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Representation of women in horror films
Representation of women in horror films
Stereotypes of women in cinema
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As stated by _____, humans seem to have an odd and very salient fascination with the open body which initiates the desire of viewing horror films. The first person camera work of the horror films Friday the 13th and the Blair Witch Project convey the intimacy between the characters and the audience, allowing each individual to identify with the characters of the film in some way. Not only is the audience enabled to experience the horror first-hand, but they are allowed to satisfy their curiosity through the medium of movies.
Modern movie producers continue finding ways to make films more gory, “realistic,” and relatable. They’ve begun utilizing props and special effects to please their audience but why do the audience members prefer realistic
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Laura Mulvey claims that the camera is almost always masculine and that all women in these films are objectified and punished if they don’t please the male characters by obeying gender roles. Carol Clover, however, believes that there is more to Mulvey’s claim. Clover argues that the boys of the film also die, insinuating that punishment does not just fall on the women. She also argues that the camerawork and the film itself are about gender fluidity; both boys and girls can identify with any character of the film, be it the killer, a boy, or the final girl. Sexual ambiguity, especially in regards to the first-person camera work, are the focus of the films. To some extent, I believe both women’s claims. However, I believe there is more truth in Clover’s argument due to the fact that retributions are inflicted upon all characters regardless of gender. Yet, it does seem that women in horror films have a special place in terms of their sexuality and roles for the film. The women have ambiguous gender rules as evident by the final girl. Her act of fighting is considered a masculine activity. These masculine activities performed by females seem to be more acceptable in these films than if a male was actively portraying something feminine, such as cowering in fear. This gives validity to the argument that being masculine or feminine does not rely solely on gender, but rather the actions and reactions taking place for each
Too many horror films provide scares and screams throughout their respective cinemas. Not many viewers follow what kind of model the films follow to appease their viewers. However, after reading film theorist Carol Clover’s novel, watching one of the films she associates in the novel “Halloween”, and also watching the movie “Nightmare on Elm Street” I say almost every “slasher” or horror film follows a model similar to Clover’s. The model is a female is featured as a primary character and that females tend to always overcome a situation at some point throughout the film.
The article Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King distinguishes why we truly do crave horror movies. Stephen King goes into depth on the many reasons on why we, as humans, find horror movies intriguing and how we all have some sort of insanity within us. He does this by using different rhetorical techniques and appealing to the audience through ways such as experience, emotion and logic. Apart from that he also relates a numerous amount of aspects on why we crave horror movies to our lives. Throughout this essay I will be evaluating the authors arguments and points on why society finds horror movies so desirable and captivating.
Led by Laura Mulvey, feminist film critics have discussed the difficulty presented to female spectators by the controlling male gaze and narrative generally found in mainstream film, creating for female spectators a position that forces them into limited choices: "bisexual" identification with active male characters; identification with the passive, often victimized, female characters; or on occasion, identification with a "masculinized" active female character, who is generally punished for her unhealthy behavior. Before discussing recent improvements, it is important to note that a group of Classic Hollywood films regularly offered female spectators positive, female characters who were active in controlling narrative, gazing and desiring: the screwball comedy.
The most important events of this film all revolve around the female characters. While there are some male charac...
Although it may been seen partly as a historical accident forced by budgetary constraints, part of the mystique of the film is in how different it was to the horror audience of the day. Romero and the Image Ten team, working with black-and-white in a day in which most mainstream films were released in color, were able to use the black-and-white film to lend a certain documentary feel that evoked feelings of newsreels of the day, which were still shot in black-and-white (Hervey 26). This certain credibility evoked is one that is likely lost on contemporary audiences that grew up in a time in which the news and documentaries are delivered in color, but modern audiences should see parallels in the way The Blair Witch Project co-opted the use of VHS cameras to produce a low-cost horror film with a realistic feel to it.
The overall purpose of Carol Clover’s essay “Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film” is to illustrate the repetitive, predictable aspect that Slasher
Some would say watching horror movies and being scared out of your wits is a fun way to spend their hard earned money. They go see these movies on average once a week, each time choosing a newer version of a trilogy like “Chucky” or “The evil Dead”. Film making has come a long way over the last few decades, the graphic...
These movies allowed female characters to embody all the contradictions that could make them a woman. They were portrayed as the “femme fatale” and also “mother,” the “seductress” and at the same time the “saint,” (Newsom, 2011). Female characters were multi-faceted during this time and had much more complexity and interesting qualities than in the movies we watch today. Today, only 16% of protagonists in movies are female, and the portrayal of these women is one of sexualization and dependence rather than complexity (Newsom, 2011).
A blood-curdling horror movie has to tell a story while incorporating specific aspects that make it into the terrifying film that attracts an audience to the theaters. Using darkness, suspense, jump scares, and horrific background music, directors are able to create a movie that scares everyone. In the soon to be released film Leatherface, all of these aspects are addressed and play an important role in how scary it will be. The trailer for the upcoming thriller/horror movie, Leatherface is successful in capturing the audience’s attention by the way it uses color, camera angles, and sound effects to create a suspenseful feeling while raising intriguing questions that will persuade people to watch the film.
The Netflix film “13th” reveals and walks the audience of why mass incarceration is an extension of slavery. The film is named after the 13th amendment, which outlawed slavery, but left a significant gap between different races. The film followed a chronological timeline from the moment the 13th Amendment was ratified all the way to the 2016 presidential election. This film argues the numerous ways policy makers and the 13th Amendment allows for a form of slavery to continue to exist, and according to this film, is mainly see through the prison system. The documentary uses archival footage and experts’ comments and opinions to make the statement case clear that slavery hasn’t disappeared from the United States. In the film, the director made
In this investigation, I aim to explore how females are represented in horror films. The representation of females and males has changed dramatically in society and this is reflected in horror films. However, traditionally women in general are characterised as the damsel in distress because stereotypically they are playing the weaker role and are in instantaneous danger and attacked by a stronger character, usually played by a male.
There are many major problems in concerns to the American prison system that were presented within the movie ‘13th’ ; such as the fact that the government abused the 13th amendment by more or less throwing African americans who’d just been freed from slavery into prison systems that pushed them to forced labor. On top of this, the fact that a corporation such as ALEC can team up with other government officials and companies to enact laws that would benefit them financially and further themselves at a business standpoint.
People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified. Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned.
Feminism is a movement that supports women equality within society. In relation to film, feminism is what pushes the equal representation of females in mainstream films. Laura Mulvey is a feminist theorist that is famous for touching on this particular issue of how men and women are represented in movies. Through her studies, she discovered that many films were portraying men and women very differently from reality. She came up with a theory that best described why there is such as huge misrepresentation of the social status quos of male and female characters. She believed that mainstream film is used to maintain the status quo and prevent the realization of gender equality. This is why films are continuously following the old tradition that males are dominant and females are submissive. This is the ideology that is always present when we watch a movie. This is evident in the films from the past but also currently. It is as if the film industry is still catering to the male viewers of each generation in the same way. Laura Mulvey points out that women are constantly being seen as sexual objects, whether it is the outfits they wear or do not wear or the way they behave, or secondary characters with no symbolic cause. She states that, “in traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote it-be-looked-at-ness.”(Mulvey pg. 715). Thus, women are nevertheless displayed as nothing more than passive objects for the viewing pleasure of the audience. Mulvey also points out through her research that in every mainstream movie, there is ...
The perception of women in the United States is complex and ever-shifting, as is our attitude towards sex. American perceptions of both suffer from tunnel vision. Expectations for women and how they portray their sexuality are narrow. Society has these expectations reflected back at us through art – most popularly in American cinema. Limitations placed on sexuality and expectations for women are reflected on film in every genre. Two genres are more frequently female led – romantic comedies and horror films. The latter has undergone a significant amount of change in depiction of women. Horror speaks to one of our base, primal emotions: fear. But the fears horror plays off of are deeper and more complex than gore and guts. On a subconscious level,