BJ: Gender Representation in the Horror Genre - Reading Source 1

Re-positioning of Women in the Horror Genre

With films such as Halloween (1974), women began
having a more important role in the story line.

In horror, women have been generally portrayed as weak characters, often being completely overlooked and not developed as characters during a film. They were often killed off early in slasher films or were there purely for show and had no true depth to their character. The women were also portrayed as weak for the sole purpose of the male hero coming to rescue them. This contributed to much anger among feminists who believed that women were being misrepresented as unable to defend themselves and reliant on men for safety. In the 1970's, however, things began to change as famous directors in the American horror genre, such as George A. Romero, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and John Carpenter, decided to respond to what was happening in America at that time. The Vietnam War, race riots, civil unrest and the growing Feminist movement were all huge political topics so these directors took them and incorporated them into their films. Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1974) were all about the horrors at home, and therefore began to re-position female characters through that. The role of the woman in horror films became much more empowering and they were now the hero, albeit unlikely. These women were portrayed as strong and actively seeking out threats to get rid of them.

Friday the 13th

Conventions of Stalk and Slash Films
 
Stalk and Slash films are a completely American product and are very similar. All films of this sub-genre follow a specific plot: 

• A mixed group of teenagers travel to a distant and remote location and immediately party involving alcohol, drugs and sex.
• As the partying is going on, each member of the group is slowly murdered one by one.
• They are often killed by a masked killer, or a killer who's identity is not revealed till the very end.
• Towards the end, all of the group has been murdered, except for one, who's job it is then to hunt down and kill this murderer them self. 
• One the murderer has been killed, their identity is revealed and their motive becomes clear.

The demographic that these films are most popular with is teenagers, the majority boys and young men. This popularity among them is due to two main factors, clear and long scenes involving female nudity and a very graphic depiction of murder involving lots of blood and gore. These elements are known to be typical of what young men like. The popularity of this sub-genre caused directors to think up new ways to kill characters, some of which were bordering on insanity, They had to do this to keep audiences excited and not create a boring and generic sub-genre. 

Scream (Craven, 1994)

The author of the reading source writes that these films are very significant in modern cinema. He states that if not for this sub-genre, two of horror's most notorious and frightening characters, Jason Vorhees (Friday the 13th) and Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street), would not have been created. He then argues had it not been for these characters, then the idea of sustained narratives through film franchises would not have been born. This would that there would be less revenue potential to be made through films. The author also argues that, while the films seem psychotic and insane, they have deep morals to them that people can learn from. Whitehead states: 

'The killer is punishing the group either for trespassing upon its territory or is avenging an earlier wrong perpetrated by that group or a group that they symbolically represent.'

This shows that the teenagers often deserve what is coming for them, as they have broken the rules and broken moral codes. This shows what teenagers are like when they are not under the watchful eye of their parents. This therefore positions the killer as a moral person, as they are punishing the teenagers for doing something wrong. However, the killer is always murdered in the end.

The Final Girl

In 1987 Carol J. Clover came up with the concept of 'The Final Girl' in horror films. This concept states that at the end of all slasher films, there is one female survivor that then kills the murderer. This character has many distinctive qualities that picks them out as 'the final girl'. These qualities are:

• Smarter than her peers, intelligent, watchful and level-headed
• Morally pure, so does not take part in typically wild teenage behaviour
• The first to recognise danger and lack of morals among her peers

Scream (Craven, 1994) is a prime example of 'The Final Girl'

The qualities of this character make her different from her peers, this makes us believe that she is more emotional unstable than her peers and possibly weaker. She is portrayed as socially awkward and reluctant to engage in the 'adult' acts of her peers such as drinking, drugs and sex. As the murdering spree begins, however, it emerges that this girl is the only one who could possibly overcome the threat, therefore positioning her as more powerful than her friends. Throughout the story, this weak girl slowly becomes more 'masculine' and uses her superior cunning and intellect to outwit the killer and trap the killer. To visualise the change from feminine to masculine, the final girl kills the murderer with a 'phallic' object, often an axe, machete or shotgun. To further push the masculinity of the character they are given androgynous names such as Jess (Black Christmas, Bob Clark, 1974), Alana (Terror Train, Roger Spottiswoode, 1980), Marty (Hell Night, Tom De Simone, 1981) and Sidney (Scream, Wes Craven, 1996).