The Man in the Moon
The 1902 image that keeps popping up in 2024.
The Man in the Moon Is Always Watching
In late 19th century France, heir to the family shoe empire, Georges Méliès abandoned his legacy for a film camera. He shot 500 silent films from 1896 to 1913, ranging in length from 1-40 minutes, starring witches, magicians, ghosts, and demons. His best known work is undeniably 1902’s Le Voyage dans la Lune.
In A Trip To The Moon, a group of oddball astronomers build a rocket to the moon. When they arrive, the moon is not happy to see them crash-land into his eye.
The astronomers enjoy a fun night camping, looking at the Earth and the stars, and enjoying the native flora and fauna until they’re chased back to Earth by moon creatures.
The silent film’s influence is splashed across movies and tv shows of every genre, but two horror films this year have utilized the famous moon image: Lisa Frankenstein and I Saw The TV Glow.
Why Now?
For an early 2024 release date, these films were likely materializing before 2023, even before 2022 - peak lockdown years. As a foundational text, every filmmaker has seen A Trip to the Moon, but I wonder how many had the time and found solace in those un*********** times in early silent films. Once you get past the extra attention required for the slow pacing and reading, there’s something particularly wonderful about seeing hundred-year-old silent films and still relating - laughing at the jokes, getting swept up by the story, feeling dazzled by the images.
Then, there’s the queer connection (🌈Happy Pride!🌈). I Saw The TV Glow is an explicit trans allegory from a trans director and Lisa Frankie is a queer-positive heteroromance from a bisexual director. (When Lisa finds out that the Creature is missing his member, she makes it clear that was never a requirement for her, and the least important part of being a man. Then to his request, she performs bottom surgery.)
Both protagonists also have a critical sense of not belonging - Owen due to gender dysphoria and Lisa due to trauma - that manifests in their discomfort with speaking; a nod to the silent era.
In an interview with Letterboxd, Justice Smith spoke on his character’s reduced speech and vocal affect in I Saw The TV Glow:
“The voice of Owen was actually inspired by Julianne Moore in Boogie Nights….I had watched an EPK interview of Julianne Moore talking about how she wanted a separation of the head and the body. I just wanted to create my own separation of head and body because Owen is not comfortable in his body and me and Jane [Schoenbrun] talked about the voice feeling stuck like stuck in the upper chest….And the physicality was just me trying to be as uncomfortable in my skin as possible. Just walking and moving in a way that didn’t have a natural sway to it.”
In Lisa Frankenstein, the titular character falls mute after her mother’s brutal murder, finding comfort in silent films by Pabst and the speechless zombie, Bub, from Day of the Dead.
The same way that older songs have been coming back into fashion when they go viral in media/on TikTok (“Running Up That Hill” - Kate Bush, Stranger Things / “Dirty Work” - Steely Dan, Euphoria + The Sopranos), my guess is that the foundational texts were given a revisit in recent years, and we’re starting to see that influence spill over.
The Man in the Moon is Not A Friend
Lisa has the image painted on her closet, which becomes the bedroom for the zombified boy she takes in and makes whole again. There’s also a black-and-white fantasy sequence featuring the moon and an animated sequence where she and the Creature sit on a rocket that crashes into the Moon’s face, a delightful metaphor for Their First Time Together.
In ISTVG, Owen and Maddy are transfixed by the television show, The Pink Opaque, and its Big Bad, Mr. Melancholy, who wants to destroy the girl power group. In one movie, the Man in the Moon is deeply bothered, and in the other, it’s a villain.
Of course we were bound to anthropomorphize the moon; it’s a face-shaped companion that’s been hanging around and affecting us since the dawn of Earth. A source of mystery and comfort, it pulls and pushes the tides, and as creatures made of water, we are prone to its tug.
But why fantasize that our beautiful planet’s beautiful satellite wants nothing to do with us? Or wants the worst for us?
If you feel you don’t belong, the vastness of the night sky will always take you in, always give you a reprieve from the prying eyes of society. Unless The Man in the Moon is watching. And waiting.
Recommended Watchlist
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Not a traditional horror movie, but it was horrifying to me! A portrait of unshakable belief when the world refuses to listen. Influential to ‘unhinged women’ horror movies and the final shots are reproduced in films like Crimes of the Future (2022) and Martyrs (2008).
Häxan (1922)
Part documentary, part reenactment on the history of witchcraft. The special effects strump me on this one and it’s just magic. Sickening visuals and lighting.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Tim Burton’s a Méliès fan and this Halloween/Christmas classic takes direct influence from the visuals as well as the plot; maybe be more respectful when visiting foreign lands instead of crash landing, stealing their resources, and taking over their traditions.
As always, thanks for reading!
xo,
the dream you had where allie lembo was in trouble so you tried to scream, but no sound came out
Very Interesting, I had no idea! We love a Film History Moment!