DTH316 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) 9/17/2014 Avid Horror event-goer. Theme Parks, conventions, events, premiers etc... Former Universal Hollywood Employee Horror Fanatic and Collector. Retired Makeup Artist and Special FX Artist of 10 years in Los Angeles. I know what is acting and horror and i know when it's not. I can differentiate between fantasy and reality. THIS WAS REALITY. I LOVE this park. I especially LOVE HHN. Unfortunately, my budget this year was weakened by a car accident, and the mountain of legal and medical bills from it... Can't afford this year. And we don't go unless its VIP because we've done that and, well you don't get to see anything because of the lines. Luckily, I was able to get in as a guest as was my little sister and we were stoked! I couldn't go last year because of my injury, and I really thought this was a miracle from an angel that I was going to be able to go, and on preview night. Basically, like buying VIP, only probably better because of less people being there/not open to general public. We couldn't imagine that the night would turn into what now is becoming a legal matter. We were in line for a photo with "Norman Bates" in front of the psycho house. Ive done this before, and it was fun. There was about 2 couples ahead of us when Norman was switched out with another Norman bates to start his shift taking photos with guests. We come up the stairs, and he tells me "would you like to be the first victim?" and i laughed and said, "no, my little sister is going to stand next to you" and he said "sacrifice the WHORE first". Then in that second, the employee at the bottom of the stairs took the photo for us, and the moment that happened, as we walked back down the stairs, I looked him dead in the eye and said "would you call your mother a whore?, never talk to women like that again, much less my baby sister, that is NOT part of your roll playing or your costume." He immediately , in front of all the other guests, my sister, and employee, looks me in the eye and loudly says " OK SLUT." I was assaulted as a child. I was assaulted as an adult. Certain words bring very dark traumas to my eyes and I immediately went into traumatic shock and began to shake and black out while trying to get ONE EMPLOYEE TO HELP ME DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. Mind you, at this point my sister is trying to console me, and help me knowing what triggers the trauma and knowing how bad it is, she started getting frustrated with all the employees basically having NO CARE, COMPASSION or even the audacity to HELP US and FILE A REPORT. Not ONE person that works in this place was bothered by it. THIS IS VERY BAD. THIS IS STRAIGHT UP ENTITLED ASSAULT AND PATRIARCHAL OPPRESSION. There is a line between character acting, and downright aggression and harassment. This was an employee not knowing what is acting and what is demeaning and verbally violent then the moment I told him to not do it, he got personal and called me a slut to my face in front of everybody. THIS IS PERSONAL. My bills for anti anxiety meds and seeing my doctor this week will reflect that. Ive been coming to this for a decade and never has anything remotely close to this ever happened. Much less from an employee. I never had any complaints about this place or its employees til last night. HORRIBLE. Disgusting Experience. We lost so much time because of it too. We didn't get to see much. We didn't get our tickets worth and we can't buy vip so we got the worst end of the stick and it's a real bummer. I'm saddened that this behavior continues to exist, it makes me wonder if they are taking LEGAL training matters seriously like SEXUAL HARASSMENT and OPPRESSION. I work with women and young girls that come out of sexual trauma, physical abuse, and really terrible oppressive situations at the hand of men. A male employee thinking this is OK AND ACCEPTABLE and the Universal Studios Hollywood staff BRUSHING it under the table is EXACTLY WHY THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR CONTINUES TO EXIST. IT IS NEVER OK. I was not IN YOUR MOVIE. I was NOT being PAID and on CONTRACT to take verbal abuse from your employee for a film. I WAS A GUEST. A FEMALE, HUMAN BEING GUEST. I DESERVE RESPECT. And if you don't think I do. I'm pretty sure the majority of the population which is made up of WOMEN, women with MONEY who PAY for your park who take their KIDS and young DAUGHTERS to your park. I'm sure this would be really not that good of a look for this park if a lot of people found out about this. I wish I could review the mazes but, my night was ruined and my time was wasted trying to recover. Edited November 6, 2014 by DTH316 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellie_Monster Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) Can I just weigh in on the "whore" "slut" part? I just ... I don't even know what exactly to weigh in on, but, the reviewer claims to be a horror fanatic, FX artist 10+ years, and sounds like they've gone to the event several times prior to this year, first of all this is HHN, it's a little more hardcore and anyone who's been before, KNKWS THIS. I just feel like, if you're a horror fan, the likelihood you've watched films with WORSE language than that, is pretty high up there. Also, I think (as Norman said "sacrifice the whore first" and then laughed last year when a group of my friends were taking photos with him) it was said in more of a "Norman Bates" way, I don't think the actor meant anything derogatory in it, and I also feel like, HHN can be pretty r-rated sometimes, if he'd gone farther and called her something else, maybe that's pressing the line but I feel like whore would be something Norman would say. ... I don't know, maybe I'm just not sensitive to things like that, and it's actually kind of annoying to me that the reviewer allowed one thing that SHE didn't like because of past events in her life, which, she isn't walking around the event with a disclaimer saying words hurt her, how was he supposed to know? Also, as a female, who also has anxiety issues (for various reasons and have for years), I personally think it's hilarious when actors take that chance and embrace the event and their character and just GO FOR IT. Lastly, the whole "women bringing their young daughters to the event" statement, that's on you, the guest, you choose to okay, to come enjoy the event, I'd love to hear what this reviewer had to say about the barkers at the front of the park each year, I had some wonderful choice words from the polite leader last year in the purge SZ bad never once did I feel he was out of line. I don't know where I was going with this but, that reviewer really made my skin crawl in an annoyed way. Edited September 30, 2014 by Mellie_Monster 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Reading the yelp reviews puts me in the shoes of somebody who shows up at 8:30. Gaah. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duh1011 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 And this is the reason why we shouldn't go on yelp, ladies and gentlemen. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HorrorNightsFan13 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) The barker this year was pretty funny. She was making fun of guys who had small you know what's and brought up 3 teenage girls and put them on their knees and called them Slut 1 2 and 3. She also told the dicks who try to hit on her to come back when their balls dropped. Can't wait to read the help reviews about this barker. Edited September 30, 2014 by HorrorNightsFan13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartNARWHALS Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I mean, I feel for this guy that he's been through things like that. I have too but, like what Mellie said, he should have seen language like this coming. That does seem like something Norman would say so I'm torn on how I feel about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingundisputed_ Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I have mixed feelings about this. The Norman shouldn't have provoked the matter if he was told not to, but the guest should have recognized that this is an adult-oriented event with language to match. He's not the only one using insulting language on guests (ex. The Auctioneer, The Lust Dancers in ACGTH...). I don't know, y'all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duh1011 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 As a actór, I realize that he was just trying to stay in character. I felt that he might've gone a little too far since the lady showed how offended she was at his first comment, but that first one was fine since he's acting as Norman Bates. Sorry if I'm basically reiterating Mellie's point but that's where I stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurseddragon Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I don't think he did anything wrong at all. After seeing thousands of people and hearing hundreds of comments ranging from good to bad, why would that one make him be like, "Oh, shit, you're right. I'm so dumb." It's equivalent to someone saying, "You didn't scare me." and the scareactor being like, "Aw, damn. K, I quit." 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 I mean, I feel for this guy that he's been through things like that. I have too but, like what Mellie said, he should have seen language like this coming. That does seem like something Norman would say so I'm torn on how I feel about this. Uhh... it's a girl haha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellie_Monster Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 (edited) I'm glad I'm not the only one who is "siding" with Norman. This is an 18+ event in terms of language and there are ENDLESS signs that say so. If you don't like the language, go play in a bounce house. Honestly, I just giggle at the yelp reviews and the jerk balls who expect apologies from SAs when they DO scare them and de-macho their ego, as well as the dumb dumbs who act tough all night and think they're the first to ever yell "you ain't scary!" really? Really? Because you were seriously the ONLY PERSON in the WHOLE EVENT that the SAs are trying to scare. Take that tiara off and keep moving princess. *goes and sits in corner of boxing ring* Edited October 1, 2014 by Mellie_Monster 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 (edited) I do think her situation sucks in general. Maybe Norman should've just backed off when seeing she was genuinely offended the first time. And maybe the girl should've just said nothing -- it's not like he's going to remember her on the off chance she returns next year and be like "oh, that's the girl again who doesn't like to be called a whore." And she's wrong, that IS Norman's role, and it's not like he's gonna stop doing his job because of her. Does she get mad when Mother calls her a whore from the windows/speakers up above? It's all make believe! Even if the word did trigger her PTSD, she shouldn't put the scare actor/Universal at fault for not knowing that. Imagine all the people who've gone through La Llorona who have lost children, especially in a drowning accident? It's all make believe. If it were a regular cashier, it'd be a different story. And maybe he was genuinely trying to sting her, but I guess we'll never know haha. Either way, the poor girl is troubled and I do feel for her, in general. But I don't feel for her case against Universal. Edited November 6, 2014 by DTH316 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iLuvStabWounds Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 (edited) I'm have some mixed feelings about the review mentioned in the first post, too. I know that HNN scareactors are more than capable of making insults, I across a lot in 2011 who were making fun of one of my friend's weight issue by calling her "Happy Meal." But we all knew it was in good fun, so we were able laughed it off. But calling someone a "whore" or "slut" is not a laughing matter. Sure, "Norman" was just trying to get into character, but using that language on a woman is just plain disrespectful. One reasons I stopped going to KSF was because I was taken aback by some of the comments the scareactors made about me. I guess they thought they'd come across as "edgier" by making personal remarks about my mixed heritage among other things. They were also calling random people "f*gs" and "p*ssies." I am disgusted by that kind of attitude, we are paying to be entertained not humiliated. Edited October 1, 2014 by iLuvStabWounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Was that the tricksters or...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 One KSF cast member tried to make a joke about gingers not having a soul because he didn't tried to scare me by stomping and didn't. Come on dude. Don't blame me for not being scared. I'm not an impossible scare either. Anyway, I've only seen the first Psycho, so I don't know if Norman would say slut or whore. I am sure he would think things like that, but be outwardly polite and just kinda creepy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTH316 Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Norman, through his mother's voice, definitely says whore and slut and what not. So it's without a doubt that is inside his character's brain. Whether or not he'd let that slip through to his "Norman" personality is something you'll have to ask a psychologist lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I think within canon (again I have only seen the first movie, so I may be missing out) Norman separated Norma from himself, so he wouldn't say things his mother would say. Then again the psychology in that movie is pretty haywire to begin with so it is hard to say what he *would* do. Next year HHN should have Norman Bates do a puppet show on NY street with his mother. Mother's In Your Face Insults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iLuvStabWounds Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Was that the tricksters or...? No, this was way back in '08 or '09. I personally thought it was uncalled for to make fun of someone's race and sexuality, which were things I had dealt with for over three years in high school. While I do understand that Norman was just trying to do his job, I do sympathize with the lady who wrote the yelp review. Words do harm people, it can even drive to them to do harmful things to themselves and others. In all honesty, misogyny is just as bad as racism or any other form of bigotry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsylumSB Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 (edited) No, this was way back in '08 or '09. I personally thought it was uncalled for to make fun of someone's race and sexuality, which were things I had dealt with for over three years in high school. While I do understand that Norman was just trying to do his job, I do sympathize with the lady who wrote the yelp review. Words do harm people, it can even drive to them to do harmful things to themselves and others. In all honesty, misogyny is just as bad as racism or any other form of bigotry. Your post indirectly points out why Halloween Horror Nights is not for everyone (and not just for those under the age of 13). Look at the content of all the attractions over the years. It is designed to be uncomfortable but offers a safe place to encounter your fears. Edited October 1, 2014 by AsylumSB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duh1011 Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Weeellll, I wouldn't exactly say it's completely safe anymore judging by the crowd these past weeks....... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsylumSB Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Weeellll, I wouldn't exactly say it's completely safe anymore judging by the crowd these past weeks....... Figuratively speaking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellie_Monster Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 As far as ANY park/haunt making racial or sexual slurs or "jokes" that's where I personally draw the line, we all remember why Chucky took a little vacation very abruptly, I myself don't care what you call me in terms of names, jokes, slurs, etc because I know it's in good fun and that's fine, BUT, I do feel like racial or sexual orientation slurs/jokes are the ones that get people in the most trouble. Regardless, this event (hell, ANY haunt really) isn't for everyone, it's a step above the "normal haunts" like six flags bad haunted hay rude, and a step or two under things like Blackout and Mckamey Manor, so you should know, going into it that there's possibilities things will be barked at you, said to you, things might touch you, I just can't help but want to say "if you don't like it, don't come." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferox Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Related: The Gecko Brothers get dudebros trying to start fights with them. Or rather the Gecko Brothers will start fights and dudebros will not know they are a character. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Jeffula Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Im sorry but to the lady who had her troubled past with men, yes thats unfortunate and it sucks going through that but being an "avid horror fan" exposes you to ALOT of violence/abuse against women (AND MEN TOO DONT THINK THAT MEN DO NOT GET ABUSED BY WOMEN AS WELL) and she claims to know the "fine line" between acting and downright aggression and harassment? WELL THE GOD DAMN SCAREACTERS ARE TRAINED TO BE AGRESSIVE AND HARASSING WITHOUT PHYSICALLY TOUCHING!!!! The irony of it all is that this lady who i assumed went through abuse with a man is complaining about a scare actor who is playing someone who was abused by a woman!!! I'm sure what happened was that this scareacter thought she was "playing along" with his character after she says "would you call your MOTHER (who is a big part of the norman bates character) a whore" and called her a "slut" back. Unfortunately this lady doesn't know the sticks and stones concept and has a mental breakdown. If it bothered you that much go to park management and complain. Are you seriously going to use peoples tax dollars to file a lawsuit because someone called you a name......really......... Take some different anxiety meds lady because they are not working 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duh1011 Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Wait, she's filing a lawsuit? I don't remember that in the review, but if that's the case then this makes this whole thing Bill and Ted v2.0 :T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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