I admire Clive for doing this interview. It’s not far from burning the witch for having an imagination. It’s sad how people just want life to be just nice and comfortable. Thanks Clive Barker for standing out amongst the crowd and letting people like me know that we aren’t alone.
Fair play to Clive Barker, grilled on the spot & handled himself really well. Couldnt imagine many famous or popular ppl of this generation doing the same tbh.
This should be a lesson to all outsider artists and filmmakers who are scared to show and talk about their work, fearing it will be misunderstood. Clive Barker took a seemingly stupid question and gave an intelligent and incredibly insightful answer.
I love how he has such a nice teacher's attitude, he's comprehensive, answers every question and explains with cool and even humor. Such a great author.
I've seen politicians who weren't as good on their feet as Clive was in this interview defending his works. Clearly no one in this audience was a horror fan.
There are a few sincere queries there.. and fair number more loaded ones, steering a religious-programmed bias toward pseudo-moral condescension. Love that he spanks every one with reason. Genuine erudite folks, though! Try watching this- and then just five mins of Jersey Shore, TOWIE, etc
Most of the later "Splatter" horror writers far outdid Mr. Barker in being over the top 24/7, and much of their work er, doesn't even touch Barker's level of sophistication. Most of this hysteria was just that, hysteria and hype. Most of Barker's work isn't even graphic or gory, maybe some of it is. It really amazes me how 'dainty" most of the public is in relation to horror or weird fiction or films, but they refuse to believe that the Holocaust happened, or Cambodia, atrocities in the real world that no piece of horror fiction could ever hope to touch, as Barker alludes to in this very interview. People don't want to seem to face that the Earth isn't a very nice place, there is no God, there's no supernatural bullshit, and that the human potential for evil is very vast indeed. That's part of what Barker is getting at here, but that horror and weird fiction at their highest level, tries to deal with these things through art and enertainment so that we all don't become serial killers or whatever. If you get desensitized after watching one of his films, or even a masterpiece like Schindler's List or The Pianist (about real world horrors of course), well, it's probably more about YOUR OWN issues than the piece itself or the influence upon you, thereof.
I wonder how many of these young people became Clive Barker fans? This is Clive at his very best... quick-fire questions from students in 1987 and he never once patronises or is upset by the questions. I think these questions are very valid and needed answering. I'll bet he won a lot of hearts and minds that day. #kudos.
I hope he won some hearts or gained some fans that day, b/c most of those questions were extremely stupid. And also very redundant..and moralistic and reductive. Credit must be given to the author for his Herculean paitience, he gave an honest + genuine + thoughtful answer to nearly every question, despite being talked over at the end iof every answer by the host
They're not silly just because you find them disagreeable. They provoked an interesting discussion and are perfectly valid. He never once disapraged the audience or their questions.
Barker is really quick on his feet, and I appreciate how gentle he was when he pushed back on the audience. Great questions as well. This level of discourse would be rare on a program about movies today.
I love Clive Barker's ideas for horror. They were different for the time period. I remember when I first saw "Night Breed", totally blew my mind. Not to mention "Hellraiser" which just speaks for itself.
Agree. C. Barker was the cosmic horror mastermind of his time. I always wanted more of the conversation Atreyu and Gmork share in 'The Neverending Story'. I feel Hellraiser came closest to that vibe. Hellraiser 2 but only the first half (LOL). I wish studio execs appreciated guys like Barker more.
I find these questions quite naive, some people will never see the beauty in grotesque, to cross the limits of being a “virtuous thinker” or a “holy mind” would make you a hedonist to like horror, to stay in a comfortable little safe bubble where only your god can judge you. No that’s just not reality.
He’s not a horror writer, he has written horror and written it very well but he has written childrens books, fantasy, science fiction, romance, magical realism, poetry as well as fantastical books of paintings. The man is much more than a genre.
Keep in mind that the audience was primarily young people who had been inundated with a lot of public speculation (and some propaganda) about "video nasties" for several years before appearing in this video. Mary Whitehouse - a conservative Christian - had formed the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, which put a lot of pressure on the government and media to censor horror movies. This was in the same decade that saw the "Satanic Panic" stuff in the U.S. Without access to the Internet, it was a lot harder to do your own research on such things. Not everyone in Great Britain at the time agreed with all of that, but the audience in this interview were made up of people who were young enough to still be fairly naive about things. The "video nasty" stuff was being pushed by all the authority figures of the time, from government and media to the church and parents. Though a lot of their questions seem ridiculous or harassing by modern standards, chances are they were being sincere, echoing the fears of their time.
How times have changed. People who disagree but talking and listening to each other not shouting and calling each other makes and throwing accusations. Clive holds himself so well here. Looks very different nowadays but still articulates himself with intelligence and humility. My favourite horror author.
Clive is a breath of fresh air. I love his responses in here. I was watching some of the leviathan hellraiser documentary and everyone that encountered him thought he was absolutely brilliant, very funny, and cool person to be around. I admire him he is a true creative genius!
They lived in a time, where taboos were treated like taboos - not allowed to question anything; they are a product of a failed education system and an upbringing of subservient domesticity. Barker was given the freedom to explore his imagination and it's clear to see who came out better, when looking at intellectual development.
Theses kids may seem vanilla, but i kinda wish to go back in time and be one of them just to see what it was to be so innocent. I spend my youth watching horror movies since a kid and i can't really say it was good for me...
@@TheHqppy I spent my youth watching horror movies too, and its a big part of who I am today, I wouldn't want it any other way tbh, im sorry your experience wasnt positive tho.
The difference is that saw is a terrible movie, the definition of what Clive lambasts as "cheap thrills" whereas Hellraiser is grotesque but high art, and Clive is clearly has ten times the IQ than anybody peddling that porncorn pulp does.
Clive Barker dealt with those biased, not always rational, questions from teenagers very calmly and eloquently. It's weird to me-- I got to meet him at a book signing when I was about the same age as the kids in this video (in the late '90s), and I'd been a huge fan of his strange, dark writing for several years. The teens in the audience seem very immature, parroting back more conservative, anti-horror rhetoric that make them sound sadly ignorant. I doubt any of them actually saw Hellraiser or read any of Clive's books! I wonder if any of the audience members would appreciate his work if they'd given it a chance.
Clive Barker responded to every question respectfully and honestly. I admire that in him, especially since a lot of time was wasted in members of the audience essentially asking the same question over and over again but in a different way. It does amuse me though how someone can comment on his works ( the woman who had never seen Hellraiser ) without having the decency and respect for Clive to actually experience some of his art.
Everything is have read or seen by Clive Barker has been cathartic for me in a way, and as someone with PTSD (processing disorder) catharsis is to be cherished!
Pearls before swine. Where on earth did the BBC find this lilly livered audience?(a Scottish Presbyterian church youth club perhaps?) Bunch of sanctimonious big haired, small minded bed wetters . I've wondered of late how we managed to produce today's generation of 'triggered' complainers who flee to a designated 'safe space' at the first sign of something mildly upsetting &/or challenging..... Seeing this recording from the late 80s it all becomes a little clearer.
It's called hive mind, they don't have a thinking process. The media tells them what to think, and how high to jump. Its only getting worse. PC culture 🙄
So eloquent, what a guy! Especially in the face of so many people who simply didn't get it. Thanks for uploading this, I'm fairly new to Clive Barker (One of the few horror authors I missed out on from this period when I was younger) and he really does seem like a fascinating guy!
They keep trying to trap and corner him with the questions and he just comes back at them with cool calm logic. I think towards the end some of them were actually getting quite angry that they hadn’t managed to get to him and time was running out. Clive Barker is such a legend!
Interesting to watch this and hear questions from kids who hadn't seen the movie but had already made up their mind about what someone should or shouldn't do in fiction writing or fiction cinema. I've watched and read Barker books and films since I was 16yrs old and it has helped with my own creativity for the past 30yrs. Nightbreed/Cabal is one of my all time faves.
These people don't deserve the thorough depth he is providing them. Clive is delivering a masterclass in staying above the fray. Thank you, Fango, for linking this today.
This is 30 years ago. People would actually talk and question things and their value without the fear of being called morons pricks or prudes. It was a different time.
You can tell, a great many of these people went in just loathing his material, not because they had actually even seen or read any of it, but because that's what their parents said and that's what their parents believed. It's quite apparent that only a percentage of these people had actually even bothered to watch or read any of his work. I will say, however, that the red haired lad in the front row, who asked if Clive wrote for entertainment or for people to confront their fears, had a great question. Then the one named Peter, who asked if Clive felt that he should have been born in another time where people did believe in it all, had a good question as well. That exchange between Peter and Clive was adorable! Peter seemed to really enjoy it. I think he admired Clive a great deal, so it was adorable to see the two chuckling together. I'd also like to say that Clive would be disappointed to know, that I was watching Horror films on VHS since the age of two, and the Hellraiser series in particular on VHS since the age of six or seven. They were just so great!
I met Barker in 1990 or so when Nightbreed came out and he was doing a promo. tour for the film and other things. He's definitely not someone that seems like he'd ever lose his shit easily, that much I can tell you, even from that brief encounter. His "aura" was of a very high-energy, positive, upbeat, gallant, witty and funny guy. I can't even imagine him losing his shit, he's too intelligent to do so, especially with a crowd of yobbos like this. They're all outmatched and they know it.
I was born the year this was recorded, and Mr. Barker did a very good job openly answering these questions. His comments about "culture heroes" is very insightful.
The man is a legend. I don’t understand why each of the students questions are usually so harassing or trying to elicit a certain response, and then he responds in a incredible way every time.
Wow, Clive really shows how much of a pro he is sitting there and taking these shallow questions and people scrutinising not only his livelihood but his art
Audience: 'do you enjoy gore and violence as a cheap thrill' Barker: 'no I don't' Next audience member: 'do you think it's OK to enjoy violence as a cheap thrill' x15 Jesus christ, the same question over and over again spat out with pure emotional outrage. He has the patience of a Saint to actually give them a detailed response after the first 2 times
Clive Barker is one hell of a smart man. I remember seing Hellraiser for the first time and loving it, but it was nothing compared to reading the Hellbound heart a few years later. The questions he gets here really reflect a time when violence in media (not least in horror) was a big thing. Clive defended his point of view in a great way and stayed polite. Few people would have :)
I think what Clive Barker addresses in his books and films are subjects that society tries its best to sweep under the carpet i.e. death, eroticism, fetishism, etc. I think he has a healthy attitude. I think the audience are the one's with the problem/s.
They all should be given Lemarchand's box at the end of the interview. This simple minded audience was scarier to me than any other Barker's horror movie or book. Meh...
@@allansmith6715 Yeah. I feel like we’re in this period where any honest dialogue is suppressed because some dialogue is sometimes venomous and unproductive. So the solution has been to suppress all dialogue. Not a good solution in the long run...
Weaveworld is one of my favorite novels, my personalized signed copy is one of my cherished possessions. He was such a nice gentleman, talked 30 minutes about art and Doctor Who.
I have watched this episode well into double digits. Why? Not only because I'm a fan of Clive Barker's work, but the period that this was filmed and broadcast. In regards to going to post mortems, who knew that fifteen/sixteen years later, Channel 4 would do a live broadcast of a German pathologist cutting up a body in front of an audience in the studio. That wasn't entertainment but educational, much like what Clive had attended.
This series was known for stupid audience questions - and sometimes for guests losing patience with them. It was the BBC's notion of "edgy" and "youth".
Something really nice is despite all the questioning and obvious ill will they let him speak clearly and at length. Something we don't see very often these days.
