Part of the anthological series Cabinet of Curiosities hosted by the great Guillermo del Toro; The Viewing by Palos Cosmatos tells the story of four accomplished guests who are invited to an astronomically wealthy hermit Lionel Lassiter’s home in order to witness “a viewing”. The film is set in America, 1979 and the images explore the beautiful, high-end, and later on disturbing contents of the hermit’s home as they discuss, consume, and become consumed. The focus of this essay will be the use of sound and music throughout the short film, not in ways that give a beautiful visual style to the film but in ways that are integral to the piece. Despite The Viewing’s use of sound being heavily influenced by the setting, time, and style of the piece, I nonetheless argue that sound acts as a tool and mirror by demonstrating how sound is used to control, influence, and disrupt as well as reflect specific social dynamics within the film. The results of this matter because they critique the ways in which power is handled, masqueraded through artificial synthesis, and brutally lost in a clash between plutocratic and technocratic influences in a late-stage capitalist society as well as introducing and empowering the disturbing abjections the film presents.
The film begins with the four guests meeting in an empty parking garage. They are approached by Hector, Lionel’s bodyguard, who begins to drive them to the hermit’s home out in the wilderness. This scene in the van introduces the prevalence and influence that sound has on the characters of the film when Hector, at the request of Lionel, asks the guests to be quiet and listen to the “audio program”; dark, buzzing synth tracks that reverberate through your ears and the van as they leave society. As the synth plays, we watch as the guests give uncomfortable looks as they sit in silence (The Viewing 06:50). This is the beginning of a theme we will continue to see throughout the film, Lionel’s control and use of sound in order sway and influence his guests. Lionel’s influence over the guests is something that continues to permeate as the film progresses. At this point, his influence is permeated by his infamy and ambiguity that draw the guests in for the meeting in the first place. But as they move into the hermit’s home and meet Lionel, they begin to talk, and the social dynamics are put on full display. Lionel introduces himself first through an intercom that acts as a voice from above (The Viewing 13:47). The texture of the voice is garbled and synthetic, another aspect of Lionel’s influence. From what we know so far, Lionel’s influence has been powered by sound. Through the word-of-mouth discussions between guests, the influence over feelings brought on the music he curates, as well as the divine intervention of his voice that brings the room to silence. And yet, all of these things are arbitrary. Speculation and synthesis, it’s shaky. Nobody has any idea who this guy is, what his qualifications are, what he DOES. These synthetic influences are what give Lionel his plutocratic power, strength held up by his wealth which directly conflicts with the guests.
When Lionel enters the room with a rare bottle of whiskey, serves it out to the guests in an over-the-top fashion as he describes the profound rarity of the object in his possession. Without a word from anyone else, he begins the introductions of the guests. Each of the guests is very accomplished in their respective fields, an acclaimed author, astrophysicist, music producer, and psychic. Off the bat, these people being collected for what they “bring to the table” for the viewing suggests the development of a technocratic discussion. And yet, Lionel acknowledges this but instead tries to shift each of their presences to be under his control. He’s the aggregator of the viewing, the one in control. When discussing Randall’s next album, Lionel offers positive assurance that it will do well. Charlotte the physicist replies “I mean, I don’t know about that, Mr. Lassiter. Science tells us you can never truly know the future state of a particle,” to which Lionel condescendingly replies, “You’re charming, Charlotte. But with a gentle push, someone like me can make people flow” (The Viewing 20:50). When attempting to bring their technocratic ideals to the forefront, letting someone who is qualified speak on the matter such as Charlotte, it is met with the nonsensical, plutocratic platitudes that Lionel deludes himself and others into believing. This is a conflict that will surface again and again throughout the film, and it mirrors the historical events in America at this time as well.
The film takes place in 1979, just before the turn of the decade to the 1980s when unparalleled heights of economic growth were reached. Everything is going up and up at this point, there is no end in sight for the greatest nation in the world until the recession of the early 80s rolls around and late-stage capitalism begins to rear its head in ways that will appear throughout the decade and continue on for the decades to come. This recession was the worst in history up to that point (Buchanan & Rubin).
The party begins to loosen up under Lionel’s command, as he pushes them to drink, snort coke, and relax. His curated playlist gives fun, party vibes to a scenario that is still largely uncomfortable for the guests. They begin to discuss the music (its curation and exclusivity that only Lionel could possess) when Lionel says an absolute gem. In describing the playlist for the Sandpiper house, he says it “strives for a feeling of innate transcendence” (The Viewing 23:32). The music, just as Lionel himself, is driven to create this façade of something that is unreachable, god-like. It is something synthetic (made literally out of synthesizers). It is the plutocratic power structures held up by wealth that is arbitrary in the face of what is to come when true power is revealed in the viewing.
Once the guests are fully immersed and comfortable in Lionel’s world that he has specifically crafted for them, it is time for what they were brought here for. Addressing the moment, Lionel says “It’s because, from each of your own distinctive worlds and with your own individual talent, you may shine some unique and profound appreciation on what it is that I have to show you,” (The Viewing 38:56). They are very much still in this world that he is crafted for them as a tenuous, rhythmic song plays behind his words that echo through the chamber and command their will. They walk down the long hallway, the sound still pushing them further in a descent into something that Lionel will prevail. The door slides open, and the soundscape is immediately invaded and stolen. A warbled bass and a shrill aria reach out toward the guests as the size and power of the “item” commands the room. Lionel is not only visually diminutive compared to the item, but his sound is now being taken and manipulated. This shift is the crumbling of the plutocratic power structures that have been built around the viewing. The sheer primal, supernatural powers that work outside arbitrary constructions like that Lionel has built, as well as the technocratic specialties that each of the guests still believe they play a role in. They surround the rock in awe, proposing questions and probing the item to no avail. Nothing can be determined; nothing is certain anymore. Lionel’s grip is so lost, he can’t even get Randall to stop smoking in the chamber (The Viewing 42:47), instigating the complete upheaval of power by the Item. It’s otherworldly screeches climb and invade the guests so deeply they begin to seize; their eyes roll back in their heads as the item shatters just like the structures of power.
The abject of the film is put on full display in the final scenes of the film. When the overwhelming power begins to become so much, their faces begin to melt, their heads explode. They even let themselves become consumed, unable to stand. These elements are defined as the abject by Barbra Creed in her work Kristeva, Femininity, and Abjection when she states “The ultimate abjection is the corpse… bodily wastes such as shit, blood, urine, and pus… that the subject finds loathsome.” The abject images are not only disrupting the characters themselves, but they disrupt the audience like shaking somebody awake. The sound power held by the creature at the end of The Viewing is a state of rebirth, through the lenses of the abject, from out of the power structures of plutocracy and technocracy, that in the end tell us that this could be more real than it seems. No there isn’t an actual orange, goop monster with horns on it’s back that’s invulnerable to bullets. But there are the overwhelming powers that be, that consume us and use our bodies just as the creature does. That is invulnerable to any attack, that cannot be defeated by any weapons that we ourselves are able to equip.
The Viewing takes full advantage of the audiovisual medium, one that uses the full capabilities of both senses in order convey deep, widespread messages and emotions to those watching. The way sound is fought for, obtained, then snatched away by the creature and how the impact of that is seen on the guests of the viewing is just like those of us subject to power structures that we have no control over. We can only hope that they would listen, consider our ideas and concepts, and not use their money and influence to buy reality.
