Gender Stereotypes In Horror Movies
Every since its popularity began to rise back in the early 1900s, the horror genre specifically has always been one of the most gender stereotyped in the categories of film. This can be seen throughout the centuries, how the majority of women in scary movies are “classified” or determined as helpless, weak and defenseless; like the females in Friday the 13th or American Psycho. However, as time has changed (more recently) over the years, we see the same women in similar films who are able to fight back, escape the killer, and survive. This is because, they are breaking down the bonds that use to confine them. Which has, in turn, given female actors or characters the ability to outgrow such previous stereotypes that were once typically portrayed in horror films. For instance, generally in movies as Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, American Psycho and others alike, the killer or bad “guy,” ironically was far too purposefully male, powerful, and merciless. The reason for …show more content…
Since, in the old days women did little to wiggle out of their bonds as a skilled, overly masculine “creepy” guy barreled down on them. Yet, by the late 1970s to the beginning of the 20th century with the rise of feminism, these female characters are now standing up and fighting back against their aggressive attacker. Representing, not only to audience members but as “to the question of whether all of this sexualized terror, maiming, killing and possessing of young women,” in horror films is exploitative anymore (Younger)? Because truth be told, it’s not. Rather, I feel that horror flicks should not have a gender bias and instead should play on what our expectations of these characters are and what they will do within the story. Which, I believe would be a much more interesting plot twist to the rising horror genre in films
Tyler Perry Why Did I Get Married Analysis
1285 Words | 6 PagesThroughout history the portrayal of gender roles have been maintained by a specific standard, specifically where the man is the main figure, and the woman is the submissive figure that is being acted upon. However, lately, specifically the last ten or so years, many movies have shifted this ideology. These movies in modern times show increasingly more women in positions of power, as well as in marriages where there is an equal amount of power between both the husband and wife. There are also more movies showcasing non-traditional relationships, such as, domestic partnerships and LGBTQ+ relationships. One movie in particular that showcases a shift in the status quo, in terms of the masculinity and femininity expected from individuals especially that of a relationships, is Tyler Perry’s
Stereotypes In Hollywood Movies
1013 Words | 5 PagesHollywood is the home of flashing cameras, the famous red carpet, and glamorous celebrities. Hollywood is also the birthplace of extraordinary films which reach audiences across the world. The casting choices made by the film industry affects more than just the movie that is created. Hollywood directors and writers should have the social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic characters because the stereotypes offer poor (and often inaccurate) insight into the culture, negatively impacts child viewers, and limits the amount of quality roles for actors/actresses with diverse ethnic backgrounds.
The Monster As Woman Karen Hollinger Analysis
1270 Words | 6 PagesKaren Hollinger is a professor of English at Atlantic University, an author and is also a very strong feminist. Hollinger’s essay, “The Monster as Woman: Two Generations of Cat People,” is an essay merely expressing how most monsters in novels or films are characterized as masculine identities and that viewers forget how powerful feminine identities in novels and films can be. Hollinger’s goal in this essay is to explain that feminine monsters are just as frightening all masculine monsters. She uses many references to movies with feminine monsters and expresses how powerful they are compared to masculine monsters and also expresses that males and females have castration anxieties. I think Hollinger succeeded in a sophisticated way because she
The Last Noir In Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo
719 Words | 3 PagesYou would be hard pressed to find a Noir without a femme fatale. There is usually some spider woman in the middle weaving the men of the plot to her plan. These women challenge male masculinity in Noir and are usually tamed by the protagonists or destroyed. In Vertigo we have Judy. She strings Scottie along acting like she is his friends wife and she is possessed.
Psychological Themes In Alfred Hitchcock's Horror Film Psycho
774 Words | 4 PagesHowever, film critic, Robin Wood, argues that ‘since Psycho, the Hollywood cinema has implicitly recognised horror as both American and familial’ he then goes on to connect this with Psycho by claiming that it is an “innovative and influential film because it supposedly presents its horror not as the produce of forces outside American society, bit a product of the patriarchal family which is the fundamental institution of American society” he goes on to discuss how our civilisation either represses or oppresses (Skal, 1994). Woods claim then suggests that in Psycho, it is the repressions and tensions within the normal American family which produces the monster, not some alien force which was seen and suggested throughout the 1950 horror films. At the beginning of the 60’s, feminisation was regarded as castration not humanization. In “Psycho” (1960) it is claimed that the film presents conservative “moral lessons about gender roles of that the strong male is healthy and normal and the sensitive male is a disturbed figure who suffers from gener confusion” (Skal, 1994). In this section of this chapter I will look closely at how “Psycho” (1960) has layers of non-hetro-conforming and gender-non conforming themes through the use of Norman Bates whose gender identitiy is portrayed as being somewhere between male and female
Gender Stereotypes In Horror Movies: Gender Equality And Sexism In Movies
727 Words | 3 PagesIn horror movies, for example, the victim is more often a woman than a man, simply because of the stereotypical idea that women are scared easily and scream when they are in a scary situation, and just as we expect, they go to a man for help, because the proximity of a male figure is comforting and safe. In movies, brains never go well with beauty. The hot, popular girl is often not very smart and usually mean, while the smart girl is not at all attractive to the opposite sex and nerdy. We all know the typical teenage movie in which the boring girl has to be transformed into a babe in order to become attractive and desirable for men. In movies, women are almost always changing themselves to please men.
Essay On Film Noir
935 Words | 4 PagesThey use their sexuality to control and manipulate the man into doing her bidding, often these tasks are immoral acts that will benefit her, however, it would bring eventual destruction for the man. The femme fatales is often brought to justice and punished by the protagonist, ultimately she gets destroyed. Beckman adds that “the dangerous woman is almost always punished for her threat to masculinity and male power. The strong, independent, and sexually provocative femme fatale is typically subdued toward the end of the film noir, through her death, her abandonment, or her "rescue" from moral decline by a man. If it is correct that a certain Hollywood realism tends to confirm a patriarchal status quo through coordinating the gradual unmasking of the sexual power of the woman with the "epistemological drive of the narrative," then this tradition of narrative continuity itself must be of interest” (p 26-27).
Gender Stereotypes In Cowboys And Aliens
1456 Words | 6 PagesThis was formed from years of social views and gender representations in film. Women were often thought of as people who had small roles to play in life and a desire to there working class of men. The males were given heroic and superior roles, usually seen saving the day or doing what it took to support a family as seen in The Searchers where the men had to protect the family in search for their loved ones after the Indians raided the family’s home. In the movie cowboys vs aliens we also had a similar situation where the males had to leave home in search for their enemy. Males are still seen in this way in featured films and females still desired over men with their feminine aspects.
Gender Stereotypes In Get Out
1001 Words | 5 PagesGet Out is a horror film released earlier this year in February. The film centers on Chris Washington, a black man, and his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage. Rose invites Chris to a weekend trip to meet her parents. When meeting Chris, Rose’s parents are overly accommodating towards Chris and constantly speak about how much they love President Obama and other African-American people. Chris attributes this as awkward attempts to deal with their interracial relationship.
Theme Of Feminism In Thelma And Louise
1000 Words | 4 PagesRidley Scott’s ‘female buddy movie’ Thelma and Louise centres around issues of male dominance and the freedom of release from society. Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) are women suppressed by the men in their lives. They take a vacation to escape for a few days and after an attempted rape and murder they end up fugitives on the run for their lives. This unintended event ends up being for them the best adventure of their lives, as they are able to divest from the rules of society and become the independent women they are. By subverting the traditional role of gender in the genre, the film shows how feminism impacted the film industry by challenging Hollywood and the gendered myths and social patriarchy, providing women with a voice, and changing how spectators view how women are looked at through women’s eyes and their experiences.
Movie Analysis: The Maltese Falcon
1012 Words | 5 PagesIt tends to upset the traditional power balance between the sexes and construct women as powerful and men as weak and threatened. The femme fatale was; a woman who seduces, exploits, and destroys her partners. O’Shaughnessy was deceitful and homicidal but also smart and ambitious. Their independence and power can be seen as a positive step in the representation of women. These women did not conform to the traditional role of the wife and mother.
Gender Roles In The Man Who Knew Too Much By Alfred Hitchcock
653 Words | 3 PagesHollywood has always done a terrible job of depicting real women in film, and although his work has a somewhat misogynistic reputation, Alfred Hitchcock has done so much involving the progression of female roles in Hollywood cinema. Although many of his female victims wind up dead, the survivors have lots of power – and without reliance on their male counterparts. Women remain the central focus in many of Hitchcock’s films, not just because of their beauty, but because the narrative is dependent on them. When you look at his work in the context of this specific Hollywood era, Hitchcock’s female characters are very much out of the ordinary. Looking past the obvious presence of gender roles (male and female) that just so happened to be a part of the social norm during that time, Hitchcock sought to represent women with having more depth, realism, and independence than ever before in women in Hollywood.
Mean Ladies Transgendered Villains In Disney Films Analysis
524 Words | 3 PagesAmanda Putnam’s essay, “Mean Ladies: Transgendered Villains in Disney Films”, is a compelling piece on gender portrayal and views in Disney films. Putnam opened the essay with a personal anecdote about her daughter. Her daughter wanted a Disney movie without a “mean lady”, as in most Disney films the villains are scary, evil women. The real life evidence strengthened her claim that children are noticing the characterization of female villains in Disney films. The antidote was brought fill circle when she referred back to her daughter in the final paragraphs of her essay.
Post Feminism In Bridget Jones's Diary
1476 Words | 6 PagesThroughout the years femininity in Hollywood cinema has changed quite drastically. The industry has gone through several phases that changed how femininity was viewed. This paper will address the postfeminist phase in Hollywood, while focusing on the film Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001). It will show how postfeminism is viewed in cinema as well as the characteristics that make a film considered to be postfeminist. Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001) showcases all the characteristics needed in a postfeminist film which makes the film a great representative of postfeminist attitudes in media.
Secret Superstar Character Analysis
1240 Words | 5 PagesAbstract: In most parts of the world, females have always been the victim of oppressive patriarchy and male chauvinism since ages. This problem has been represented by many people through various forms of creations be it art, literature or films. Films are the most popular visual mediums of entertainment through which a large segment of people can be approached. Like literature, a film is also a work of art which mirrors the society, it also depicts the reality of the society though it has some fictionality in it.
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