Gender Politics and Roles in a Horror Film Essay Example for Free

sexual activity Politics and Roles in a detestation submit EssayGender politics in abomination films ar non altogether that difficult to clutch mainly because they devise a specific post for the various genders. That is the gender politics argon comminuted more than a version on class roles in society. In fact, steady an individual who has a passing interest in execration films can see that the heroes and villains are manful and the victims are preponderantly wo men. This is the common, tried and true cliched method of cranking out horror movies on an assembly line basis. thither are, of course, some excellent horror films that alter the generic methodology of producing horror films that prescribe to a bingle minded of opinions of what are the proper gender roles that are give in horror movies. Often, we see men as the hero and women as either the victim or the hero. In reality, when it comes to gender roles in horror films in that respect re tout ensembley are n o differences because these contrastive roles are based on human interpretations deriving from external opinion in the film itself it is the monster that defines the role and the monster invariably defines the role of all human regardless of gender as devour.When it comes to drive in theater/direct to DVD releases, dependable study is often difficult. Films that are cranked out to cash in on a niche mart are generally not works of art. Those horror films that do rise to a higher take aim of art, however, can provide a brilliant insight into the multitude of variances of gender roles that exist. In examining gender roles in horror films, iodin could split the genre into two halves the pre-ALIEN era and the post-ALIEN era. In the era prior to 1979s edge film ALIEN, the perceived role of women was that of the unwilling victim who wasGender Roles in Horror Films Page 2 menaced by the vampire, werewolf, artificial construct et al and needed a hero to save her. This is referred t o as a perceived eruptance because the role of the fe phallic character was true(a)ly much stronger then that in accredited films. (In the more B grade films the role of the victim was a cardboard one lacking in both depth) With the release of ALIEN, a female character was presented as a strong adversary of the monster. alternatively of needing to be saved, the female heroine defeats the monster quite handily. This would become the more common female role in horror movies.Unfortunately, this more active role would be perverted into the last victim stereotype crafted in the slasher films of the 1980s a role that still exists for many female characters to this really day. Of course, not all female gender roles are heroines or victims. The recent release of SAW III brought back the lesser utilise c at a timept of the female villain. The most famous example could be found in 1932s underrated DRACULAS DAUGHTER. duration the role of the female vampire was effective, there was litt le interest in continuing to use females in horror movie heavy roles.The usage of a female in a horror role was restrict although it was not without precedent. A female werewolf de furthered in lost werewolf film unimaginatively title THE WEREWOLF. (Female werewolves would return in such(prenominal) films as SHE WOLF OF LONDON and CRY OF THE WEREWOLF) But, this picky role was limited. bring forward roles of females in the monster role range from the exploitative (THE VAMPIRE LOVERS) to the downright silly (FRANKENSTEINS DAUGHTER) to the brilliant (THE EXORCIST) opus this particular gender role ofGender Roles in Horror Films Page 3 villainess is limited it is not without precedent and it does occasionally appear. In rare instances, it is done effectively as seen in films such as the aforementioned SAW III and THE DEVILS REJECTS. There are questions that need to be raised in cost of how a womans role vs. a male role in a horror film is devised. While some may look for a profoun d answer to this the real answer is somewhat mundane. That is to say, the roles presented in many of these films are alone reflections of common themes.Consider the following assessment In a knowledge base ordered by sexual imbalance, please in feeling has been split between active/male and peaceable/female. The determining male gaze projects a fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their tralatitious flasher role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact (Mulvey 203) In other words, the gender roles prevalent in most horror films was simply what the audience had grown modify to expecting.If the audiences of the 1930s sat down in a dark theater in the 1930s and were do by to a female hero in DRACULA or KING KONG the films would have been radically incompatible in their narrative. Audiences generally expected a common role for men and women in horror films and any departure from t hese roles may run the risk of being rejected. Well, they will not be rejected if they are scripted swell up. In the 1976 KING KONG remake, Jessica Langs dopey dialogue to Kong did change her role from the frightened Fay Wray of the original film, but not in a good way.Screaming at the top of your lungs at the sight of a monstrous ape makes sense. Looking at a gigantic amorous Gender Roles in Horror Films Page 4 ape and saying This isnt going to work out is just outright silly. It simply is not the role people expect in a situation of grave terror. But traditional roles do not always exhibit passivity. In a way, Fay Wrays fear and terror is not so much submission or passivity as much as it is obstinate. She rejects Kong and stands up for herself. Her screams are screams of defiance and such defiance throws Kong off his game plan.As such, her role is really not as passive as one would assume. She does stand up to the creature, but unlike Jessica Langes obtuse reaction Wrays reacti on is believable. This is what makes her defiance believable. In a way, gender roles in horror films really more blurred than most would ab initio assume. Consider the following conclusion From its beginning gothic writing entwined culture and economy as well as blurring sexual boundaries and disturbing aesthetic and moral categories. (Botting 135) On the surface, many would be disinclined to ensure with such a statement.After all, what blurring of gender roles are there to be found in a horror film? Prior to ALIEN, the roles of men and women were starkly contrasted. In the post ALIEN world, women take on a more active role. This is hardly blurring. In fact, the roles are fairly obvious and pronounced. Again, this is what might appear to be the fact on the surface because on the surface we are looking at the actual action of the characters. The roles of the characters do not change regardless of the decade the film was produced. That is to say, human being whether they are male or female remain victims in horror films.Gender Roles in Horror Films Page 5 That is, Ripley may be active in ALIEN but she is the prey of the alien no different from the role of Fay Wray in KING KONG. Even in 1942s THE WOLFMAN we can see a variant of this. Consider Evelyn Ankers role in the film her character Gwen is far from a weak female. She is a very independent and strong character. At the films climax, she goes out in the woods by herself looking for her boyfriend even though she knows a werewolf is prowling. Of course, the werewolf attacks her because that is what werewolves do.The werewolf like aliens, vampires and giant monsters only sees humans as prey. The creature often does not see gender roles. The role to the creature is irrelevant beyond visual perception humans as victims. Victims are essentially the repressed regardless of their gender role. What is primal Repression? Let us call it the ability of the speaking being always already haunted by the other, to div ide, reject and repeat. Without one division, one separation one subject/object having been constituted why? Perhaps because of the maternal anguish, unable(p) to be satisfied within the encompassing symbolic. (Kristeva 12) As such, the gender role of the active male or active/passive female never really changes. The role they play is always reactive to the creature and this makes them perfect for the role of a victim. This may seem like a odd way of looking at the roles because it deviates from the commonality of what we are grown to expect in horror films. This is because Cinema is at once a form of perception and a material perceived, a new way of encountering reality Gender Roles in Horror Films Page 6 and a part of reality thereby discovered for the foremost time. (Shaviro 40) That is, one of the benefits to enjoying a film is watching how humans are presented. Even in fantastic films such as the horror genre there is a unique insight into reality present and that particular reality is both the different roles genders play (passive/active) based on human perception and then there is the monsters perception prey. As such, there are different roles and suspicious roles occurring at the same time. As doggy illustrates If she had been taciturn in the street, Anne-Marie was anything but in the privacy of her own kitchen.Gone was the guarded curiosity, to be replaced by a stream of lively chatter and constant scurrying between a half xii minor domestic tasks, like a juggler keeping several states spinning at once. (Barker 74) That is, a singular person can play many roles based on varying perceptions. While there are many different types of horror films, all horror films center on the common theme of piranha and prey. While sometimes there may be variants to the role ( a sympathetic monster, a damage human hero, etc) the end result always returns to the original theme predators seek their prey.Sometimes, the prey is passive and sometimes the prey remain s passive. Of course, prey can be both male and female and, unfortunately, the gender roles of the prey often follow common stereotypes. However, to the classic monster gender roles are irrelevant to the monster all humans are prey and that trumps gender roles completely. This is not to say that there are no nuances found in the various gender roles. But, as far as the creature is concerned all humans are prey no matter how they act or react through the course of the film.Bibliography Barker, Clive. The Forbidde. In IN THE FLESH TALES OF TERROR. New York Poseidon Press, 1986. 67 108. Botting, F. Candy Gothic. In GOTHIC CAMBRIDGE Boydell Brewer, 2001. 133 151. Kristeva, Julia. Powers of Horror A psychoanalyse in Abjection. New York Columbia University Press, 1982. Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative cinema. Shaviro, Steven. Film Theory and Visual Fascination. In THE CINEMATIC BODY. Minneapolis University of Minneapolis Press, 1993. 1 65.