Alex Aloise - Outside Reading 5

One of my favorite films is The Crow. The film was based on a graphic novel by James O'Barr. I recently re-read the comic and thought it would be good to write on for this class. The story is about a man named Eric Draven who, along with his fiance Shelly, is killed the night before his wedding. One year later he rises from the dead and seeks vengeance against the men who committed the crime. I have always thought that underneath all of the darkness and violence within this comic, there is a very sweet and beautiful love story. Eric's love for Shelly is so strong that he is able to return from beyond the grave to avenge her honor. Theirs was a very loving, romantic relationship and I thought that it was a good example of Eros. Eric's actions are driven by his love for this woman. She wasn't just another girlfriend of no real meaning, she was his soulmate and he fights for her. The story also relates a lot to Mysterium Tremendum. The villains in the story don't know what to make of Eric upon his return. As far as they know, they killed him one year ago. Now, all of a sudden, he is back and he wants their heads. Eric is dressed in all black and primarily moves throughout the night. He is literally a mystery to all who come into contact with him. For the men he is hunting he is the embodiment of death, the Tremendum. All of the villains have no remorse for killing others, however, they are all terribly afraid of dying, themselves. Therefore, when Eric comes to kill them, they know that they will die because they are literally being hunted by death. The fear and the mystery that surrounds Eric and all he represents shows the men that what they have done with their lives has been wrong and now they will have to face the consequences of their actions. I may be taking the Mysterium Tremendum quite literally with this post, but as I thought more about it, the story reminded me of The Seventh Seal when Block was being hunted by Death. I see a lot of similarities between the two stories.