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Example research essay topic: Gender In Horror Films Carrie Alien And Amityville - 2,094 words

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The representation of gender in horror films varies from director to director, writer to writer. However certain characteristics of gender representation do, at times follow a certain theme. Whilst studying the evolution of horror films it struck me that in some cases the film, while appearing to differ only ever so slightly from the novel upon which it was based, would create images onscreen that would imply things that the novel had never done. Through the tiny differences between novel and film is where insight is to be gained about the audience to which the film is aimed and also about the directors perspective on the novel itself. In Brian De Palmas production on Carrie I will analyze the representation of women in the film and of their relationships with men and most importantly with one another. Again in Alien Resurrection, which is interesting because the character of Ripley is developed and so more focus is given to her relationships with other characters but also to her sexuality.

Finally Amityville Horror is interesting because while initially it will appear that a normal family dynamic is being attacked in the house it becomes clear that the lack of biological link between George and the children makes him as a male character closer to the audience and therefore more relatable than to the family. Finally I will look fleetingly at the gender representations in Anne Rices Interview with a Vampire and how they appear to differ but in fact are very much like the other three texts. In Brian De Palmas adaptation of the Stephen King novel Carrie the focus is completely on all things female. While many films and novels previously were more concerned with the male hero while using female roles as the victims Carries relatable characters were, with the exception of Tommy Ross, all female.

While the film does not deviate hugely from the novel certain scenes were cut and more attention is paid to the highly sexed atmosphere between the characters. Filmed in 1979 the film concentrates a large proportion of its subliminal messaging on the changing sexual attitudes and promiscuity of the youth at that time and juxtaposes these new attitudes with its main character, Carrie. The film concerns itself from the beginning with creating a clear difference between Carrie and her peers especially in relation to sex. The opening sequence where the girls are changing in the locker rooms is rife with nudity; girls openly walk around completely naked. There is slow, almost romantic music playing and the scenes are played out in slow motion with the girls laughing and chatting. The eroticism is palpable and the music is dream like and beautiful.

When we see Carrie in the shower she faces the wall, she is immediately different in the sense that she does not celebrate her body like the others but rather hides it in an almost shameful way. While the other girls flaunt their bodies and metaphorically their sexuality Carrie denies hers and showers alone. The music changes when we are introduced to Carrie in the shower however and it seems to imply a beauty or an innocence to her that is lacking in the others, Her hair hangs over her breasts and she is very much Eve-like in her stance and image in the shower. The almost religious image is interrupted by the appearance of menstrual blood on her legs where she becomes terrified and seeks help or solace from her peers. What ensues is almost like a witch hunt, a frenzied tribal attack where Carrie is backed into a corner and almost heckled by the girls as they throw sanitary towels at her. Whats interesting here is the way in which women are represented in this opening scene, especially when considering a male audience.

The other girls are represented in a slightly erotic fashion. There is no focus on what the girls discuss or laugh about, their nudity and lack of shame is what the attention of the audience is most drawn to. The changing room scene is quite charged sexually, this mood is interrupted by a virgins religious type moment which is quite violently rejected and ridiculed by the girls. Carries lack of understanding of her own femininity and her sexuality is not relatable by the other girls who are therefore portrayed as being not just sexual but also apathetic to someone who is not like they are. The novel by King is interested in the sexual atmosphere between these young adults but the movie brings that to another level. De Palma heightens the atmosphere in the movie, in some early scenes the camera focuses on the groin of some of the male characters, unlike other contemporary horror films the men are more objectified sexually than the women.

The film concerns itself with female relationships, Miss Collins adopts a slightly male role when she slaps Carrie when she is hysterical in the shower, however for the most part the film and the novel is based around an all female world in which the male characters not only lack any type of depth but also are merely there as pillars for the plot as opposed to offering any particular insight into the message of the film. One of the most representative characters in the film and novel of the sexually confidant young woman is Chris Hargensen. She is one of the girls carrying out the assault on Carrie in the shower. Although it is fairly subtle in the novel, there is nothing subtle about her sexuality in the film. Everything about her from her stance to her manner of speaking is sexually charged.

In the car scene in which Chris travels to a party with her boyfriend Billy Nolan played by John Travolta the sexual tension is rife. The mood of the scene changes quickly several times from one of violence to one of highly charged sexual tension, it presents the main female character, Chris as being highly sexed and also is gives the impression that not only does she have a major weapon at her disposal, sex but also that she knows exactly how to use that weapon too get what she wants. Although the couple argue in the scene and he slaps her a number of times the violence does not have the impact that might be expected, Chris seems to enjoy the act and actually antagonise's Billy. The fact that Chris was slapped just one scene before by Miss Collins in a much more violent and forceful way actually takes from the masculinity of the act in this scene and makes it more of an achievement by Chris to have pushed him that far than a show of male strength. When Chris performs a sexual act on Billy at the end of the scene she does it only after proclaiming to him that she wants him to do something for her, the scene ends then not with her explaining what it is she wants him to do but with her statement I hate Carrie White. This scene is important to our understanding of the male and female roles in the novel.

Excluding Sue and Miss Collins the female roles are representative of all that is wrong and malicious in the film. The men are weak, the act only in response to an order by a female character be it out of love, like Tommy or out of sexual desire like Billy Nolan. The differences between male and female characters are expressed with a variety of techniques throughout the film most notably by the split bitter lens technique that De Palma uses. This technique is most obvious in the classroom scene where the teacher reads aloud a poem that Tommy has written, thus giving him a more sensitive and gentle image than that of any other male character in the film or novel.

When Carrie announces to the class that she thinks that the poem is beautiful the screen splits between a close up of Tommys facial expression of sympathy as the teacher ridicules Carrie and a further away view of Carrie in her usual stance with her head hung low. De Palma also uses this technique not just to create a link between the two characters but also to expose a reason for this link; Tommys defiance towards the teacher because of his treatment of Carrie. Although initially it might seem that the male role of protector was being acted out here it quickly becomes apparent that this is not so. Tommy is coerced by his girlfriend Sue into bringing Carrie to the prom. In the scene where he finally agrees to do so we see a very deliberate juxtaposition between the relationship between Sue and Tommy, or the good relationship and the relationship between Billy and Chris which is the representation of the bad in the film and novel.

Tommy watches and old western while Sue studies, there is silence between them and then he relents causing her to smile. To compare that with the scene of sex violence and underage drinking in the car between Billy and Chris is to expose a clear difference between the two that is made more deliberate in the movie. But what is the function of these juxtaposing couples? What were King and De Palma trying to encourage their audiences to think? The only one of the four that survives is Sue so the novel makes no dramatic statements about following a certain level of morals to guarantee an extended life as some horror films do, or does it?

Tommys death is a complete accident totally unrelated to Carrie. The steel bucket hits him on the head and he dies. This occurs both in then novel and in the film. Even though one of the films heroines Miss Collins is killed during Carries wrath However this occurs only in the film where more visual dramatic sequences were necessary, the main focus is on the fear and the chaos. To instil fear in the audience De Palma had to kill off the character that he felt the audience was highly likely to relate to, one that was not going to be the final girl. The novel tended to be more preoccupied with the story, relationships between characters and the development of Carries rage and her telekinetic abilities than the film.

In fact it is interesting that there is no dialogue involved in Miss Collins death it is merely visual and as dramatic as any other death scene meaning that De Palma changes the novel but only visually. Sue being the final girl would have been predictable in the film was it not for the death of Miss Collins. In the novel the obsession with the cult of feminine power continues and a psychic relationship between Sue and Carrie after her death is described, in the film however this is omitted and for more dramatic purposes and infamous horrific nightmare scene replaces it. Both the novel and the film make statements on gender, however De Palmas adaptation merely reflects his interpretations of these statements and he omits and adds details that reflect his ideas.

In the novel for example Carrie destroys the entire town, this was probably omitted for economical reasons alone. However the novel did not have as many female characters as the film and chose to centre its attentions mainly on smaller more intense group. The fact that the film failed to give the same depth to its characters did, I felt not work to its advantage however considering its genre its probable that De Palma was aware that he had to focus on scaring his audience rather than piquing their interests in the lives of characters that were going to die anyway. The screenplay for Carrie was written in the early seventies, what is reflected in the film is a preoccupation with the sexual revolution of sorts that was going on among young people especially women. Although the film retains a large proportion of the novels main themes a difference of perspective is clear in the film.

De Palmas adaptation of Carrie dispels the gender stereotypes of other horror films. It is a female film; it creates an air of mystery around women, their relationships with each other, with religion and their fundamental feminine abilities and how they use them individually. Another important gender representation in the film is that of Carries mother. As with most horror films of this type the paternal role is unfulfilled. Motherhood is portrayed as something that needs to b...


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Research essay sample on Gender In Horror Films Carrie Alien And Amityville

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