It is not unusual for us to turn on a horror film and
to see a young woman helplessly running for her life. Perhaps this makes sense,
men can more easily defend themselves and so it would seem more terrifying to
have a weak woman as the victim. But is this a problem? Are women helpless and
weak? Are there horror films where woman are shown as strong and able? After
looking at some very influential horror films, and looking at feminism and
women’s history I have decided that this is not a problem in what I have come
to call the “Jumper” horror film, but it is a problem in what I call the “Blood
Bath” horror category.
As I began to dive deep into my topic I found a
distinction that needed to be made. I first consulted my own personal list of
movies to see which horror films I had watched. I began to find movies that are
very fair to the woman character and even willing to show her strength and
power. But then I moved on to do some reading in books that I had found on the
topic and realized that the movies that they were talking about were mostly
ones I had not seen. At this point I saw the need for some sort of a
distinction. On the one hand we have what I call the “Jumper” horror film.
These are movies were at a tense moment we jump because of the music and situation.
This is Signs with the family
gathered around the alien book and the phone going off. This is What Lies Beneath when the neighbor
looks through the hole in the fence and startles us. We jump, but then we are
okay. There seems to be some sense of responsibility in these films and a maturity;
it may even be fair to say that these movies, for the most part, wish us no
harm, just simply an exhilarating experience. As we look deeper into these films
we will soon see that women are treated very well. But on the other hand we
have what I must call the “Blood Bath.” I can’t say that I have even seen that
many of these films but they most certainly exist, they were especially
mentioned in the books that I found. They are movies like Carrie from the 70’s, where blood, death, rape, religious mockery
flow like, well, blood. Another good example of this would be Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.
True, I have only seen the trailers, which in and of itself was more than
enough for me, but the parental guide makes it clear that these movies have no
limit to the blood and violence that it is ready to blast upon your face. I
really do not want to get into this debate about whether this is a fair
division in the horror film genre. However, as far as my research is coming
along, though not completely compressive, it has becomes clear to me that the
“Blood Bath” is the type of movie that Haskell, Clover, and Pinedo are clearly
offended from. There is no mention of a simply “Jumper” film in the books
written by these women authors, just the “Blood Baths.”
I must now
decide which sub-genre I should talk about first, and being the person I am I
would much rather end with a “boo!” than a murder. So a trudging we must go
into the “Blood Bath.” The real birth of the “Blood Bath” horror film seems to
be in the 60’s, which comes along with the second wave of feminism. Women were
no longer focused on solely politics but rather on be treated equally in
society at large. In movies their bodies are being raped and brutally murdered.
One of the first books I looked at was From
Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies by Molly Haskell,
and with a title like that it is clear the kind of movies we will be reading
about is the “Blood Bath.” In the book she talks about the “man films”, movies
such as the Western or Gangster films, this made me think and realize that the
horror film is very much a guy-movie-genre, and this indeed is where she is also
headed. With that the case, is it okay to have women as the victims in these movies
since men are the audience? It is important to consider the male view of women
because what men think of women can have a huge or even devastating effect on
society. In her book, Haskell talks about three types of women. The
Extraordinary woman, the ones that are strong and powerful figures; the
Ordinary woman, this one is important, these are they that are the “common,”
and the passive, and are often the victims; then there are the Ordinary women
who become Extraordinary, victims who rise, or endure. I think it may be safe
to say that in the “Blood Bath” women are shown at their most victimized
states. They may rise and endure, but what this sub-genre seems to care about
most is victimizing the victim.
Let’s look at another “Blood Bath”-y title, Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the
Modern Horror Film. Clover talks about how these films are designed to
align spectators not with the male tormentor, but with the female victim, the
“final girl” who finally defeats her oppressor. In this book one of the things
that Clover talks about is the hit movie Carrie
from 1976, remember I could not help but categorize this as “Blood Bath.” I was
not totally convinced that these movies had only “Ordinary” women, but here
Clover talks about defeating her oppressor, an Ordinary young women who becomes
Extraordinary. But can we find any just plain old Extraordinary women? Or can
we really call Carrie an Ordinary to Extraordinary? She is more like Ordinary
to monstrous. Like I said before I have not a great deal of experience with the
“Blood Bath” film but Clover is willing to dig in this film and to attempt to
find the victim, the monster and the hero. Clover says that she (Carrie) is all
three. This leads her to talk about the female victim-hero. Although a female
victim-hero may sound nice, I feel like Carrie,
and movies like this have a serious problem treating women with respect. True, Carrie begins with a girl being made fun
of and even learning about puberty, leaving the potential to be a movie about
growing up and learning to fit in. However, this movie ruins any kind of
moralistic message about women with satanic powers and the brutal burning death
of her fellow students, that women are evil seems to be the only standing
moral.
In the book Recreational
terror: Women and the Pleasures of Horror Film Viewing, Pinedo tells of the
rough start that the movie Henry:
Portrait of a Serial Killer because of its almost X rating. She says that
the MPAA did not want to give it any other rating even though it was not a porno,
which is usually what an X rating was. But in our class we talked about how in The Walking Dead and potentially others,
these are simply a different type of pornography, a violent type. This movie
and others like it murder women and mutilate them. Pinedo uses the phrase “the
all-too-often female body in bits and pieces, is fraught with danger for women.”
This is not respecting or giving voice to women at all. She says that some have
called this a “woman-hating genre.” She says that “women are either absent or
cringing in distress.” There are so many clear problems with what Pindeo is
putting on the horror genre and which I am placing on the sub-genre of “Blood
Bath” horror. Pindeo continues and says that the way women are portrayed makes
it easy for the male audience to distance himself from the horror and thus
enjoy it more. She says that often the men and even the boys are watching the
horror while the girls and women are covering their eyes. She continues to talk
about how the bodies of women are brutally and violently manicured. This is
clearly a problem.
Mill in his book The
Subjection of Women says that “the legal subordination of one sex to the
other—is wrong in itself.” And that it should be replaced with what he calls “perfect
equality.” He says that the idea that women are in their place because they are
fine being there is usurped and that women, whenever they could write about
something, have protested. In order to move things toward a more perfect
equality we must seriously address and frown upon the problem that “Blood Bath”
horror presents.
Now I wanted to address at least one “Blood Bath” that
I had seen, and as much as I love it Indiana
Jones and the Temple of doom lives up to the “Blood Bath” sub-genre. It
shows a man reach into the chest of another man and pull out his heart. The
next thing we must ask this movie is how are women being treated? It is very
clear that Willie is a weak, helpless, foolish woman who is the butt of every
joke. Is there a problem here? Yes, indeed. In fact, when she is in danger and
being lowered into the fire, she cannot save herself, but the person who does
save her is not a big strong man, but a little boy. Even a child can save a
woman as long as they are male. That’s right; the rest of
the movie shows Shorty Karate kicking bad guys while Willie stands off punching
the air as a pointless support to Indi and the boy.
To ensure that this is not just a few “Blood Baths”
that are unfair to women let’s quickly look at some other “Blood Baths” to see
what is going on. Black Christmas
(1974), collage of women in a house and every one of them is a helpless victim.
Repulsion, true she has her reasons
but she is an awful murdering woman. The
Vanishing, not much blood but its “Blood Bath”-y in spirit, and no one is
easier to kid-nap and kill then a woman. Taken,
no young lady will be alright until the man saves them. Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell, has there ever been a more
ridiculous woman? The Shining,
although the women is a pretty strong woman the only way for her to escape her
husband is to run away. Even though it is not a perfect separation between
“Blood Baths” and “Jumpers,” and I am not even saying all “Blood Baths” are
sexist and all “Jumpers” are not. But I am saying there seems to be a pattern
in what I have found thus far.
Remember Haskell’s list of women, now, in this
sub-genre, the “Jumper” we actually get to see the Ordinary become
Extraordinary and just the plan old, kick butt, Extraordinary. One of my most
highly recommended and favorite horror films is Jurassic Park. This movie may not even be considered a horror by
some but if we look at it there most definitely are all the signs of a “Jumper”
horror film. What kind of woman is represented here and is it a fair
representation of real life? In Jurassic
Park, the power has been turned off, causing this whole mess, and now,
after sending a man, Mr. Arnold, the group of survivors are starting to worry
that they need to send someone else. Dr. Sattler (notice already we have
respected her with the title doctor and not just Miss) and Mr. Muldoorn decide
to go. Hammond says, “Well maybe I should go because I am a . . . and you’re a
. . .” Nice sexist comment Hammond, you almost made it sound okay. But Dr.
Sattler gets what he is saying and tells him that she will discuss survival of
the sexes when they get back. And she ends up coming through where men, Mr.
Arnold and Mr. Muldoorn, fall through. This is no Ordinary woman, she is
absolutely Extraordinary. Here in the “Jumper” Jurassic Park there is no problem with sexism. We even get to see
sexist language made fun of in this movie and of course it is Dr. Sattler who
gets to poke fun. When Dr. Malcolm uses the generic man to mean mankind, saying
that man killed God and created dinosaurs and now dinosaurs will eat man. Dr.
Sattler simply says “Dinosaurs eat man, women inherit the earth.” The last
thing that I want to say about Jurassic
Park is that they do have helpless victims, but it is the children, not the
women. It is appropriate to use a child as someone who is neither smart enough
nor strong enough to save themselves. Jurassic
Park does a beautiful job of removing the sexist idea of a damsel in
distress and allows children to be the victims. This is much easier for us to
swallow because we can grow out of childhood, but we can’t grow out of
womanhood. Now we did talk about Spielberg in our class and how he did some
growing up after Jaws, which very
much shows the woman “raped” and murdered by the shark. I would have to consider
Jaws a “Blood Bath” film, that moment when the shark expert is looking at the
body, we never see but he describes what he is looking at quite well. But in
his later film, Jurassic Park, Spielberg
is not making a “Blood Bath” film but a “Jumper” and has women fairly
represented.
Another movie that I must address is the brilliant
“Jumper” of a movie The Ring, an
actually good remake of Rungu. But it
is the American The Ring that addresses
women in a way that is fair. There are three females that we must look at,
first Samara, the little girl who is another one of Clover’s victim-heroes, she
is striking back at the world for murdering her but she has gone too far. We
must remember that Clover herself says the female victim-hero is often
monstrous in her defeating what is her enemy. Perhaps that is simply because
she is a creepy child who is not responsible enough to know who to blame and
well she did suffer one of the most awful murders imaginable. Is this a problem
or bad representation of women? Not really, it is just a badly parented child.
The second woman that we must look at is the murderous mother. She not only
murders her own child but does it in the most awful way. Is this badly representing
women? It would be if she and Samara where the only women in the movie. But the
murderous mother only shows up for a small part and she is not emphasized. And
there is nothing bad about saying that women can be this evil, as long as a
good representation is show and that is where our third character comes in.
There is nothing “Ordinary” about Rachel, she is absolutely “Extraordinary.” Rachel
is the woman that is most relatable and closest to the audience. Rachel is not
a young woman being chased by “the boogey man” like perhaps we might say in the
Nightmare on Elm Street, or even the
girl at the beginning of The Ring who
is, as far as we see, the first victim. Rachel is a responsible and able woman
who is actively looking for “the boogey man,” as it were, so that she can save
her child. No, I don’t mean to be sexist myself and I would hope that it is appropriate
to say that women have a tremendous gift to be mothers. Now even Haskell talks about
a mother’s sacrifice and there is something to be said about this mother. Some
women are evil enough to take the life of their own child, as we see with the
first woman that we looked at, but that there are also women like Rachel who
are willing to overcome any frightening encounter in order to save her son.
There is not a sexist film, unless it is toward men, with the poor helpless
ex-husband at the end, no this movie is empowering to women. And this movie is
no “Blood Bath,” it is simply a “Jumper” horror, a place where women can be and
watch safely.
“Blood Baths” got there turn; now let’s quickly look
at some more examples of “Jumpers” and their view of women. Silent House, this, by the way, was co-written
and co-directed by a woman, and the woman only seems weak until the end. The Village, the woman is the one who
saves the man. Casper, she’s not
afraid of ghosts, and the mother is a glorified angel. The Others, though she seems much worn down, she in the end will be
determined enough to stand up for her family. The Woman in Black, we get the worst of women here, but our last
focal woman is the heaven that the main character and his boy deserve. Prometheus, the woman is the strongest,
wisest, and most determined character, in fact she represents in some ways the
victory and strength that every woman who gives birth has. Dark Water, again motherly sacrifice so that her daughter will be
safe, though terrifying she faces the evil. Not
Without My Daughter, this is definitely not a “Blood Bath” and look at the
power of women represented here. The
Skeleton Key, even though the young woman is taken at the end, it is not
because of her helplessness because throughout the movie she fights for what is
right. Minority Report, we need to be
careful because we don’t want to be accused with over correction, but I think
that this movie is sincere in their attempt to show a woman being the most
powerful of the prophets. Juno, can
we count this as a horror film, I say that fewer things can be more terrifying
then a teenager learning she is pregnant, but Juno is going to have and give
away her baby rather than abort, and that is not the easy way out. Safe Haven, she faces the villain
herself. Warm Bodies, she saves the
world with her faith in the so-called lost-humanity. The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sally is actually the most smart
and sensible person. Wait Until Dark,
Hepburn’s character is no wimp and she saves herself. Night of the Hunter, here we even have a savior type that is a woman.
My sexist title Run Sweetheart, Run for Your Life, is
what I imagine some nasty man who is about to kill some helpless women in a
“Blood Bath” horror film, which in fact does seem to be a problem. But
“Jumpers” not only take away this stereotype but they empower women. Obviously
the division is not perfect and the pattern not true for every movie, but there
is some truth to the pattern of sexist “Blood Baths” and women-empowering
“Jumpers.”
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