The Bleam Corp Annual Chili Cook-off part 3
(see part 1 here)
(see part 2 here)

The high-pitched squeal of microphone cut off the music.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a voice boomed over the loudspeaker. The voice was that of Bob Bluster, Bleam Corp CEO. “Welcome to the twenty-second annual Bleam Corp Chili Cook Off!”

The crowd applauded. John rolled his eyes.

“I’ve been up most of the night, along with the other members of senior management, cooking up the best pots of chili this side of the Mississippi. Like I was saying to Gustav earlier, this is the one day of the year when we work for you!”

The crowd laughed. It sounded forced, but passable.

“He gives this same speech every year. Next he’ll talk about how important we all are, and blah, blah, blah,” John said.

“But seriously,” Bob continued, “This day really is for you guys. With out all the hard work you do all year, Bleam Corp wouldn’t be the success story that it is. So I hope you all have a good time, enjoy the chili, and remember who signs your paychecks when it comes time to vote.”

Another round of forced laughter came from the crowd.

“I’m just kidding folks, have a good time.”

Bob put the microphone back on its stand and walked back to his pot of chili. The Bleam Corp Radio Network resumed its broadcast. Skeeter Davis was now singing The End of the World.

“It must crinkle his nuts that old Hitler boy kicks his hind quarters at this thing every year,” John said.

“Hitler boy?” Carlos raised an eyebrow.

“That’s my nickname for Gustav, the Facilities Director.”

“Uh isn’t Gustav a Scandinavian name?”

“My theory is that Gustav uses another brand of beans. See, because the voters are all us Bleam Corp slags, and anyone who works here gets free Bleam’s Chili Beans whenever they want. You eat enough of them and you get kind of sick of them. So when you try Gustav’s Gut Bomb Chili it tastes better because it’s got another brand of beans.”

A lot of people who read this on Critique Circle didn’t get the Hitler Boy joke, but I still like it. This section is meant to poke fun at corporate America. Perhaps if the rest of the story had been able to retain that flavor, it might have worked out better.

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I just found out that I won the Photo of the Month contest over at Photographer’s Warehouse! I can’t wait to get my new light!

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Figure 8: I Walked With a Zombie (1943) – A solitary eye leers out from behind an outreaching hand.

Figure 9: Top: The Shining (1980) – Jack Nicholson’s eyes show menace, while Shelly Duvall’s show horror. Bottom: 28-Weeks Later (2007) – The eyes are the clear focal point of this poster.

Figure 6: Top: Frankenstein (1931) Bottom Left: Dracula (1931) Bottom Right: The Mummy (1932) – All 3 films were released by Universal, which might explain the striking similarities in these posters. Though they were once relegated to the B-list, the actors from these films have become almost as iconic as the villains they portrayed.

Figure 7: King Kong (1933) – Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933 – The yellow lettering of the title overlaps the blue building on which Kong is perched. Blues and yellows were quite prevalent in 30’s film posters.

Posters of the Night

Science fiction and horror didn’t really come to Hollywood until the 1930’s. Classic movie monster films like Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy were among the first. (See figure 6) These favored the use of large yellow or red type, often arched, for the title. You see a similar effect with the type on the poster for King Kong. (See figure 7)

The Posters Have Eyes

During the 40’s we start to see early examples of a trend Carol J. Clover refers to as “The Eye of Horror.” In her book Men Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Clover writes:

Eyes are everywhere in horror cinema. In titles: The Eyes of Laura Mars, Eyes of a Stranger, The Hills Have Eyes, The Eye Creature, Terrorvision, Scanners, White of the Eye, Don’t Look Now, Crawling Eye, Eyes of Hell, Headless Eyes, and so forth. Or on posters, videocassette box covers, and other promotional materials, where wide-open eyes staring up in terror (for example) at a poised knife or a naked face or something off-box or off-poster are part of the standard iconography. (166)

We see this somewhat with the posters for Frankenstein and Dracula, but more so in the 40’s with the posters for films like I Walked with a Zombie. (See figure 8)
This trend has continued all the way to the present day, as we can see from the posters for the Shining and 28 Weeks Later.(See figure 9)

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Independent artists and designers may use these images in any way they wish. Corporation or companies employing more than 2 people should contact me for any use beyond desktop wallpaper.

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