Like every other genre, Horror as a medium has always stuck to certain rules and conventions that have created stereotypes and structures that we have become associated with. One of these stereotypes commonly put forward is that of horror having a reactionary agenda in terms of the genders (commonly with women being objectified, weak and in a damsel in distress role whilst the men are head strong, objectifiers and commonly actually play the roles of the monsters themselves). Throughout this essay I shall seek to analyse this stereotype to see just how valid it is.
First of all we must recognise a basic structure of horror that largely owes its conception back to the ‘slasher’ films of the late 70s and the 80s starting all the way back in Halloween. Typically there will be a small list of main characters (largely in their teens or considered young by society’s standards) of which most will be promiscuous and hedonistic except for one girl who is commonly identified as “the final girl”. Whilst the rest are slaughtered by the psychopath/monster; the final girl will largely survive, and fight back against the monster in turn becoming slightly monstrous herself. It is this whole “promiscuity = death” ideology reflected in the horror genre that has propagated for many the reactionary stereotype. However is this an implied intention of the genre or simply a misreading on part of the audience?
John Carpenter (director of Halloween) claims that it has been a misinterpretation. He claimed that the reason for the deaths of the more sexually active teens in Halloween over Laurie (the virginal and androgynous protagonist of Halloween) is that they were distracted by modern life over their hedonistic life styles, whilst Laurie is smarter due to her being far more observant. Whilst this is perhaps true, Halloween had created a larger force horror films to come that would perhaps propagate this incorrect image.
One interesting interpretation of the issue of gender representation is the consistency at which characters are indeed promiscuous. It could indeed be argued that the large consistency in which characters engage in sexual behaviour in the horror genre could be an attempt by the individual creators to show sexual conduct as an act of normality and merely part of society having little to no agenda implied upon it. By and large the horror usually begins as an unusual event in the otherwise normal lives of the individual which if anything interrupts their usual lives rather than condemns it, perhaps vilifying the monster for being the interrupting force oppressing the progressive viewpoint.
Whilst this does perhaps create an interesting discussion point, it also does not deny the general nature of the characters. In class we have been studying for instance 3 distinct films in the forms of Halloween, The Shinning and Eden Lake. By and large we see Laurie from Halloween as weak cowering and screaming for help, Wendy (the female lead of ‘The shining’) attempting to be merely a wife and mother whilst cowering from her violent and abusive husband and finally Jenny (The female lead of ‘Eden Lake’) being originally identified as a sex object and until the very end of the film (in which she kills two children) she is identified as also being helpless. The men on the other hand are shown to be monstrous in the form of Mike Myers, Psychotic and abusive in the form of Jack and Brett being violent and largely one minded. Indeed were we to analyse this from a straightforward basis we would gain the impression that women are the weaker and more vulnerable of the genders whilst men are the more controlling and powerful which is certainly a reactionary agenda. With such a large percentage of the horror audience being men as well, perhaps it could be interpreted that this is an attempt at earning more profit merely by reinforcing the ideology of male empowerment in an otherwise more progressive time.
It must however be noted how the final girls eventually become. In all three cases displayed, the final girls all rise to the occasion and fight back against their male oppressors (with Laurie repeatedly killing Mike Myers, Wendy hitting jack with a baseball bat and stabbing his hand and finally Jenny aiming to stab the hand of the man who ultimately does indeed kill her) perhaps signifying a counter attack to the male empowerment idea with the more reactionary female empowerment as all three women change to their times and events to attain more masculine qualities to survive (e.g. violence and in the cases of Jenny and Wendy a paternal like defensive role).
Weighing the arguments back and forth, I would say that Horror as a genre is perhaps more progressive than it is reactionary, however it is largely deniable that there is at least some very reactionary elements within the medium as a whole.
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