It means finding joy in the misfortunes of others. Schadenfreude represents an acute form of pleasure, gilded with guilt. At its most extreme, we find ourselves morbidly drawn to the most horrible spectacles. A theater of teenagers screams in unison as Drew Barrymore is disembowled. Gawkers jam traffic at the scene of an accident.
Children are apt to stare at the maimed.
Giving in to self-indulgence makes these scenes eerily enjoyable. Cast in iron and less than one foot high, from a distance it looks like a little girl in a simple dress, something along the lines of a Degas ballerina. Plain and without adornment, vague and indeterminate in surface detail, Shaker-like in its simplicity, Twins seems a study in borrowed sentiment. Until you look closer, and see that this little girl has two heads. It sounds gruesome, but there is no hint of exploitation here.