I am going
to be talking about how women are represented in horror films and why they are
represented in certain ways. This essay will also help me to understand how
women are viewed by critics in horror films.
An important
film theorist is Laura Mulvey who came up with the theory of the male gaze. Mulvey’s
theory is that women are portrayed as sexual objects and that the audience are
made to identify with the male protagonist because of the way that the camera used.
For example, the camera will linger specifically on the body of the female
using long shots and reaction shots of the male’s face.
One film
that features a female as the main protagonist is The Unborn (2009, David. S. Goyer). In this film we see the main
character Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) fighting against an evil entity that is
growing inside her, it turns out to be a young boy who is her dead twin brother
(who died in the womb). I feel that this film represents Mulvey’s theory as the
female is seen quite often in revealing clothing (as can be seen by the
trailer), she is also in a relationship and the man sacrifices himself so that
she can live.
I also feel that the idea that the female is
pregnant adheres to Mulvey’s theory because this is an entirely female event. It
also suggests that as this ‘baby’ is male, it will be controlling her and she
will end up playing a domestic role.
I also feel
that this film represents the male gaze because the entity that is stalking her
is male; I feel that this could be used to describe the theory that females are
seen as objects by males. In several of the scenes we see Casey wearing very
little clothing; this is explicitly shown by the way that the camera focuses on
her legs. This theory is also proved right by the fact that although Casey is
the protagonist, the audience are connecting with her boyfriend because the
camera constantly focuses on him to see his reaction to whatever is happening
in that scene.
Another film
that adheres to Mulvey’s theory is Nosferatu (1922, F.W. Murnau).In this film
we see a vulnerable young woman Ellen, being pursued (and then sacrificed) by
the villain Nosferatu (a male vampire). I feel that this exemplifies Mulvey’s
theory as the woman is very beautiful but unable to protect herself. We also
see her running to her fiancé who tries his hardest to protect her.
Admittedly, this film was set in a time period
when woman where still seen as helpless objects, (well, more so than now) but it
still adheres with Mulvey’s theory.
In the main
scene when we see Ellen succumbing to Nosferatu, she is wearing a nightie which
is quite low cut; this further represents the fact that women are seen as
objects of desire, or something to be protected rather than strong, resourceful
(modern) women.
Carol Clover
is another important theorist. Her theory is entirely different to Mulvey’s
theory as she created the final girl theory. The final girl theory is that the
girl who survives has both male and female qualities. The final girl normally
has an androgynous name i.e. Laurie from Halloween (1978, John Carpenter) and is the only girl who has
not been taking drugs, drinking or having sex. She believes that because of
this the audience (male or female) find it easier to connect with the final
girl and not the villain.
A film that adheres to Clover’s theory is Jennifer’s
Body (2009, Karyn Kusama). The two main characters are Jennifer (Megan Fox) and
Needy (Amanda Seyfried).
Although in
this film we see Jennifer using her sexual identity to seduce boys and then eat
them, I feel that she is still a victim as she was not made into a demon by
choice. Needy plays the victim-hero, as she is Jennifer’s best friend. We see
her go through the usual problem of no one believing her when she tells them
that Jennifer is the murderer.
However, we
also see her reaction after her boyfriend is killed by Jennifer. In a way, this
film is similar to Carrie (1976, Brian De Palma) as it is set in high school
and it revolves around relationships, this means that the overall audience for
the film is quite female orientated. However, as the main actress is revered by
many teenage boys I feel that they would also make up a lot of the audience. Carrie
was also very popular with boys, as they identified with the bullying, this
theory could also be confirmed with Needy.
Despite the
fact that normally the final girl has tomboy qualities, Needy has a boyfriend
and we see them having sex which is quite a contrast to the normal profile of
the final girl. I still think that the male audience will identify with Needy
as she is quite unpopular (because she is a nerd) compared to the other females
in this film and she also ends up killing Jennifer and acquiring some demonic
qualities.
Another
reason I feel that Needy adheres to the final girl identity is because she is
not obsessed with the indie rock band that feature in the film (this is the
band that sacrifice Jennifer in the first place so they can become famous). By
this I mean that even in real life quite often there is a certain boy band that
teenage girls become obsessed with, to the boys chagrin. This happens in
Jennifer’s Body, but Needy does not trust/like them even before she finds out
that they sacrificed Jennifer.
A further
reason I feel that this film adheres to Clover’s theory is because at the end,
Needy is incarcerated in an asylum for females. She ends up escaping and
killing the boy band that caused all of the problems in the first place.
Another film
that I feel can relate to Clover’s theory is Psycho (1960 Alfred Hitchcock).
The main character is Lila Craine (Vera Miles). Lila exemplifies Clover’s
theory as she works out who killed her sister Marion (Janet Leigh) before her
male accomplices are able to. Admittedly, she is rescued just after Norman
Bates (Anthony Perkins) attacks her but she still adheres to the final girl
theory as she works out the mystery and is the first person to try finding
Marion, therefore rebelling against the theory that only men were the hero’s.
I feel that
Laura Mulvey does have a strong point as quite often women are still
represented as weak, helpless characters that need a man to help protect and/or
rescue them. I also agree that the audience do normally agree with the male
protagonist depending on how he regards the woman.
Another theorist that has a
view that is similar to this is Gloria Jean Watkins. Admittedly her theory is
to do with how black women are stereotypically represented in films, but I
still think that both of their views are very similar, as both black and white
woman are normally categorised and pigeonholed.
Admittedly though, this theory
does have a weak point as she wrote her book around the time when feminism had
a strong hold on the world of cinema. In the 70’s and 80’s, a second wave of feminism
came about and several important laws came into place; Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex
Discrimination Act 1975. Females were also allowed into formerly all-male
colleges for the first time and Margaret Thatcher became president.
On the other
hand however, I feel that Carol Clover has an equally strong point as she is
also very correct in saying that females are quite often portrayed as the
hero/victim or the last girl. This is especially true when it comes to modern
day slasher films when the one surviving victim is usually female, because she
has been fighting.
Another
theorist that shares this view is Rhona
J. Berenstein. She agrees with Clover in her book Spectatorship- as-Drag:
Re-Dressing Classic Horror Cinema. She says that horror films are constantly
mixing genders together so that women are the hero’s (which further points to
Clover’s theory). Admittedly she does focus on Horror classics, but she does
have the same theory as Clover.
I do feel
though that Clover could be incorrect, as there are many different horror films
where the audience are made to connect with the male character as he is put in
the main role of the protagonist e.g. The Woman In Black (2012, James Watkins).
I think that it is quite a hard decision to
decide which of these two theorists I agree with the most as they both have
strong points and weak points. When it comes to Clover, I do agree with her
viewpoint but I also feel that not all Horror films want the audience to
identify with the female character as the last girl; this is especially true in
Hostel (2005, Eli Roth).
However, there are many films that have female killers such as Friday
the 13th (1980, Sean S. Cunningham).
Admittedly
though, Mulvey also has some strong and weak points.
It is very true that some women
are still portrayed as delicate creatures that need to be rescued; this is
evident in Drag Me to Hell (2009, Sam Raimi) as the main protagonist asks for
help from her boyfriend and still ends up being dragged into hell, despite
their best efforts.
However, they are also portrayed as strong and resourceful
in other horror films e.g. Teeth (2007, Mitchell Lichtenstein)
Overall
however, I would say that I agree with Mulvey as quite often I will watch a
horror film where the women are treated like delicate creatures or objects of
sexual attention.
The Unborn trailer :/http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1283325977/
Nosferatu IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/
Jennifer's Body trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4062052889/
Psycho trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi607099161/
Woman in Black trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi385981977/
Friday the 13th IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080761/
Hostel trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi462422297/
Drag Me to Hell trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3899917081/
Teeth trailer: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3870359833/
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