Among the many activities companies could do to bond, many watch movies. The same goes at GWC Valve International. The company is one of the only companies that manufactures valves at their engineering headquarters in Milan, Italy. Then, the valves are sent to their Bakersfield office. Due to the fact that the company operates around the clock, especially when they are trying to coordinate hours, calls, and schedules with their engineers on the other side of the world, sometimes they need a break. So every couple of weeks, the company will sit back and watch a movie on Friday afternoons. The majority of those movies are scary or horror movies. Everyone in their office loves horror, especially some of the first Hollywood horror films. Did you know that many movies were made with actual criminals? They already fit the part and it was their form of “community service” deemed acceptable by the state at the time. Citizens were and continue to spend so much money to detain criminals, why not make money off of them?
When Hollywood became big in the mid-1900’s, they used anything to their advantage to create hype and attention… as a result, money! In the midst of the negative eugenic movement, Hollywood created a “Thrill House” which glamorized criminals. The celebration of criminals, their minds, and their activity turned them into “larger-than-life” figures. These displays allowed audiences to develop a different perception of criminals. The negative eugenics that were circulated continuously in the North American society were beginning to be challenge by new forms of popular art. GWC Valve International employees agree that criminal depiction in movies make them seem more cool than mentally ill. Although it is on a screen, it can be concerning. However, GWC employees like to understand movies as an art form, whether they include criminals of not as actors. One thing is for sure though, they are definitely scarier knowing real criminals were playing the roles.