Pauls media course work
Fear is a natural instinct. People resort to such things as horror films, white knuckle rides and extreme sports to get the adrenaline rush. The adrenaline rush masks the fear and thus entertaining the participant. This is why the horror genre is one of the most successful and sought after. The scarier the film the better. Not only do horror films provide pleasure from watching they also represent society’s views on certain issues such as femininity and the woman’s role in society.
One of the first horror films was the house of the devil or as otherwise known the haunted castle 1896. This film purpose was to amuse people but it had a negative effect and this was effectively the birth of the horror film as they contained what society now views as generic conventions of horror films. This then set a trend for the production of horror films. Most of the early horror films were based on horror novels such as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Nosfertu. The progression of the horror genre started to incorporate the views of society within these films. An example of this is Alfred Hitchcock’s psycho in 1960. This is a time when women are seen to be sexually independent and ideologically the man was the one in control the bread winner and to see a woman being sexually independent was straying away from the norms of society and something had to enforce society’s views on such issues. This is where the horror genre comes into its element as it allows for society’s views to be portrayed within these films and there is an underlying message within such films as psycho. This film consists of a man who is obsessed with his own mother and who is a killer of women. The killer uses a knife to penetrate the women leading to death. This set a trend for the future slasher films as this was a symbolic killing of women. These women are shown to be sexually active and sexually independent. The knife is used in a phallic manner to show women that the man is in control and by stabbing these women there sexual independence has been removed by a man. Women in horror films are not seen as much more than sex objects that will eventually be hacked down by the killer as the sexually active girls are the ones who traditionally die first. “Horror is cultural apparatus for keeping the sexually active woman in her place”.
Horror movies represent what society is scared of and enforce the ideas of what has to be done to restore the equilibrium. Most horror films are extremely sexist putting the sexually active female in the role of the damsel in distress while the male comes and “saves” the female by taking away her power by killing her. Although this is the case within most films there is also the concept of the final girl. This is usally the girl who isn’t sexually active. The one who is geeky and quiet. This further enforces the idea that the good girls survuive and the bad girls get killed. An example of this is scream as cindy survuives and is the final girl. the FinalGirl is a virtuous character distinguishable from the rest of the film castbecause she possesses several exceptional traits: her avoidance of sexualactivity, her watchful “paranoia” which allows her to be “resourceful in apinch” when danger strikes, and her “boyish” (i.e., not girlish and weak)nature(2).
One of the first horror films was the house of the devil or as otherwise known the haunted castle 1896. This film purpose was to amuse people but it had a negative effect and this was effectively the birth of the horror film as they contained what society now views as generic conventions of horror films. This then set a trend for the production of horror films. Most of the early horror films were based on horror novels such as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Nosfertu. The progression of the horror genre started to incorporate the views of society within these films. An example of this is Alfred Hitchcock’s psycho in 1960. This is a time when women are seen to be sexually independent and ideologically the man was the one in control the bread winner and to see a woman being sexually independent was straying away from the norms of society and something had to enforce society’s views on such issues. This is where the horror genre comes into its element as it allows for society’s views to be portrayed within these films and there is an underlying message within such films as psycho. This film consists of a man who is obsessed with his own mother and who is a killer of women. The killer uses a knife to penetrate the women leading to death. This set a trend for the future slasher films as this was a symbolic killing of women. These women are shown to be sexually active and sexually independent. The knife is used in a phallic manner to show women that the man is in control and by stabbing these women there sexual independence has been removed by a man. Women in horror films are not seen as much more than sex objects that will eventually be hacked down by the killer as the sexually active girls are the ones who traditionally die first. “Horror is cultural apparatus for keeping the sexually active woman in her place”.
Horror movies represent what society is scared of and enforce the ideas of what has to be done to restore the equilibrium. Most horror films are extremely sexist putting the sexually active female in the role of the damsel in distress while the male comes and “saves” the female by taking away her power by killing her. Although this is the case within most films there is also the concept of the final girl. This is usally the girl who isn’t sexually active. The one who is geeky and quiet. This further enforces the idea that the good girls survuive and the bad girls get killed. An example of this is scream as cindy survuives and is the final girl. the FinalGirl is a virtuous character distinguishable from the rest of the film castbecause she possesses several exceptional traits: her avoidance of sexualactivity, her watchful “paranoia” which allows her to be “resourceful in apinch” when danger strikes, and her “boyish” (i.e., not girlish and weak)nature(2).
2.(Clover, Men, Women 39-40).
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