MEET THE ARTIST
Ava [Avie] M. Fields, MSCJ, is a visionary media artist and community leader whose cutting-edge content transforms pop culture consciousness and amplifies underserved communities, voices, and experiences. Her award-winning content house, The Horror Advocate, explores the intersection of horror and equity, opening up new avenues of thought and discussion and addressing fundamental issues at the core of societal inequities. In 2023, The Mass Cultural Council acknowledged The Horror Advocate's remarkable influence as a key driver of Massachusetts' cultural landscape. This recognition is a testament to her unwavering commitment, innovative spirit, and the power to instigate meaningful transformation.
REC Zombie project features a curated collection of horror film and television titles with detailed descriptions and streaming locations. It aims to celebrate the evolution of the horror genre and its impact on American culture from 1896 to the present day. The project advocates for the historical importance of horror and challenges outdated award structures within the industry. The creator of REC Zombie is merging horror advocacy with restorative justice, focusing on prison reform, harm reduction, and investigating wrongful convictions.
WHAT IS A HORROR ADVOCATE?
A Horror Advocate acts as a cultural liaison, offering equitable approaches to reduce human suffering through reframing and repurposing traumatic content for survival.
project background/history
RADIO HORROR HISTORY
'Orson Welles, The War of the Worlds radio drama, aired on this day in 1938. It was performed as the Halloween episode of The Mercury Theatre on the Air. From Wikipedia: The first two-thirds of the 62-minute broadcast were presented as a series of simulated news bulletins, which suggested to some listeners that an actual alien invasion by Martians was currently in progress. Compounding the issue was the fact that the Mercury Theatre on the Air was a sustaining show (it ran without commercial breaks), adding to the program's realism and that others were primarily listening to Edgar Bergen and only tuned in to the show during a musical interlude, thereby missing the introduction that proved the show was a drama. In the days following the adaptation, there was widespread outrage in the media. The program's news-bulletin format was described as cruelly deceptive by some newspapers (which had lost advertising revenue to radio) and public figures, leading to an outcry against the perpetrators of the broadcast and calls for regulation by the Federal Communications Commission. Despite these complaints —the episode secured Welles's fame as a dramatist.'
The Horror Advocate ep1: A History, A Landscape
Want to learn more about the first horror films on record? This top 10 list is a great read.
HORROR HISTORY
The FIRST HORROR FILM IN RECORDED HISTORY was released in 1896.
This is the premier episode of my Live Series, "The Horror Advocate." It features a brief history of horror and an introduction to my work and train of thought.
NOTE: The Haunted Castle (1896) is the first horror film. The Terror (1928) is the first with sound. I conflated the two.
Project Introduction
Since 1896, horror films have been an essential part of recorded history. Remarkably, the genre was created during the silent film era, when creators had to convey imagery and storylines without sound. Horror has provided us with a means of escapism and has reflected our fears and anxieties. Whether one enjoys horror TV shows, classic films, or modern thrillers, the genre has always found a way to encapsulate and present our deepest fears. Horror offers us a safe space to explore and confront our fears.
REC Zombie is my love letter to the horror genre: its courage, individuality, ingenuity, and boundary-shifting innovation. It's time to glorify horror's power, intrigue, and impact.
REC Zombie PROJECT DESCRIPTION
For those interested in exploring their fears through horror films and television, REC Zombie offers a collection of titles, descriptions, and streaming locations that showcase America's cultural temperature from 1896 to the present day.
REC Zombie is a combination of an archival and advocacy project dedicated to restorative justice, visibility, and radical accountability. This project comprises four main programs: the REC RETRO Horror Awards, the REC Zombie Archive, the REC ZOMBIE ON DEMAND FILM RECOMMENDATION SERVICE, and the REC Zombie Horror Appreciation List. The REC Zombie archive will be available digitally and physically, each reflecting its respective area of study.
REC Zombie PROJECT DETAILS
The Problem:
+Horror Films have been subjugated for as long as they have been in existence
Who has this problem:
+The film industry, horror fans, and the public at large
NAME THE ISSUES:
+Dismantle and or expand on Prestige
+Avoiding Death as a coping mechanism for the inevitable
+ the genre's source materialThe privilege of avoiding manufactured violence in a world of wall-to-wall massacres
Jordan Peel curated the black American nightmare with Get Out + US.
Peele has been nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for Get Out (2017), winning the latter [12] and another Best Picture nomination for BlacKkKlansman (2018). He has also been nominated for two British Academy Film Awards and two Golden Globes, winning one Primetime Emmy Award.
THE Anomalies
A Groundbreaking film plot where you align with those we’re typically told to diminish or dismiss.
Humanize the project (real-world example):
Hollywood rejected Freaks (1932) because the film showcased people with varying abilities, physical appearances, and specified circumstances.
This controversial film redefined the notions of beauty, love, and abnormality but was so disturbingly ahead of its time that audiences stayed away in huge numbers. Many found it exploitative, abhorrent, and "loathsome" with "unwholesome shockery." However, it also sympathetically portrayed the 'abnormal and the unwanted' as resilient and adaptable human beings with complete compassion and understanding. Only in the mixed-message ending did the freaks take savage and sadistic revenge. It made most audiences uncomfortable and engendered fright, uneasiness, and animosity.
REC ZOMBIE PROJECT MISSION + PRINCIPLES
+(re)Write the Past
+Re-writing academy award/oscar history
+Rewrite film Industry standards
+Embalming the Past In Accolades
+Honesty, Transparency, Sincerity, + Equity
Indie film industry to date
+Avoid (no) Evil
+The cultural mindset of death and endings
+(re)Branding death/NOT a substitute for grief
+Neutral acceptance of death
+End-of-life doula
+Creative Destruction
The process of transformation that accompanies radical innovation
REC Zombie exists not only to acknowledge the films we love but also to acknowledge the community that has kept the genre alive.
+Fringe Connection
+To create resources and programs that honor the history and transformative impact of the Horror genre
+Model Behavior:
+Social [Anthropology] models and ethnographic data: abstractions derived from empirical observations of living societies
+Understanding past human societies–achieved through Horror Film titles, categories of social constructs, and current events,
+ Moving away from general theories and tradition, embrace ever-evolving approaches that address cultural blind spots [EX: civil rights, Indigenous movements, feminist theory, etc
REC Zombie PROJECT DETAILS
Proof of the problem/ What is the nature of the problem/ evidence you have?:
+The Academy Award has been broadcasting live since 1930. Originally on the radio, it moved to TV. From 1953- to date, less than 2% of horror films have been awarded, acknowledged, or celebrated this time.
[TO DATE] There have only been six horror films ever nominated for Best Picture
at the Oscars. BELOW IS A list of iconic horror films that have made the cut so far:
+The Exorcist (1973)
+Jaws (1975)
+The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
+The Sixth Sense (1999)
+Black Swan (2010),
+Get Out (2017)
Why is the problem worth solving?
+Equity and Visibility
+Change: People respond to change always the same: first, we resist it, then try to assimilate the changes into our existing operations.
+Wunderkammer: a collection of natural artifacts, art, anthropological objects, etc.
Humanize the project with real-world examples:
+The Lost Years of Horror Movies: 1936-1938 and 1947-1952 :
This is particularly interesting because the Oscars took off in the early 1930s via radio and, by 1952, MOVED to TV.
USE THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW THE TIMELINE UP CLOSE
THE REC ZOMBIE TIMELINE gives a detailed view of where I am in the process, which parts are currently in motion, and where I'm headed. The goal is to launch the digital archive, the physical archive, the REC RETRO Horror Awards, and the REC Zombie Horror Appreciation List.
HORROR AND THE ACADEMY: 1932-DATE
+Historically, dramas are the most likely to earn nominations and win Best Picture. In total, only seven horror films in 94 award ceremonies have been nominated for the coveted Best Picture award, and only one, The Silence of the Lambs (1991) + Get out (209), .actually went on to win the prize.
+scif-i, horror, fantasy, and superhero genres are typically only acknowledged in visual effects
GATEKEEPING 101
+ exclusion- Contrary to popular belief, the awards system is designed to exclude and upholds structures of hierarchy and ineffective power silos. There's room for everyone ..build thE table, don't curate the invite list
+the "prestige": Maomtaotnong exclusivity of the Oscars. The idea of keeping the Academy Awards prestigious via arbitrary exclusion is so essential that expanding the number of Best Picture nominees from five to 10 in 2009 drew criticism from members of the Academy who felt the increase would diminish it.
This project is about Visibility, Equity, and Non-subjugation. Horror is widely considered the least purposeful of all genres; the genre is deliberately left out of the biggest film award event in the industry. This is about learning the truth and applying it to our day-to-day/standards.
HORROR AND THE ACADEMY: VOTING + CATEGORIZATION, WHERE DEMOGRAPHICS MATTER
A TYPICAL YEAR
+nominations and wins for Best Picture= dramas
+Acknowledged in visual effects =scif-i, horror, fantasy, and superhero genres
DEMOGRAPHICS N PREVIOUS YEARS:
+33% of the Academy's overall members identified as women
+ 19% OF the Academy's general members identified as BIPOC (via the LA Times)
BY 2021:
+The Academy invited 395 new members
+46% IDENTIFIED AS WOMEN
+39% IDENTIFIED AS BIPOC
VOTING + THE ACADEMY
THE ELITEST GATEKEEPING OF THE ACADEMY IS REFLECTED IN THE DEMOGRAPHICS AND DIVERSITY OF THE GOVERNING BODY. Who votes for the Oscars, and who are the Academy's members?
IN 2016 the Academy BEGAN THE FORMIDABLE TASK OF INTENTIONALLY DIVERSIFYING THEIR MEMBERSHIP BY promising to double THE number of women and ethnically diverse members by 2020.
ON AVERAGE, the Academy HAS more than 10,000 members,
+almost 9,500 of those are eligible to vote on the Oscars
+THE COMMITMENT TO DIVERSIFY HAS NOTICIBLY SLOWED SINCE THE ACADEMY Academy hit its 2020 target
+ A COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY IS A MARATHON, NOT A SPRINT. THE MISSION SHOULD ALWAYS SERVE TO TRANSFORM STANDARD PRACTICES (EX: CREATING A HORROR CATEGORY FOR THE ACADEMY AWARDS.)
1896-date PHYSICAL Archive [the archeology cannon]
The physical collection, also known as the archeology cannon, will study human history [and prehistory] by analyzing artifacts and other physical remains. Both archives will use typical categorizations such as year, director, lead actor/actress, and online streaming locations. Most importantly, the titles will be categorized by social/political quagmires we’re still working through as a society.
EX: a category on Pregnancy and or Reproductive HORROR would include:
+it's alive (1973)
+ Rosemary's baby(1968)
+ Grace (2009]
(this could also be included as part of a Food security category as the film also deals with veganism and barriers to food access)
1896-date Digital Archive [the anthropology cannon]
+The digital collection, also known as the anthropology cannon, will focus on what makes us human and how horror accurately portrays our darkest human instincts.
+The concepts, methods, and practices: linguistic anthropology and social-cultural anthropology
+Social-cultural anthropology uses a holistic strategy—linking local and global, past and present—to offer various approaches to understanding contemporary challenges.
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, OR CURIOSITIES?
USE THE CONTACT INFO BELOW TO GET IN TOUCH.
Love, Avie
Boston, MA
thehorroradvocate@gmail.com
@ahorroradvocate
NAME RULES
How do you Pronounce Ava? (see the Australian pronunciation)
Professional Credits: Ava M. Fields
Introducing me: Ava
Casual communications + Zoom meetings: Ava or Avie