember much about it except how Kevin Bacon-less it was, and how little it scared me. I mean, that's TNT for you. And this was in the pre-Law & Order-is-all-we-show days. I was so unafraid when I went to bed that night.

Since then, I've not watched Friday the 13th, wow, I don't know how many times. I've lost count really.

You know what though, even though I've never seen it, it's such a legend amongst horror movies that it's impossible to not know a few things about it. Even a poor shlub like me who has never seen a single one of the movies knows the goalie mask. It's synonymous with horror. It's an icon in itself along with Freddy's glove, Ash's chainsaw, Michael Myers' mask , Hayden Christensen's performance as Anakin Skywalker. I mean, these are things that at this point, are so well known, that you don't even have to have seen the movie to know what they symbolize. They're scary in their own way now, they've transcended the movies that started them off. You see that goalie mask and you don't think about hockey. You think about teenagers getting their shit fucked up at Camp Crystal Lake. Even a guy like me, who has never seen it knows that.

Really, I think that's kind of neat. I love the way something like that can become so ingrained in our culture.

I guess that's what I find so great about movies. The way a two hour story can go from being a two hour story to a cultural experience. At a certain point, it's no longer just a movie. It becomes a part of who we are as people. No other medium has done this. Sure, you may not like country music, but you know who Garth Brooks is. But, you don't know the words to his songs, do you? I know people who don't like horror movies, but they know what the goalie mask is and what it stands for. That's something that only a movie can do.

I may never see Friday the 13th. It's just not that important to me. I didn't grow up watching horror movies like a lot of people did. As a young kid, when most of my friends were in love with Jason and Freddy, I just wasn't interested in them. It wasn't until I was 18 or 19, when I was working in a video store, that I really started to watch horror movies at all. I may see it. It's hard to say. maybe next time, I'll be sitting here writing about having finally watched it, and what I thought about it.

For now though, that's all I have on the subject. All *I* have. this a communal thing though, so go check out Final Girl, she'll have more. Not to mention she'll have links to other people blog-a-thoning (I hope that's the right way to say it). So go! Go now. I'm done. I got nothing more to say. Ok. I have one more thing for you.

My own, written just now, just for you, Friday the 13th Haiku!

camp crystal lake
teens go there and get laid, right?
then they get killed, yo.

Alright, go on. Get going. I'm done now.