Finding Canada’s Place in Richard Weaver’s American Stereopticon: David Cronenberg’s Obscene Critique of the “Canadian Way of Life”

Abstract

Richard Weaver’s theory of the stereopticon can be described as the creation of false realities through artificially produced spectacles of sights and sounds. David Cronenberg’s early-career Canadian-themed horror films view the stereopticon as completely directing evolutionary human development. Weaver bemoaned the loss of a metaphysically grounded religious world view that could hold back the obscenity of the stereopticon. Alternatively, Cronenberg dissects the obscenity of the stereopticon according to its own form and content.