Detailed Essay Plan

How women are represented in ‘Slasher’ films and are the roles of women changing in this genre? Making particular reference to Texas chainsaw massacre- the beginning (2006).

My independent study focuses on the representation of women in the Slasher genre looking into detail on how the roles of women have developed since the early 1970’s when the genre was discovered. I chose to look at TCM – the beginning as the main text because I feel it’s a contemporary film which shows the roles of women have changed and Texas chainsaw massacre in particular goes back a long way as it was one of the first films made in this genre in 1974. Hence I will be able to compare the two films and come to a conclusion with evidence that the roles of women have changed over the years. Another dimension to my study will be looking at the theory of Carol Clover and analysing whether or not Slasher films still have a ‘final girl’ at the end of the movies and also looking at Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze. (G, TH, H)

Alongside TCM (1974) other texts I will focus on are ‘The wrong turn’ (2003) and from a different genre ‘Casino Royal’ (2006), it is vital to look at another genre to get wider knowledge on how women are represented in cinema. On the other hand it is also equally important to analyse historic texts like Texas chainsaw massacre, Psycho etc as they will give an indication of how much the roles of women have changed in the genre over the years. Casino Royal will allow me to determine if women are portrayed the same in every genre. (OT, R, H)

TCM– the beginning does not confirm the theory of Carol Clover ‘Final Girl’:

TCM – the beginning proves the theory incorrect as Carol Clover states that the final girl fights the villain and survives. In this film the final character to survive is a female but she is killed by the psychopath at the end. Although films in the slasher genre on the whole have proven the theory of Carol Clover over many years. Films such as TCM (1974) and Halloween have proven the theory correct. Clover also argues that the final female becomes masculinised through "phallic appropriation" by taking up a weapon, such as a knife or chainsaw, against the killer. This argument of Clover is shown in the film as Jordana Brewster, who is the final female to survive confronts the villain with a knife in order to escape. (OT, TH, G)

TCM- the beginning confirms to Mulvey's 'male gaze':

On the other hand Mulvey argues that the audience are forced the see the film from a male point of view, whatever gender is watching. This statement is partly true, as in TCM- the beginning (Jonathan Liebsmen, 2006), Jordana Brewster’s friend in the movie Diora Baird, who happens to be a female, is murdered. Mulvey’s Male Gaze view can be contradicted as in by a later scene in the film; Jordana Brewster’s boyfriend is killed, resulting in her being attacked by Andrew Bryniarski however she is also killed at the end by him. Another Scene which confirms Mulvey’s theory is at the beginning of the film when Diora Baird takes her t-shirt off and is shown in provocative lingerie as she approaches her boyfriend Taylor Handley for a sexual intercourse. This scene is purely there for the satisfaction of the male audience. (TH, R, A)

Representation of women:

The women have become more powerful and they are shown to be equally as dominant as men usually are. Hence this shows that women are just as strong as men. In a traditional slasher genre film the man is shown to be more masculine and comes across with no fear. Whereas now the stereotypes have some what changed as women are shown to be fighting against the evil rather than being shown helpless, an example of a film which shows that is Creep (2004) as the female protagonist is compelling towards the monster on the other hand the male is shown to be quiet indicating that he is not willing to help.

Throughout the years the representation of women has not changed drastically, however has been represented in two ways. The first is the final girl, who is the last person alive to confront the killer. The final girl is conventionally sexually unavailable, shares a history with the killer and sometimes has a unisex name. The second type of representation is voyeuristic; as Laura Mulvey argues that male spectators enjoy the sexual pleasure in the way some women are presented.

Sharon Smith Journal (1972): Women and Film "The role of women in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction and the mating games she plays with the male character”. This quotation shows that women are used in cinema just for the pleasure of the male audience rather than them having any active role in the film. Although this as I mentioned earlier this opinion of people has drastically changed over the years. (OT, TH, R, A)

Are the roles of men getting limited?

The role of Leather face in the film TCM- the beginning is fully controlled by the character of Sheriff Hoyt almost making Leather face seem like a passive character as he is being told what to do assuming that he is not intelligent enough to make his own decisions. This role reversal of males is accepted by the audience in today’s society due to people having feminist views. (TH, M).

Some of the Key scenes I will be focusing on in detail:

The main scene I will focus on from the historic text is a famous scene from Psycho (1960) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The shower scene is where Janet Leigh is having a shower and she is murdered by a mysterious killer, as much as it is part of the story the scene is purely there for the male gaze. Another scene which I will analyse during the course of this essay is of Diora Baird in TCM- the beginning taking her t-shirt off so the audience can see her in provocative lingerie, this is another scene which attracts the male audience. On the other hand there is a big difference in the explicit content of this scene and the shower scene from Psycho, it can be said that the society has become more modern and more explicit content in films is becoming acceptable. The values in the 60’s era were that women were not exposed as much as they are today. From the same scene of TCM- the beginning I would also like to point out how the male character’s hands are tied up to the bed showing that the women is in control. This shows the changing roles of women in this genre. (OT, H, R, TH)

Books

1. The cinema Book
2. Clover’s book on Men, Women, and Chain Saws
3. Brian Murphy : monster movies
4. Mulvey, Laura, 1975,-'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema'

Websites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film)
http://www.newline.com/properties/texaschainsawmassacrethebeginningrated.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slasher_film
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Texas_Chain_Saw_Massacre
http://firefox.org/news/articles/12/1/Review----Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre-The-Beginning/Page1.html