Representation of Women in Horror Films

Representation of Women in Horror Films

The representation of women and how they are portrayed in horror films has been around for many decades – mainly starting around the 1930’s. Admittedly, how women are seen by audiences have changed dramatically over this time, however the main stereotypical underline view of them in horrors is still there – that they are weak and almost always seen as the victim of brutal, slow murders. Traditionally, women have always been recognised as the victim or ‘damsel in distress’ in most horror films. For many decades, this was the main opinion and visibility of women throughout the horror genre, focusing on their personalities as weak, submissive, passive and emotional. Also, many female victims in horror films tend to be relatively similar, by the fact they are young, white, mostly blonde and sexually active. This links into the theory of ‘Horror and Homogeneity’ – that if you dare to stray outside the bounds of conservatism by getting drunk, taking drugs and having sex before marriage – you are going to die.

One theory which is a major hit when studying the horror of genre, which goes against the ‘Horror and Homogeneity’ assumption, is the ‘Final Girl’. This was first brought to attention by Carol Clover in the 1990’s. This theory suggests that in most horror films nowadays there is always one main girl who survives, and she is seen as strong, masculine and innocent in comparison to other girls. This typical final girl will most likely have a unisex name such as Laurie, Alex or Sam – drawing attention to the fact they are not completely feminine. Examples of these ‘final girls’ are; Laurie Strode in ‘Halloween’, Nancy Thompson in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and Julie James from ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. All these final girls are represented as strong-willed, independent and in some way, masculine females – all qualities which helped them survive a series of bloody murders on their friends/family.

Another argument to notice when researching females and their representation in horror films is the Male Gaze theory – which suggests that males are excited and sexually aroused by the death and suffering of young girls. Male Gaze puts the audience in the eyes of the killer (who is usually typically male) and makes us see the action as if we are that character, creating an uncomfortable feeling for women, and arousal for men.

The use of clever camera angles and lighting throughout horror films also suggest that most women are seen as weak and vulnerable – often putting them in situations where death is the only outcome. For example, when they tend to run into abandoned spaces such as haunted houses, or lock themselves in certain rooms which usually have no escape (Wendy Torrance in The Shining).

A major issue which has changed the horror genre and representation of women in them is the modern culture and its influences. Over time, the modern culture has been constantly changing – which in turn has had an effect on the horror genre and how women are represented.

Carol Clover, one of the main horror theorists about women – coining the term ‘Final Girl’ said this about women’s representation in horror films; “She is the one who encounters the mutilated bodies of her friends and perceives the full extent of the preceding horror and of her own peril; who is chased, cornered, wounded; whom we see scream, stagger, fall, rise and scream again. She is abject terror personified. … She alone looks death in the face, but she alone also finds the strength either to stay the killer long enough to be rescued … or to kill him herself… But, in either case, from 1974 on, the survivor figure has been female.” (p. 35)

 

Scream:
A series of killings has started happening in a local area where the main characters live. The teenagers soon start being killed off by a masked killer, and near the end of the film, only Sidney (the main girl), Gale (another main protagonist) and Dewey (the deputy sheriff). This shows quite a positive, strong representation of women, as two of the main females survive along with a male who is seen as masculine because of his job. However, Scream can also portray a negative attitude towards women as near the beginning, Casey (one of the teen girls) is murdered along with Tatum – which shows them being weak and vulnerable in their roles of teen girls.

Halloween:
Halloween begins 15 years before the movie is set, showing the killer murdering his sister because of a sexual act with her boyfriend. The next scene we see is Michael (the killer) escaping a psychiatrist’s holding place – where he has been since he was convicted. We then are shown the next day, where the main female character Laurie Strode continually sees Michael which gives us a sense of danger, but also that she is confident and aware of her surroundings (already aspects of a final girl). That same evening, she sees Michael again whilst babysitting a young child on the night of Halloween – where another killing is taking place just across the street which causes concern. Eventually, we see Laurie attacked by Michael but scarcely escaping by stabbing him in the neck with a knitting needle and a clothes hanger into his eye. This representation of young girls in horror films I believe is a positive one, as it shows a strong, independent girl who survives a murder attack on her. However, Halloween does challenge this representation as other young girls are seen to be killed because of their sexual nature and naivety.

Prom Night (2008):
The most recent Prom Night sees the same pattern as the other films I have analysed for the representation of women in horror films – that there is typically one final girl, and all the others tend to be killed in some way (usually brutally). This film focuses on one girl, Donna being threatened by a man who had previously murdered her family, including her mother who was killed in front of her eyes. Prom Night follows her story and that of Fenton’s (the killer), who attacks her and her group of friends on their school graduation prom night. After a brutal series of attacks, Donna is seen to be the last one left of her group – showing that she is the final girl. Her other young friends have all been murdered earlier on in the film, and she is left to fend for herself against Fenton – with the help of a couple of police officers. A strong representation of Donna is continually shown throughout this film, especially nearer the end where she is locked in the cupboard with Fenton, biting his hand to let her go and nearly escapes, however is eventually saved by Winn (the main police officer) shooting Fenton several times, murdering him. This type of storyline and characters is still used today in many horror films based around a group of teenagers, and shows both a good and bad stereotype of women and their personalities within horror films.

As mentioned, the representation of women in horror films has dramatically changed throughout the decades and I believe it will continue to change from here on in – hopefully not presenting women as weak and vulnerable as there are currently being shown as.

 

Paranormal Activity 4 Horror Essay

Paranormal Activity is the fourth instalment from the Paranormal Activity sequel, and perhaps the most haunting. This new horror film was released in October 2012, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman and written by Chad Feehan and Christopher Landon. Produced by Room 101, we can already assume that this film is rather low budget as I did not recognise this producing company – however, this doesn’t mean it wasn’t an effective and thrilling cinematic experience for horror lovers. This fourth instalment bases itself around a new family, with the threat being a new kid who moves in just across the street – which just happens to be around the time mysterious and supernatural events begin to occur. This film is set five years after the disappearance of Katie and Hunter (previous main characters of the sequel).

If we compare this film to Todorov’s narrative structure of horror films which say each film has a distinctive narrative to it (equilibrium, event, recognition of event, attempt to fix, new equilibrium) we can see that it both follows and challenges it as some structures are not fully completed throughout this film. An example of a feature which challenges Todorov’s theory is the very beginning of the movie which shows us the very end of the previous film with possessed Katie taking Hunter from his home after killing I believe her sister’s husband. This very first scene in Paranormal Activity 4 gives us a sense of foreboding (knowing something is going to happen before it does).This is also a good example of unrestricted narrative, as it builds suspense for the audience and lets them know more than the characters (that there is a threat about to be opposed on them). The next stages of the film do happen to follow Todorov’s theory as the event of Robbie staying with the family whilst his mum is supposedly out of town and strange things start to happen such as opening doors, chandeliers falling, and seeing figures move when using the x-box kinect in the darkness. The recognition of the event would be the main girl and her boyfriend realising the supernatural events and the ‘attempt to fix it’ would be them researching historic myths about demons and possessed children. As the film progresses, more and more threats start to occur and suspense is held for a lot longer to engage with the audience. The film ends with Katie killing all the family members and the boyfriend, leaving Alex to fend for herself whilst trying to save her younger adopted brother who now believes he is Hunter. The last shot is of many possessed civilians and the handheld camera falls to the ground as we assume Alex has been killed. This therefore challenges Todorov’s theory as there is no new equilibrium – it just suddenly ends horribly.

The audience expectation for this film I believe would be to witness a similar film to which they’ve already seen, but still be expected to be scared and nervous about viewing it. Sometimes with sequels the story can be too predictable, however, even though Paranormal Activity 4 is one of these, the storyline and editing effects hold their own as this is the most horrifying film of them all so far. As I’m not a massive horror film fan, and had already previously seen the other Paranormal Activities, I went into this film knowing what to expect although keeping an open mind. Saying this, I am glad I did as this film delivered in using the typical horror conventions to frighten me.

Paranormal Activity 4 is classed as a supernatural horror, which focuses on the events of the unknown. As this film is not a horror-comedy, slasher, gore or sci-fi horror, I believe it would be hard to create as there is no ‘real’ threat to be shown to the audience. However, not being able to visualise the threat gives the audience a more chilling and daunting experience as they are unaware of what will happen next or who/what is causing the harm. What makes this movie fit into the genre of horror is the fact that it uses certain conventions within such as the possessed child, a demon, supernatural events, death and ghosts to entice the audience in. I would say that the final girl theory is used in this film, however Alex the main female character is not connoted as strong and willing, although she does carry some features which may disagree such as; her name (unisex), the fact she researches into the threat, her strong mind set and her strong will to survive the attacks on her and her family. If she would have not been killed at the end of the film, I would say she would be the ‘final girl’ as she would’ve been the only one left standing and she is seen as the innocent virgin.

I would say the era of this film which fits into the history of horror would be around the 1960’s – where ghosts and the unknown became a huge part of the horror genre at the time to frighten and leave the audience in a fear of the unknown. Although, having only been released this year, and the starting film only in 2007 (five years previous) this shows us that the ghostly and supernatural aspects of horror are still just as popular as they used to be.

In every horror film, there are always certain character types whether it be; the victim, the possessed, the helper, the hero or the villain or so on. Within Paranormal Activity 4, we see the victims (the family members), the possessed (Robbie), the helper boyfriend (Ben) and the virgin main girl (Alex). All of these stereotypes help the audience engage with the characters, knowing who is who and what the threat exactly is. Other than these types, I cannot seem to discover any other major stereotypes included within this film, although having too many may distract the viewer from the main plot.

In most films (not just horrors) we are sure to see a few features of binary opposition and I believe Paranormal Activity’s main one would be the classic ‘good vs. evil’. This binary opposition is shown throughout most of the film, however much more unbalanced than usual – as the evil seems to rule the film and the characters do not seem to have any hope of escaping/surviving. We see the ‘good’ (Alex, her family, her adopted brother and Ben) and we see the ‘evil’ (Robbie and Katie). Another aspect of binary opposition I came across when watching this film was the simple one of ‘known vs. unknown’ and is quite clear throughout which is which.

In conclusion, although Paranormal Activity 4 is the fourth instalment of the sequel and I went into it kind of guessing and knowing what to expect, I found myself pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it (especially not being a huge horror fan). The entire plot is brilliant, the characters are easy to recognise and the held suspense when viewing the recordings during the night are well directed – as it had me frightened and nervous about events which were about to happen. Overall, a successful and enjoyable horror film – worthy of being the best film of the Paranormal sequence so far.