Mindfuck

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A mindfuck is a slang term which describes a work that uses literary devices such as nonlinear storytelling and plot twists in order to present convoluted, yet not conflicting, themes. A creation is usually considered a mindfuck when a casual observer is not able to discern the true meaning of a work without making a serious attempt to unravel the themes presented or when the plot is incredibly difficult to follow. Special examples of mindfucks involve a single plot twist which completely changes the viewer's understanding of the events in a film or novel as well as the ideas it presents.

Notable examples of mindfucks include the The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Fight Club, and several of the works of Philip K. Dick.

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The Matrix arguably belongs to the genre as well, though (as its two sequels make clear) its primary theme is not the nature of reality but the nature of the human-machine relationship. Elements of mindfuck are incorporated into such films as The Game and Se7en.

Mindfuck films often incorporate elements of film noir and have a tendency to become cult films. Directors whose films tend to be (or incorporate) mindfucks include M. Night Shyamalan, David Fincher, David Lynch, and David Cronenberg.

Class Real – mindfuck movie list

Though a term in Japanese for mindfuck does not exist, many popular animes are considered to be mindfucks, including:

The term mindfuck is also used in BDSM to describe scenes where the bottom may be fooled as to the nature of the activities being taken part in; for example, the bottom may have consented to taking part in a branding, and been blindfolded throughout that part of the scene, only to discover that in reality only very cold ice cubes were used (it can be hard to distinguish cold from hot), and no branding had actually occurred.

Mindfuck can also be used to describe certain songs that lack logic, simplicity or clarity. Due to the heavy usage of a wide-array of digital effects or the generally dark ambiance and sometimes incoherent lyrics, this term is more often used within the industrial music and alternative rock genres. Bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, At the Drive-In, Mars Volta, Primus or Tool are fine examples.

An example of a lyrical excerpt from a song involving mindfuck would be a song by Mars Volta called "Inertiatic ESP": "What of this mongrel architect / a broken arm of sewers set / past present and future tense / clipside of the pinkeye fountain" One can only find insight into the meaning of the lyrics with close analysis and a casual listener is confused by them.

"American Idiot" by Green Day has the lyrics: "Don't wanna be an American idiot / Don't want a nation under the new mania / And can you hear the sound of hysteria? / The subliminal mindfuck America." This probably means the way America has changed by having G.W. Bush as President.

The term mindfuck was also frequently used in the Steve Martin film Bowfinger, to refer to the fictional "Church of Mindhead," a thinly veiled facsimile of the Church of Scientology.

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