When one thinks of the horror movies of the 1970s and 1980s, scenarios of obviously fake gore and campy female actresses usually spring to mind as normally stereotypical elements of the genre. In addition to this, there is usually the character of the “final girl,” the female character who survives by either escaping or defeating the antagonistic force at the end of the film, who differentiates in language use and body language to the other females of the films who ultimately become victims to the murderous villain. However, the film Friday the 13th not only shows the difference in the language of the final girl, Alice, to the other young women in the film, but it also shows a fluidity of gendered style in Bill, one of the young men in the …show more content…
After being shut down for many years, it finally reopens to become a full-fledged camp again, much to the uneasiness of the residents who live near there. The film follows Alice, Bill, and other camp counselors, all of whom are in their late teens, as they begin to get the camp ready before the campers arrive in two weeks’ time. During the late afternoon and evening hours, however, the counselors are killed off one by one by an unseen character without raising the suspicions of the remaining teens, and it is only when Alice discovers Bill’s body that she discovers that all of her friends are dead, and she is in immediate danger. As Alice shelters in place and attempts to come up with a plan to protect herself, a woman named Mrs. Voorhees drives up to the cabin and attempts to console her, claiming to be a friend of Alice’s boss, Steve. After observing Brenda’s corpse on the floor of the cabin, Mrs. Voorhees drops the façade and confesses that she is the murderer. She explains that her son, Jason, attended the summer camp years ago and that he drowned due to the negligence of the counselors and that Jason tells her to kill anyone who comes to the camp from beyond the grave. Mrs. Voorhees then becomes violent and attempts to kill Alice with a large knife, but Alice narrowly escapes …show more content…
She is first introduced to the audience doing heavy labor on her own accord while telling the senior counselor that she already has her mind set on returning home; she obviously has plan that she wants to stick to, but she reluctantly stays on the condition that she can return home to California in a week if she hates working at the camp. However, she also kind, demure, and she does not go out of her way to dominate a situation, which makes her adhere to the “good girl” archetype that usually goes hand-in-hand with the “final girl” archetype. Her friend Bill is similar in his characterization as well; he is nice, not physically or socially imposing, and he is helpful in whatever way he can
The media is a powerful tool and has the ability to influence and change one’s overall perspective of the world and the position they play in it. Although Television shows such as Friday Night Lights are seen as entertainment by consumers, its storyline contributes to the social construction of reality about class in the United States.
Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton: Princeton Publishing, 1992.
Gender roles are a common if outdated, categorization of the ‘right’ ideas of what men and women are to do and be. Often unchanged throughout the decades and appearing to just develop into more complex entities as the year’s pass. These roles encompass ideas of day-to-day life, personal interactions, and often job prospects as well. Although vilified and greatly disliked by many, to the point people go against them, these roles are often portrayed in films, both old and new. The film we have just watched, His Girl Friday, has some instances of these roles and showcases the main character, Hildy, breaking a few of these gender roles.
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.
Throughout the century gender roles have changed dramatically. During the 60s roles were given to certain genders. Stereotyping them to play the action of what their gender was expected to do. One may believe that a man or women should have a specific role, but as the years came, certain genders stuck up for themselves, making a statement that they are just as capable to do anything anyone else does. The 1968 drama film Night of the Living Dead directed by George Romero is full of gender discrimination. This movie shows the typical actions of how women and males were supposed to act during the 60s; however, the roles played in this film have changed majorly over the years. Women and males have every right to play any role they want in today’s world. Romero may leave the audience angry with how he judges gender roles in
a very forceful and cunning character and straight away forms herself as leader in the midst of the girls.
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).
4. Wilson, Wayne. Sexuality in the Land of Oz. Friday the the 13th films Essay
The American black comedy The Wolf of Wall Street directed by Martin Scorsese was released December 25, 2013 and stars the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie. While on face value The Wolf of Wall Street looks like a film about excessive cocaine binges, long evenings filled with men with cigarettes, large portions of alcoholic consumption, having many sexual escapades with various women and even dwarf tossing from time to time, the film is deeply rooted in perception gender within the genre of The Wolf of Wall Street. The word ‘genre’ is rooted into a similar category as
Film scholar and gender theorist Linda Williams begins her article “Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess,” with an anecdote about a dispute between herself and her son, regarding what is considered “gross,” (727) in films. It is this anecdote that invites her readers to understand the motivations and implications of films that fall under the category of “body” genre, namely, horror films, melodramas, (henceforth referred to as “weepies”) and pornography. Williams explains that, in regards to excess, the constant attempts at “determining where to draw the line,” (727) has inspired her and other theorists alike to question the inspirations, motivations, and implications of these “body genre” films. After her own research and consideration, Williams explains that she believes there is “value in thinking about the form, function, and system of seemingly gratuitous excesses in these three genres,” (728) and she will attempt to prove that these films are excessive on purpose, in order to inspire a collective physical effect on the audience that cannot be experienced when watching other genres.
A couple weeks into the school year, she comes to realize that “[she] is [an] outcast”; excluded from all clans and social events because everyone thinks she called the police at Kyle Rodgers’ summer party to break up the fun (Anderson 2). She feels alone and as if no one would listen to what she has to say, therefore she does not attempt to reconnect with old friends, and tell them the truth. After being dumped by her only remaining friend, Heather, Melinda finds herself in quite the predicament; she is now completely and utterly alone. She realizes that she does not even have a ‘disposable’ friend to make her feel better about herself, until her lab partner, David Petrakis begins talking to her more. While conversing with David, she realizes she is finally able to call someone a true friend. She asks if he “lectures all [his] friends like [that]” and he responds by saying “only the [friends] I like” (Anderson 159). She no longer feels alone; she is comforted, knowing that she has someone to lean back on if she feels sad or is in need of assistance. Melinda’s character shows growth and development, as she starts the year with no friends and no social life, though by the end of the year, she has finally succeeded in making a true
” By this quote it shows that she is more of the kind of person that has to have a logic behind of everything before it’s done. The stereotype that would fit her would be the wallflower type because of her lack of being sociable.
As defined by Carol Clover the final girl of horror films of the slasher genre will also set herself apart from the crowd. The final girl will be level-headed and fully understand the situation at hand. Often times the final girl is the only one who will sense the danger in of the situation, much like the viewers of the film. The final girl will also likely try to be the protector of others in the film, ultimately becoming the film’s hero. The final girl also has a strong will to survive, traditionally a male role.
For example, the opening scene in the thriller-parody, Scary Movie, the first to die is a very promiscuous girl played by Carmen Electra who is being chased down by the murder. In this scene the murder reaches for her and somehow rips all of her clothes off. She runs half naked through the water sprinklers in slow motion like if she was in Baywatch running her hands through her hair, touching her body, while making sexual jesters with her face only to be murdered. Scary movie pokes fun at the typical horror genre “final girl” trope by overly exaggerating this scene. Scary Movie comments on this trope and demonstrates what happens to the sexual and unpure women in the typical horror films, they die first and there is no
By mid-September Jared’s mom, Kendra decides it’s time for everyone from the camp to meet up again before Halloween. She plans an all weekend sleepover at their house. Friends from all over the state will come and party the whole weekend through.