final draft of Independent study

“People might not know what we say here tonight but god they will remember what we do” [[1]]
How are women represented in ‘Slasher’ films and are the roles of women changing in this genre? Making particular reference to Texas Chainsaw Massacre- The Beginning.
The slasher genre is a type of genre that has only become a well recognised genre in the present day. In the past, films that would have fitted under the slasher genre title were known simply as horror movies. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre by Tobe Hooper was a slasher genre movie that was made in 1974 The connotations of a typical horror genre were prominent in this except this time the slasher genre began to be well known to audiences. Texas chainsaw massacre- The Beginning is a slasher film directed by Jonathan Liebsmen as a prequel to the remake of the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. “The female body is displayed for the male gaze in order to provide erotic pleasure and ultimately a sense of control over her” [[2]].This suggests that we live in a patriarchal society where men are in power and women are in passive roles and that even though time has changed so much, society is still the same as Laura Mulvey’s theory (1975) of the ‘male gaze’ is still relevant in some cases. Similarly in the slasher genre women are there for the male gaze however this has changed over time, according to the theory of the ‘final girl’ by Carol Clover “there is always a female character who is usually smarter, more conscientious, and more morally pure than her cohorts, who are usually stupid, sloppy, horny teens” [[3]] who tend to be the objects of the ‘male gaze’. Even though “women typically do not drive the narrative forward or act as protagonist” [[4]] they still are the final character to survive giving them some importance in the film rather than just using them purely for their physical attraction.

The women have become more powerful in the slasher genre 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 film the man is shown to be more masculine and comes across with no fear. Whereas now the stereotypes have some what subverted 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 which indicates the role reversal. On the other hand most films from the slasher genre still show how women are ‘symbolically annihilated’ [[5]] as they always tend to be the victims and the ‘killer’ is always a male, this is indeed the case in Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre- The Beginning being a contemporary film portrays women as dominant, for example we see Diora Baird towards the beginning of the film approaching Taylor Handley in a sexual manner as he is tied up to the bed which shows that the female is in control rather than the stereotypical male “Most men enjoy this kind of stuff” [[6]] this shows that the roles of women have developed as they are portrayed as being more bold and upfront hence this signifies the changes within the society compared to the 1970’s when the slasher genre was first established. As a result it could be suggested that males are the ones who have to cross gender rather than the typical females who originally had to cross gender as the males were mostly shown as dominant protagonists in slasher movies as they mostly tend to be the killers. In this era women were seen to be “merely token females” [[7]], however this has been counteracted by the introduction of the ‘final girl’ [[8]].

In the film Psycho (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock the shower scene where Janet Leigh is having a shower is also an attempt by the male director to attract the ‘male gaze’ [[9]]. This symbolises that “the audience is forced to see the film from a male point of view whatever gender is watching” [[10]]. The shower scene starts with a close up shot of a woman in the shower which only captures her face hence it is not explicit content although it could be perceived as the male gaze as the woman in the shower is supposedly naked. Most shots are close ups and extreme close ups as this is a technique used to hide the lower body of Janet Leigh and also the combination of the close shots with the short duration between cuts makes the sequence feel longer, more subjective, more uncontrolled, and more violent than would the images if they were presented alone or in a wider angle.

‘Representation is seen as an expression of ideology, it expresses different kinds of power relationships in society which are to do with inequalities of groups’. [[11]] Jordana Brewster challenges these dominant ideologies in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. She is portrayed as an ambitious and powerful character which challenges the stereotypes that females are associated with such as weak, emotional, and sex objects. She is a powerful character as she is shown as being brave and using weapons like gun, knife etc. The weapons represent the male side of her character and it can also be seen as phallic objects hence this reinforces her power as she can oppose the male without any fear. The weapons also show gender equality as it symbolises ‘women as representation signify castration’. [[12]]

Texas Chainsaw Massacre- The Beginning clearly suggests that the representation of women in the slasher genre has changed as women are shown to be more strong and independent. Texas Chainsaw Massacre – The Beginning proves the theory of Carol Clover incorrect as she 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. However films in the slasher genre on the whole have proven the theory of Carol Clover over many years. Films such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1978) have proven the theory correct. Clover also argues that the ‘final girl’ [[13]] becomes more masculine through "phallic appropriation"[[14]] 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. This shows the elements that have changed with time in the slasher genre such as the last girl which is prevalent in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. It happens with the virgin of the film, while the other girl who has slept with her boyfriend dies during the film. In Psycho, the female dies in the middle of the film and there is no last girl, but there is a last couple who go in search of the killer together. This shows that the generic form of the slasher genre has changed overtime. The whole link of a virgin to survival can be raised as an issue because it may outline the way society favours those who have more respect for themselves and do not give into their weaknesses. This in the movie could be showing that there is a connection to how those seen as mentally and emotionally strong in real life are also strong in the same way in movies.
On the other hand Laura Mulvey argues that ‘the audience are forced to see the film from a male point of view, whatever gender is watching’ [[15]]. This argument is partly true, as in TCM- The Beginning 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 a later scene in the film; Jordana Brewster’s boyfriend is killed. Laura Mulvey also argues that ‘male spectators enjoy the sexual pleasure in the way some women are presented’ [[16]]. This could be interpreted as a valid point as society has become more acceptant of explicit content on screen over the years and the film directors also target the male audience through showing women in seductive roles. On the other hand an oppositional view to Mulvey’s point would be that the changing roles in society suggest that female spectators enjoy sexual pleasure in the way men are presented, an example would be the scene from TCM – The Beginning where Taylor Handley is tied up to the bed semi naked which is attracting the female audience hence the roles have changed.
Patrick Phillip states that ‘the audience demand for predictability’ [[17]]. This suggests that the audience want to see the typical stereotypes being reinforced rather than subverted as in a way from this the audience gains satisfaction hence even though women in slasher films are being represented as being more active there are still stereotypes which are reinforced such as women being represented as promiscuous characters for the entertainment of the male audience. On the other hand some theorists argue that “the genre is not fixed” [[18]]. Steve Neale suggests that “if each text within a genre were, literally, the same, there would simply not be enough difference to generate either meaning or pleasure” [[19]]. This quotation suggests that there needs to be some sort of a difference between one film and another for it to appeal to the target audience hence the key to producing a successful film is to cover both aspects for the audience pleasure. For example TCM- The Beginning follows this strategy as we see the representation of women being reconstructed as they are shown to be more active in their roles whereas the psychopath killer is still the powerful male and he is in control. ‘A tale that purports to uncover the traumas that spawned a family of carnivores but is really just an excuse for blood-soaked business as usual, sending a quartet of shrilling teens through the obligatory old dark house’ [[20]]. This is a quotation for TCM – The Beginning which proves that all films within a genre have similarities as they have to follow the conventions.

According to Sharon Journal "the role of women in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction and the mating games she plays with the male character” [[21]]. This quotation also relates to the theory of Mulvey as it states that women are used in the cinema just for male visual pleasure rather than the female having any active link to the storyline. Although this perception has drastically changed over the years in the media due to feminism and women have been given more challenging roles like men. The roles of men are getting limited as women are becoming more authoritative in their approach “We’ll do as you please” [[22]]. This is a dialogue from TCM – The Beginning where Matthew Bomer is speaking to his girl friend Jordana Brewster. This dialogue signifies that the woman is in control. Looking at the character of Andrew Bryniarski it can be said that even though he is portrayed as the central psychopath killer he is shown as a passive character which can be interpreted through the way he is instructed what to do by R. Lee Ermey almost making it seem like he is not intelligent enough to take his own decision. This role reversal of males is accepted by the audience in today’s society due to people having feminist views.

At the beginning of the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre we see the birth of the psychopath which is a technique used to create a sense of realism as it tells the audience how the psychopath started out. This is a very important element as it makes the audience believe in the narrative more and get involved. This technique is a technique that has been interpreted for many years as it is also used in the film Pyscho. The killer in ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is very different from the one in ‘Psycho’ because he is actually deformed to the audience and does not look like a human however, in Psycho, the audience sees the killer as a human and this differs a lot from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This could outline that now the audience of the slasher genre may want something more than just the human form to be shown as a killer. However, this can again be viewed as a debate because what happens in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is actually true life events. The flash back taken back to the 1960’s to show the birth of the psychopath tells the audience that he is the central character as the serial killer. The 1996 hit film Scream is the prime example of realism being used in the films as in this film the settings used are realistic along with the narrative for example school, classrooms etc. Settings such as school, classrooms and college environments are used because the killer is tormenting a group of youngsters as this is one of the conventions of horror/ slasher films. The audience can relate to the situation as the primary target market for the horror genre is youngsters. TCM – The Beginning can be accused of not fulfiling the audience’s expectation as the story is “Truly lacking in originality” [[23]] and most of the scenes are shot in day light which does not give the film that horror feel as slasher is a sub genre of horror.

Both the original Texas Chainsaw Saw Massacre and the new more up to date version display characteristics of the traditional slasher film but it is their key differences majorly based on the zeitgeist that reflects the changes of time and eras of the slasher movie. Looking at the representation of women between the different ages a clear comparison between the original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the contemporary TCM – The Beginning can be made based upon the spirit of age. One of the most common differences that can be seen is that back in the 1970’s women were portrayed as being weak and helpless whereas in the 21st century women are more stronger and are shown putting up a fight against the villain. This change can be seen in other genres for example looking at Casino Royale from a totally different genre the roles of women have gone way beyond than just being there for the satisfaction of the male audience. For example the scene where Ursula walks seductively out of the water this catches the ‘male gaze’ [[24]] to signify that the roles of women have to changed to being the “figure in the landscape” [[25]] which shows that they have more importance.
Opposing Mulvey’s theory, Clover argues that every slasher film, there is a “Final Girl” character who is the only one, or one of the rare characters to be living, and in most cases it is she who kills the killer, and saves herself without the help of any authoritative figures, for example the police. “The final girl is typically sexually unavailable or virginal, avoiding the vices of the victims” [[26]] therefore, the theory suggests that she in completely independent and does not follow what the other characters do in the film. Although the character is seen to be attractive, she does not conform to being sexual under any sort of circumstances. Clover also suggests the audience identify with the killer, but then starts to identify with the ‘Final Girl’ partway during the film [[27]]. Clover argues that the ‘Final Girl’ becomes masculinised through phallic appropriation, (taking up a weapon), such as a knife or chainsaw, against the killer” [[28]]. Also Clover suggests that the villain of a slasher film is usually male, whose masculinity or sexuality is in a crisis. An example of this would be the character of Norman Bates, in Alfred Hitchcock’s famously low budgeted movie “Psycho”.

Similarly, “Texas Chainsaw massacre” is one of the many key texts in the slasher genre as it follows the typical convention that all slasher genre films are ‘the immensely generative story of a psycho killer who slashes to death a string of mostly female victims, one by one, until he is subdued or killed, usually by one girl who has survived.’ [[29]] this is the case in most slasher genre films. Texas Chainsaw Massacre- The Beginning follows these conventions as it includes a female protagonist whom we follow throughout the movie and we share the experiences that she faces when seeing her fellow colleagues dead. The killer in Texas Chainsaw Massacre however did not only kill women. At the beginning he killed the males who were the female characters boyfriend. However, later we see that the killer does kill the homeless male’s girlfriends. Also the fact that he went for Diora Baird and Jordana Brewster suggests that he was capable of killing them too and would have. The fact that we associate the killer instantly to be a male figure, suggests that the film is showing female strength to be stronger than that of a male’s. The audience relates to the movie and feel sadistic pleasures towards the things happening to the other characters. This builds up suspense in the audience as we are all aware that something is bound to happen, yet we are kept thinking when it will happen. The character of Jordana Brewster, the female protagonist in Texas Chainsaw massacre, uses a dagger which she stabs the killer with. It is said that because the ‘Final Girl’ appears to be virginal, and chaste, the reason why she is the character who kills the killer, and the fact that she continuously stabs the killer, suggests that she is taking out her sexual frustration on the character. By using a knife or a dagger, the protagonist appears to be getting close to the killer, and intimately has contact with the killer. Also the knife or the dagger is always shown to be long, which can be referred to as a sexual object or a phallic symbol. For example, when Jordana Brewster stabs the killer, she is releasing sexual tension. This is why the director does not portray the ‘Final Girl’ to be sexually active and seductive towards other characters in the film. This links to the film noir genre, where women in movies were killed if they were to be sexually provocative in any sort of way.In the slasher genre women are seen to play the role of the femme fatale, as they do not rely upon men. More contemporary slasher films, portray women to be virginal and show them to fight off any temptation of having sex with another character in the film. The slasher genre portrays women to be strong against men, and show the other characters including women to be naïve. I have researched films where this repetitions of conventional aspects have arised and this is only one of my main film texts that there is a strong female character in is portrayed vastly in is the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a horror/slasher genre, potentially art house movie and depicts an opposed view of the stereotype that women should only be seen as domestic housewives, and are only good in the house. This shows, the slasher genre has evolved overtime due to the fact that the audience demands much more from what they are viewing. The genre itself has developed because people get too bored with watching the same old storylines and ask for something more than that, so as time has gone by the slasher genre has developed too. Jonathan Liebesman conventionally uses a typicality of slasher genre films and portrays the female protagonist in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (Jordana Brewster) to be independent on a male character for sexual needs and pleasure. The women often aspire to the female viewers and therefore they play predominant figures in most slasher genre movies.
During the cause of the film we view her experiences as a voyeur, and we see the struggles she as a character, whom we as an audience identify with, goes through. We see her determination to save others' lives. By playing such a strong character in the film, the audiences aspire to her as a role model. This is a key typicality in most slasher genre movies as the majority of women are represented to play stronger character roles. However in society itself this hasn’t always been the case.

[1] Texas chainsaw massacre (2006)

[2] Mulvey, Laura, (1975) Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Pg 67
[3] http://www.cinemademerde.com/Essay-Final_Girl.shtml
[4] Mulvey, Laura, (1975) Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema Pg 82

[5] Tuchman Gaye (1978) ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, Pg 37
[6] Texas Chainsaw Massacre – The Beginning (2006)
[7] Gunter, Barry (1995) Television and Gender Representation
[8] Clover, Carol (1993) Men, Women and Chainsaws, Pg 34
[9] Mulvey, Laura (1975) Visual Pleasures and Narrative Cinema
[10] IBID
[11] Burton, Graeme, (1999) ‘ Media and Popular Culture’ Pg 87
[12] Mulvey, Laura, (1975), Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema Pg 92
[13] Clover, Carol, (1993), Men, Women, and Chainsaws pg 34
[14] IBID
[15] Mulvey, Laura, (1975), Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema
[16] IBID
[17] Phillips Patrick, (1996) Understanding Film Texts, Pg 25
[18] Maltby Richard, (2003) Hollywood Cinema Pg 46
[19] Neale Steve, (1980) Introduction
[20] http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/oct/13/horror
[21] Journal Sharon Smith, (1972) Women And Film, Pg 67
[22] Texas Chainsaw Massacre- The Beginning (2006)
[23] http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/737/737607p1.html
[24] Mulvey, Laura, (1975) Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema
[25] Turner, Graham, (1989) The Film Cultures reader, New York
[26] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_girl
[27] IBID
[28] IBID
[29] Clover, Carol, (1993), Men, Women, and Chainsaws, pg 34