FFS #1: Women in Horror Movies

 Horror often isn't as highly regarded as other film genres, even though it strongly reflects the values of a culture by revealing what scares society most. The films are filled with symbolism, especially regarding the feminine gender, which is frequently depicted in a negative or demeaning light. Being a feminist, this instantly caught my attention. True, there are films that include a heroine, but the majority also invoke the cliché stereotype of the hyper-sexualized, blonde "damsel in distress" who is the first one killed by a blood-thirsty psychopath due to some foolish mistake. In an attempt to dive further into the women's studies component of horror movies and see how women are represented in such films, I decided to watch three movies that are labeled as classics by the horror community: Psycho (1960), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Carrie (1976).

Psycho is one of the jewels in renowned film director Alfred Hitchcock's crown. It ushered in the era of the "slasher" film and set new levels of toleration for violence and sexuality in American movies. Whether or not people have seen the movie, they recognize the iconic shower scene in which Marion (Janet Leigh) is stabbed by an unknown killer. The film centers around Marion Crane, a secretary whose divorced lover cannot marry her due to alimony payments he owes his ex wife, and Norman Bates, a timid, disturbed man who runs the Bates Motel and is under the control of his mother. Unhappy and unfulfilled in her relationship, Marion steals $40,000 in hopes of starting a better life.

Psycho is a story of gender and power. 

At the beginning of the film, the audience sees that Marion is trapped as a subordinate in her relationship with Sam. In one of the first shots, Marion is lying on a bed with Sam situated over her in a conventional male-dominated arrangement. Though Marion is dressed only in her white undergarments, she plays the traditional pure female by telling Sam to cease his sexual advances for the moment and listen to her as she turns the topic of their conversation to marriage, which Sam expresses aversion to, illustrating the stereotypical female desire to begin a family life. Marion, in this scene, is portrayed as virtuous, playful, yet protective of her modesty. The perfect, compliant woman. This depicts the way the horror films tend to stick to standard gender roles, with women being shown as the weaker of the sexes. Later on, though, Marion adopts a more masculine demeanor when she steals the $40,000, something that a demure lady wouldn't do. Her sexuality is played up as well as she is again shown undressed, but in a black bra this time. The message this seems to send is that when women break from their feminine gender roles and become too assertive, like a man, they become dangerous and untrustworthy. The images of Marion in her underwear also enforce the notion that women are sexual objects to be sought after. When Marion arrives at the Bates Motel, Norman Bates spies on her as she undresses, but is shy around her because of his overbearing mother. In one of their conversations during Marion's stay at the motel, Norman likens Marion to a bird, which brings the two to Norman's fascination with taxidermy. He comments that he likes the look of stuffed birds because birds possess a passive nature, but he hates when wild beasts are stuffed. This implies that women are supposed to be passive and submissive, while men are meant to, like wild beasts, be dominant and aggressive. Norman portrays the male desire for dominance in his final act towards Marion. He stabs her while she is in the shower; the ultimate assertion of power and a symbolic version of rape. Her nudity represents her powerlessness and emphasizes her femininity, reinforcing the idea that women are meant to be controlled. Hitchcock makes this event to be Marion's punishment for challenging her traditional feminine identity.

Review: http://www.timeout.com/london/film/psycho

 In A Nightmare on Elm Street, the audience gets to see a variety of opposing female roles, mainly, the virginal versus the sexual. Due to the progress of the feminist movement, we also are able to witness a strong woman in a leading role, in the form of a heroine who defeats the male villain using only her own strength and intelligence. In this film, a deceased child molester, Freddy Kreuger, who has the ability to invade peoples' dreams and cause the dreamer actual physical harm while within their mind, takes it upon himself to terrorize and murder the teenage children of the parents who burned him alive. While the main character, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp), is strong, the other female teens are killed off, though. The reason? They are sexually promiscuous. While Nancy remains a virgin throughout the entire film, her friends do not. Here we encounter the classic stock character of the pretty, sexually active girl who gets killed first. It seems as if the girls are being punished for their sexual involvement, which leads to the message that sex means death in horror movies. In the scene where Tina is shown having sex with her boyfriend, Tina later falls asleep and is ripped open by Freddy. Though the film does feature a strong female lead, the argument can be made that Nancy only is able to conquer the villain due to adopting stereotypically male traits, such as anger, aggressiveness, and independence. These characteristics set her apart from the other girls in the movie. Being more masculine, she is able to be accepted by the audience as a plausible hero. Her lack of sexual urges also helps the audience to ignore her femininity. However, none of this occurs before Nancy is sexually exploited. When Nancy falls asleep while taking a bath, Freddy's clawed hand rises up out of the water between her spread legs. She is vulnerable and powerless, similar to a traditional picture of a woman, while Freddy expresses his wish to dominate and take advantage of her. Nancy escapes, but we witness her at an emotionally weak point where the message is again sent to the viewer that women are fragile and objects of desire. Nancy is also violated when she attempts to make a phone call for help and the end of the telephone transforms into Freddy's mouth, allowing Freddy to lick her. After taking on her masculine persona, though, Nancy saves herself from the killer. Unfortunately, all is not well at the end of the movie. Our heroine ends up being killed anyway, asserting that the male gender will always be dominant.

Review: http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=993

Now, here's a fun one. In this movie, the audience is given the rare image of the female horror villain. Carrie tells the story of Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) who is abused by her religiously fanatic mother and discovers that she has telekinetic abilities. Constantly bullied in school for being naive and different, Carrie is pushed to her limit by a cruel prank on prom night and unleashes her power in a deadly fashion. At the beginning of the movie, the audience in practically assaulted with female nudity as all of the girls change and shower after gym class in the locker room. During this time, Carrie experiences her first period and, having no prior knowledge of menstruation, is convinced that she is bleeding to death and is horrified. The other girls react by jeering at her and throwing tampons and pads at the naked, humiliated girl. Carrie's nudity, like Marion's in Psycho, demonstrates the powerlessness of women. Carrie's mother's reaction to Carrie's womanhood is even worse, as she condemns her daughter, furiously accusing her of being a sinner for her feminine traits, and shoving her into a storage closet to beg Jesus for forgiveness. Here, we have an extremely intense demonization of the female sex, with Carrie's mother's opposition to feminine sexual occurrences, as well as her fanaticism. The movie seems to portray women as unstable and unclean. Carrie also appears to illustrate the male fear of menstruation, as there is a substantial amount of blood that surrounds Carrie, ultimately ensuring her connection with sin and evil. On prom night, one of the popular girls dumps a bucket of pig blood all over Carrie, sending her over the edge and into insanity. Due to her newfound rage and power, she is not able to be reasoned with and she becomes absolutely terrifying, even for the boys at the dance. The audience sees that a female killer is just as threatening as a male killer. They are supposed to be afraid of Carrie when she is portrayed as equal to a man. Carrie's rampage leads to her own death at the end of the film, showing that no good can come of a woman who asserts power.

Review: http://www.timeout.com/london/film/carrie-1976

Though the leading ladies of the three films are each unique, one implication follows them: that women are sexual objects who, if given power, should be punished. Through the horror genre, a viewer can witness the fears and stereotypes that society has for females. By killing off women in horror movies who express sexual dominance or uncharacteristic strength, it might be implied that men fear female sexuality. More modern films, though, have been more influenced by the feminist movement and are beginning to depict characters who can triumph by relying on "girl power". Since women have more influence in the world today, it is easier for filmmakers to show them, not as damsels in distress, but as heroes and even monsters, but since society is very much patriarchal and, sometimes, misogynistic, there will always be movies that feature scorn for or exploitation of women.

connecting article: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/apr/06/2