A recent Reddit thread about the cult horror movie Paranormal Activity has gained the attention of none other than its main subject. Actor Micah Sloat joined in on the chat about the toxicity of his character, also named Micah, to defend the decisions his character makes from those who have branded him as the true villain of the film.
The thread looked into the character of Micah as one of the real evils of the film, pointing out how he ignored his girlfriend’s pleas and wishes and actively made the situation worse by goading the demon. The thread pointed out all of these qualities, with the majority agreeing with the author’s take on Micah’s character. Following a piece we published on the critical thread, Sloat himself reached out to We Got This Covered to bring attention to his response. The actor himself jumped on the thread to give his own perspective on the matter, one that actually changed the author’s mind — a rare thing on Reddit, or the internet in general, to happen.
Within horror movies, there are often allegories and metaphors abound — with the demons, ghosts, monsters, or undead serving as a symbol for something we fear in real life. This thread saw Micah, rather than the demon, as the true evil, with the entity serving as a representation of Katie’s childhood trauma and Micah as the toxic boyfriend that only made things worse through his lack of respect, willingness to listen, and blatant disregard for her boundaries. Here is the original post, which has the original author’s edit after hearing from the actor at the bottom.
Now, look, the original interpretation is still a fair one, one that many who responded to the thread agreed with, but with anything subjective, there are layers, and Sloat has given us another outlook. One that may not completely absolve his character of responsibility, but does offer him up in a less negative light.
Here the actor offers his full response, going into how the demon is more a symbol for a narcissistic ex, one that has been tormenting Katie for some time.
The actor notes that many in the thread were right about one thing: “Paranormal Activity is a metaphor for abuse,” but we were looking at the wrong perpetrator. His defense for Micah is that the guy simply has no idea what his partner is going through because he has never been through it himself. As he writes of his character, “he’s not a bad guy. He’s just clueless.” He also offers his own experiences with narcissistic relationships as a reference.
There are still arguments to be made that his going about things in all the wrong ways still makes him a little bit toxic; he still ignores his girlfriend’s wishes and doesn’t listen to her or respect what she says, believing his way of doing things to be the right way of doing things, but it doesn’t quite equal domestic abuse, more just an incompetent partner who is being gaslit by a malevolent entity that is always two steps ahead. It’s fair to say that Katie was stuck between two rather difficult individuals, but let’s be clear that one was twisted and evil, and the other was just kind of crappy, hardly comparable.
The main thing that Sloat wishes to get across is that Micah is also a victim of the abuse; the demon literally ends up killing him to get to Katie, whom Micah was desperately trying to save. The above post by the actor was enough to turn the opinion of the thread’s author, who replied to thank Sloat for joining the conversation and giving his perspective, allowing them to form a new opinion.
It is interesting to see how different people interpret things and how one person’s villain is another’s victim if you just shift your perspective. So as Sloat says, “Don’t let the demon manipulate you the way he manipulated Micah.” Maybe another watch of Paranormal Activity is on the cards to really clear this up. You can catch the found footage classic on Netflix and Paramount Plus.
If you are experiencing domestic abuse, or if you believe someone you know is being abused, contact The National Domestic Violence Hotline. The hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-SAFE or spoken with online via the hotline’s website. Mobile phone owners can also text “START” to the number 88788.