A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) · 7:10am Aug 24th, 2015
The Cutier Mark Crusaders are on spiritual or philosophical quest to discover the self. Some philosophers like Descartes, refer to the self as an individual entity expressed by the conduct and discourse of said individual. In the case of Descartes he came up with "Cogito ergo sum," or I think therefore I am. Lao Tzu philosophized that, "Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing the self is enlightenment. Mastering others requires force. Mastering the self requires strength." Plato argued that the soul could not be separate from the individual and because it was the essence of the individual.
Of course Twist says that a cutie mark represents what makes a pony special, or really what makes them an individual. In Magical Mystery Cure we see physical representations as to what happens when we become confused as to who we are as individuals. While in the show we got Rarity trying to manage the weather, in real life it can be something like being told something and trying to believe it or in it but it never feels quite right. You may try really hard to accept the premise but, in the end you just end up frustrated.
In the episodes The Cutie Map we get a physical representation of the denial of the self. In the show the mark on the pony's flank is removed and replaced with an equal sign. By denying who they are, the ponies who either accepted this replacement or had it force upon them are never able to achieve what they normally could have done. In real life we see this happen not just with say a bully putting down a kid for their efforts in something but, with substance abuse as well. If a person isn't careful the denial of the self can lead to the creation of another self that might lead to a less fulfilling existence.
As for the Cutie Mark Crusaders though, they are young. They are growing, maturing and as one grows and matures one slowly but surely can learn to be themselves, for better or worse. The symbol that appears on their backside is representative of the fact that they have finally accomplished an old Texas proverb that has been passed around many an intellectual circle, "Free your mind and your butt will follow."
Freddy Kruger hasn't been himself lately. In fact after he got his keister kicked in the first movie he's been out of sorts. Fortunately, for him the Welsh family moves into the old homestead with a son, Jesse whose brain is ripe for the picking and who has some, unresolved issues. Suffice it to say Freddy wants to take over Jesse which leads to some of the most unintentionally homoerotic subtexts in the 80s. All I'm saying is that when you dream walk to a leather bar and find your gym teacher, or when you decide to spend the night at a guy friend's place instead of with the cute girl who keeps trying to help you, people are going to talk.
The Stats:
12 dead bodies
2 Bare Breasts
2Naked Butts
2 out of control buses
1 exploding parakeet
1 dismembered parakeet
Slashing
Stabbing
Death by boiling swimming pool
Towel swatting
Pool party making out
Push up Fu
Teenage boy in underwear Fu
Leather Bar Fu
Negotiation Fu
Explosion Fu
A really silly slasher film.
Shout outs:
Clu Gulager as Ken Walsh for trying to explain what happened to the parakeets, "You're mother thought smelled gas... bird rabies. It's that cheap feed you've been giving them... goddamn cherry bomb...."
Robert Rusler as Ron Grady when asked if he remembered his dreams he responds, "Only the wet ones."
Brian Wimmer as the Do-gooder for trying to negotiate with a due who has a glove made of knives.
Mark Patton as Jesse Walsh for screaming a lot and when asked who's responsible for what's going on says, "Fred Krueger! He's inside of me and wants to take me again!"
Robert Englund as Freddy Kruger for the slicing and dicing and for saying, "You're all my children now!"
MisterNick: Where philosophy and B-movies collide.
Nightmare 2 sounds terrible! Someday I want to read your take on Troll 2!
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I do combine up some disparate things don't I?
Nightmare 2 is considered to be one of the bad Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Truth be told parts 1 and 3 are considered the best so in its own way the Elm Street movies have that every other movie quality that Star Trek had for awhile.
Troll 2 eh? It's been a minute since I've seen that one. It might be fun to see what I could combine up there.