Horns by Joe Hill

Disturbingly good book

A few weeks ago, this movie starring Daniel Radcliffe showed up in my Netflix queue, under things Netflix thinks I might like. There are times when it’s better to read the book first, so as not to be prejudiced, and there are times when really it doesn’t matter. With Horns, by Joe Hill, I would say, it really doesn’t matter. The only downside to watching the movie first is that I kept imagining Ignacius Parrish as Daniel Radcliffe. Ig Parrish is described as being tall and skinny, with a receding hair line. Daniel Radcliffe does not have a receding hairline, is not skinny, and like many child stars,is a bit on the short side. Ig also doesn’t wear a hoodie anywhere in the book. It wouldn’t go with his tie. That said, the movie is fabulous. Absolutely go watch Horns (2013), unless spoilers bother you, in which case read the book.

The book, and the movie, tell the story of how Ig Parrish is dealing with the death of his girlfriend. Merrin Williams, played by Juno Temple, was raped an murdered, and Ig has been the only suspect for a year now. Ig is the second son of a famous horn player, and a Las Vegas show girl. His older brother is also pretty famous. Ig loves music, but can’t play an instrument. He’s been in love with Merrin Williams since he was sixteen years old, and now that she’s gone, he’s lost.

Merrin’s parents moved to Ig’s town after her older sister died from a particularly viscous strain of cancer. Watching Regan die slowly was hard on the family. So hard that they rarely speak of her. The result being that Ig knows nothing about Regan, except that her death inspired Merrin to become an oncologist.

Ig’s best friend is Lee Tourneau. They met Merrin around the same time, in their church. I have to say that I wish young men would wear “Team Ig” and “Team Tourneau” t-shirts, so we would know who is safe to talk to, and who is safe to avoid. From the time they meet Merrin, both Lee and Ig are guilty of treating her like an object to be traded like a necklace or a fire cracker. Merrin even says it outright “You think you trade him for me, Ig? Is that how you think all this worked? And do you think if he had returned the cross to me instead of you, then Lee and I would be-” she demands of Ig, understandably irate. Merrin has a point. Joe Hill, in Merrin’s voice has a point.

For the most part, Ig is very respectful of Merrin. He listens to her tirade, and he takes it to heart. He doesn’t worry about Merrin spending time with Lee, because Merrin is Ig’s girlfriend, and he knows she loves him. Maybe he should have worried, because from the moment we meet Lee, he has nothing respectful to say about women. During Lee’s first encounter with Merrin he tries to put a necklace on her, without out asking her first. His first conversation with Ig includes the gem “… I think it’s fair to say most pretty girls are snotty until they get their cherry popped. Because, you know, it’s the most valuable thing they’re ever going to have. …”

Wow. I really don’t know what to say to that.

We’ll later switch to Lee’s perspective, and see that he believes that everything Merrin says has a secret message just for him. She says one thing, that sounds innocent, and Ig takes it that way, but it really means something naughty about Lee. Sadly, there are plenty of men out there who believe what Lee believes. They think that way because society conditioned them too, because their parents didn’t teach them any better. I wish I could say that this kind of wrongheadedness is caused by a brain injury, but it isn’t. It’s learned, or perhaps, it is never unlearned. This is the kind of thinking that leads young men to insist that “Yes” means “I’m a slut”, and “No”, means “Yes, but I don’t want you to think I’m a slut, but I am.” The kind of thinking that leads young men to think that when a woman smiles or says “thank you”, she’s flirting, when really she just thought it was nice that he didn’t let the door swing shut on her face. It’s the kind of thinking that lead a man to demand that I tell him where I’m really from, because I was wearing a summer dress, and on a bus with no where to get away. It’s the kind of thinking that lead a classmate to spank me in the hall, in college, as a form of greeting. Or maybe he just liked my new jeans? Sadly, if you’re biologically female, you’ve probably thought of at least one instance when someone, probably biologically male, disrespected your boundaries, and it took less time than it did to read this overly long sentence.

Yes, boys and men like Lee Tourneau should come with a warning label, so that women and girls can avoid even looking at them.