The Philosophy of Hellraiser

Thomasin is an artist of pain, and her medium is claws.

Nice.

I guess I don't really think it's possible to arrive at the "philosophy" of Hellraiser if you find Bataille a crackpot. He's not much different from other French theoreticians like Barthes or Baudrillard, but I think there's a misunderstanding of what a limit experience is at the heart of this video. It's not finding some superlative historic hedonism, but approaching the limit of what sensation itself is communicable. For an isolated example, someone playing in a metal band might look up to find their music inspiring other people to violence free from any malevolence such that it illustrates something extremely sophisticated yet inarticulable about power. For an example related to the video itself, whether or not the leng tch'e victim is on opium is somewhat of a non sequitur to the idea of a limit experience: all this means is the concert of drugs and pain produce the look of relief instead of just the pain.

In this sense what the cenobites feel illustrative of, at least to me, is that limit experiences are both incomprehensible and disfiguring in a way. There is no inert knowledge, truth cannot exactly be suspended.

You had my mind in such a deathgrip i wanted to scream everyword of your essay out telepathically so everyone would be forced to acknowledge it whether they agreed or not.

the term "hell" is like marriage, it in itself is not owned inherently by Christianity yet the throw a tantrum at the implication regardless"

WOW

Damn you was spittin' Subscribed.

i realized cosmic horror type stuff like this has never scared me and i never understood it bc im alerady experiencing psychosis and cant see how this stuff isnt supposed to be able to happen lmfaooo

Some of your assertions are logical and others are an extension of the circumstances of our time. You begin to understand but you also become preoccupied with gender politics and other philosophical considerations of our time, many of which certainly apply to Clive Barker as a person especially when he wrote the Hellbound Heart.

However Clive Barker continued to mature and wrote several other works which also explore the notion of human consciousness and the human soul. Imagica, Weaveworld, The Great and Secret Show and others. These books are all interconnected in that they all touch on the idea that the universe contains many forces which might be described as deities that long to shape and use mortals toward many different ends and he also further develops his thoughts on suffering and sensuality.

That said, great video! I respect your position and appreciate your time and effort.

To be fair, "Judgement" portrays the Cenobites similar to the comics (also created by Barker) where they are servants of Leviathan on a single level of Hell. In the comics, there are other levels of Hell where different beings reside. These levels feel a bit like Dante's version of Hell. In his novel, "The Scarlet Gospels", (which you mention, but I'm including it for completeness) Barker also portrays a more Christian-like Hell with Pinhead searching for Lucifer.

It definitely doesn't fit in with the world-view of the first two movies, but the worldview does partially fit with some of Barker's other "Hellraiser" material. Barker has said the comics, books, and movies are all separate universes though. So, it's probably not a great idea to try reconciling them.

I love this video. You really get it, and this analysis shows it. I really have nothing to add, because you've covered it all. So all I can say is thanks for the video, it was fantastic!

Leviathan is a primordial enemy of god that sits outside the heaven hell angel dichotomy. Its basically christianities ungoliant. It sits outside and came before but was defeated. This is so compelling because its a story we dont see nearly as much as the normal heaven hell.
Leviathan in this world is a lovecraftian elderone whos obsessed with order, it demands it and doesnt like the chaos of man.

Is there a link to the track played during the credits?

Sorry I had to replay like 60 seconds in the middle of the video because I missed everything u said because I was distracted by watching your cat be a b-hole😂😂😂

Laaame

Surely love craft essay

A fascinating and enjoyable watch. And the Hellraiser franchise can be a tough pill to swallow.
Have a cookie.

It’s a type of cosmic horror. It brings existential dread. The thought that someone could be like this. Derive pleasure thru the pain of themselves and others (inflicting it themselves or otherwise). The crackpot you talk about halfway thru was this kind of person. But that’s just the base level tho.
An excellent comparison would be Farnese in Berserk. The series already has influences from Hellraiser. When first getting to know her, Farnese struggles with what she sees as sin, her own pleasure thru whipping herself (an actual practice some factions of the church did). It’s an ironic thing as she’s doing it as penance but she likes it. She also likes inflicting pain on others. Even tho she knows it’s wrong for her to do so. So she’s in a never ending cycle. It even became emboldened by Inquisitor Mozgus as the will of their god.

Furthermore, the more cosmic part of it is the idea that concepts can be given form. The more an idea becomes accepted the more it is given power. Think of a god and if enough people follow that god, it becomes real. The mind creates something real.
“The Empty Man”accomplished this in the most literal sense. The more people expanded their minds the more powerful the Empty Man became and became a reality.
Another example is in the game Blasphemous. The DLC showed the High Wills, a god that was once created by the wills of humanity. But lost power as people began to forget them. So they used the current god, The Miracle, to remain alive.
The Hellraiser realm and their god come from an idea. In this case, thru their feelings of pain that turned into pleasure. Their sensations became an external expression with tangibility.

Butifull video

Really interesting video and great analysis. But ffs.

Can't even watch a hellraiser video without hearing about gender-identity issues. I know you were self-aware about it, but one primary reason people are tired of it, is cause we literally cant fucking escape hearing about it every 5 seconds now.

A better comparison would have been "Whats the agony of gender dysphoria relative to the agony we all go through in various parts of our life every day." but you probably just wanted an excuse to gag at a christian concept. 🙄

I know i'll probably get shit on for this comment and you'll probably roll your eyes too, im just so fucking tired.

A little bit of pain reminds you that you're alive. Too much pain makes you wish you were dead.

this video is fantastic. I watched the Hellraiser movies mostly for the special effects and gore that were really good for its time (and still hold up really well), but I never considered that the Cenobites might have an actual philosophy, a cause. My own moral standing is so far away from theirs that I automatically assumed that they do not have a moral standing, that they're just evil and want to cause pain. But after watching this video my eyes are opened for a completely new way to look at pain. It's fascinating

My wife would like to know the end song.

At long last ... Someone gets it --. They really do see their gifts as ... Well gifts! There's nothing demonic about them, supernatural sure, demonic in a Christian sense ? Nope.

I dont know if that's because of christian religion,.that people making hellraiser movies struggles to get what its about ?

Because as an atheist, i got no appeal or disappeal for those christian confusing mish-mash,.and had no issue understanding the new conceptual mystic/cosmogony hellraiser first movies proposed.

Or maybe its because i dont like pain.
And yet see so many people running towards it.
So it was very disturbing all my life.
And i can sense and touch the underlaying horror & fascinating concept at the core of hellraiser.

Some will just love the pain.

I get it.

Also reminds me of "martyrs" movie.
Very disturbing "noble/pure enlighted intention" behind plain torture too.

It's so refreshing to hear an actual smart take on this, honestly. Well done and fascinating insight!

Subbed to your channel
🤜🤛

This was a dope video she's smart asf lol

Thought your opinion pretty well thought out and agree that the franchise has gone down very hard since the first 4 movies

for 3 and 4 I did like that those directors attempted to make some back story for the universe for those not wanted to read the novels

I was expecting you to talk more on 4 but I’m guessing you found the back story on the device and the main plot of the family curse to be out of place?

Really too bad about its face

And I took that personally

Sensation and pain does not define your life. How you respond to that pain defines your life.....or defines you rather.

The idea that we get tattoos to get in touch with our pain is just romantic. Tattoos have long since lost any individualizing value. Nowadays, it's the complete opposite: we get tattoos in order to fit in, all under the illusory premise that we're setting ourselves apart. Ready to wear fashion is the same: anyone will wear something that says "I am a rebel and freethinker. No one can restrain me." However, very few will wear something that ACTUALLY sets them apart, like a Rick Owens dress for men.

Growing up learning martial arts taught me that pain was a kind of teacher and after I got scarification it reinforced the idea in my mind that pain can either teach you about your mistakes or teach you about your own self

Watch the movie marter

i like that you used the word 'qoutidian''

Holy shit, I came here for a breakdown of hell raiser, not your breakdown of the world. Pass

That man lost his arm and leg because the society you and I live in have insatiable greed. Pain cannot be avoided because we have greed that is also a concept of most religions. How do we expect an invisible God to fix us when the the visible man is hacking the limbs off of his brother

Holy fk you have the same energy of Razorfist with equally bad or worse politics lol

I discovered the channel through the Sound of Freedom video and now I'm watching Hellraiser analysis. That's range, right there. 😂

Keep up the good work!!

I must disagree with both your description of stoicism and Christian belief around pain.

To speak on Christianity. It depends on the group but most believe that suffering is a result of a fallen world. That sin corruption and the binding to the flesh are what lead to suffering. Inaction in the face of suffering is not a belief of Christianity. You need to remove sin from you life and work together to help others through suffering. Indeed "Faith without works is dead." James 2:26. But it also addressees suffering you cannot change. Some times you will suffer without end till you die. How do you endure this?

Stoicism doesn't deny the existence of suffering but instead acknowledges it is inevitable fact of life. You can choose to make your suffering consume you or you can raise above it. Stoicism was created before Christianity and so calling it a repackage of it is nonsensical.

Suffering is inevitable, but you can either choose to wallow in it or make what you can of your life. You may be oppressed, sick, weak. You may be unreasonably burdened, suffering from the decisions of your ancestors. The world of sin is cruel and worship of the flesh is rampant.

A common short prayer is "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

God I love your work!

Guess I had to thumbs down this one :/

I wanted a nice video essay about Hellraiser with a philosphy bend. I got a somewhat frustrating rant about how dumb christians are, and how awful heteronormative shit is, and the rest of the can of crazy terminally online leftist shit.

I think there could have been a great essay here if you just kept yourself from going hard in on these issues.

Slanesh

Reminds me of the film Martyrs and the whole plot line

I feel you need to brush up on Stoicism I think you may have their ideals of suffering wrong

This video essay has some great ideas, thank you very much! The re-emergence of stoicism is an interesting one, I had also noticed that but had considered that it was an existentialist rejection of the world. The inability to engage with (apparently) overwhelming odds and fears. Linking it to Hellraiser's indulgence and hedonism is an interesting take! But overall I enjoy looking at things through the lens of books that mean a lot to me. Imajica (also by Clive Barker) is another one that deals with some real big topics about the nature of being, existence, sexuality, gender, God, the patriarchy. It's a good book!