New Paramount Merger Brings the Horror of the Trump Administration to Big Screens

While horror is experiencing a resurgence in the box office, some cultural critics note that popular and meaningful horror tales often reflect the growing disillusionment and violence in society. The 70s saw films like The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Last House on the Left take horror, gore and violence to new levels as America was embroiled in a worsening economy and traumatized by the horrors of a war in Vietnam that American propaganda could not spin. In the 80s, films like Robocop and They Live! brought a critical eye to Reaganism and the growing conservatism that wiped out some of the progress and advancement that was made in the 60s. Similarly, films of the early 2000s frequently depicted extreme scenes of violence and gore that some critics thought reflected the growing disenchantment with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The first Trump administration in 2016 brought films like Jordan Peele's Get Out, The Purge, and Hereditary, which all reflected some of the anxieties and concerns around issues like race, class, mental health, and family. 

The current Trump administration continues to bring us more and more horrors, whether it is reflected in the gross incompetence, their thirst for blood and vengeance, or their incredible acts of venality. We are living in a horror film on a daily basis where decisions and policy are not based on science or reason, but are based on vibes and feels, especially those vibes and feels of resentment, jealousy, anger, and humiliation. 

In addition to bombarding us daily with unpleasant and disturbing news, Trump Inc. has sought to control the messaging. It makes sense that his election rose the wave of social media, where two owners of social media companies (Trump and Musk) were able to manipulate messages to make people ignore reason, to abandon critical thinking, and operate at the basest of human emotions: fear, loathing, resentment. Trump has pushed further into the media landscape with helping to strongarm the acquisition of Paramount and its subsequent mergers with other media companies and studios. As we've seen from recent moves, the new leaders of these companies are not usually brought in to help grow the company or inject fresh, new ideas that appeal or reach new audiences, but rather they are sent to strangle and choke out existing programs, content, and shows, most notably those that Trump views as a threat to his image. 

Nevertheless, I think that Paramount has a chance to capitalize on the horror trends in movie theaters and use all the horrors of the Trump administration IP to create a new production company that churns out horror films based on the stories from the Trump administration. 

Bobby's Beds

Sometimes tan is deader.

Bobby's Beds a tanning horror film based on recent FDA approvals to allow teens to use tanning beds. We know that this administration loves its tanning beds. Whether it's Trump's orange hue or RFK's charred meat, the members of this administration like to give the impression of spending a long day in the sun, and they frequently appear to be suffering from some kind of sunstroke. Is it any wonder that they want a crew of young, tanned adolescents? Careful though; while the FDA has recently pulled the restrictions for teens, there's got to be something behind it. Bobby's Beds is a movie that questions what's inside the bed, and why are all the tanned teens disappearing. In this film, a scion of a dynastic family is often left to his weird projects and beliefs. A product of privilege and parental permissiveness, Bobby develops strange obsessions with dead animals. His family line often dies young, but Bobby wants to be the sole survivor in a race against aging. Although his tanning habits have weathered his skin into a leathery flesh robe, Bobby sees another source for his pathway to rejuvenation. His new tanning beds, marketed for the young, extract the youthful essence and ferments from the young, which Bobby ingests on a daily basis to fuel his desire for regeneration and youthfulness. However, once the essence and ferments are extracted, the youth become mindless zombie health influencers, who regularly do Bobby's bidding. Will the town fight for its youth, or will it trade its future for a shot at the present? 

Karoline's Baby

What Have You Done To Its Lips?

Karoline's Baby is a new installment in the Rosemary's Baby series of films. Like in the original Rosemary's Baby, a group of men and older women command the womb of a younger woman to harvest a future child. These pro-natalists also continually question the woman's appearance, creating a sense of doubt and uncertainty about her femininity. Although Karoline has never doubted her womanhood, the administration's insistence on traditional gender norms requires women to receive gender affirming care, some of which is taken to the extreme to generate excessive facial features. Furthermore, women are expected to not only reproduce, but also to monetize and promote their pregnancies to further emphasize their femininity. For these pro-natalists, women are either vessels or unhappy, unmarried cat ladies. As a result of these binary views, Karoline seeks out gender affirming care, unaware that she has been impregnated after a strange stop the steal style ritual rally in which she drinks diet coke that's been secretly spiked with ibogaine and MDMA. This domestic and political thriller is sure to swell and plump the anxiety and emotions of audiences. 

Catching Vapes

Make America Gasp Again

Catching Vapes is a melting horror movie in the vein of Street Trash. However, it deals with a top secret scientific experiment conducted through the FDA and the CBP. This is based on the FDA's recent  approval of flavored vapes, despite these flavors appealing to teens. Many see this as a gateway to smoking and nicotine addiction. However, the FDA and CBP realize that these flavored vapes can also serve as a method of population control. With the increase in immigration enforcement, the government faces a shortage of places to store all the recently detained immigrants. While there have been some attempts to repatriate immigrants to different countries (often not their country of origin), many countries are closing their borders and refusing flights to repatriate these immigrants. That's when FDA scientists approach CBP for a new plan to reduce the immigrant population with addictive results. 

By sending these flavored vapes to minority and immigrant communities, the FDA and CBP can work to eliminate the populations they deem as un-American. While these vape flavors may be highly desirable and addictive, they also bring a terrible side effect that melts vapers shortly after their first inhales. In fact, word of the addictive properties of these vape flavors spreads so quickly, there's actually a surge in illegal immigration where people are crossing the borders to try a taste of "Liberty Mist", the latest vape creation from these mad FDA scientists. 

D.H.S. (Domestic Homicide Squad)

We Don't Negotiate. We Eliminate. 

Although not a horror movie, this is a movie that hearkens back to the 80s action hero era. In this case, Tom Homan, credited as Rex Bloodstone, takes the commanding lead as the head of a new, elite government crime fighting group: DHS- Domestic Homicide Squad. Created to counter the American carnage that has erupted across the country, DHS fights back with lethal force against the drug dealers, human traffickers, and violent gangs that have invaded the country. 

DHS head Tom Homan shown at a recent press conference. 

While the Oracle acquisition of Paramount and its merger with Warner Brothers seems like it will just dilute entertainment and move movies and television programs to their least common denominator, I think there are also opportunities for exciting new films and stories that reflect the current horrors of this administration.