Representation essay

Sarah Dobb’s Theories of feminism in horror suggests that many horror films, primarily slashers include female victims, with a primary focus on the character’s looks, rather than playing an important role in the plot. These are referred to as ‘Scream Queens’, and are used primarily to appeal to horror’s primarily male audience. This could link back to the theme of teen punishment, as these characters are targeted for their sexually provocative nature, which is seen as sinful by Christians. Iconic scream queens include Psycho’s Janet Leigh, who was victimized whilst naked in the shower. The fact that she was attacked using a knife, which is a phallic object wielded by a male antagonist could be used to connote rape. Our character in our summer trailer shares traits associated with scream queens such as vulnerability, and consistent screams for help. However, as she runs low on medication she becomes her own antagonist, and presents a sense of ‘Male dominance’ over her pure self with the use of a knife (phallic object) as a weapon, similar to Psycho’s Norman Bates.

Clover’s theory of the final girl suggests that at the end of a slasher film, one female survives to face off against the (typically male) antagonist, and has usually avoided the actions taken by the other victims such as drug use, sex before marriage etc. Presenting her as pure and innocent. Iconic final girl characters include Alien (1979)’s Ellen Ripley, who finishes off the alien antagonist who killed and impregnated the other members of the crew, which similarly to psycho, connotes rape. Unlike Janet Leigh however, Ripley was able to stand up against the threat, something even the other males were unable to do. Our character shares similarities to the final girl trope, as she is pure and innocent, and for the resolution of our summer trailer’s film, we intended for our character to face off against her inner evil and succeed, however to be a true final girl our protagonist would have to be the last survivor of a group, yet ours was a singular protagonist.

Themes of religion and sexuality are explored through Derry’s theory of haunting sand demonic possession, as he believes that that the concept of possession carries sexual connotations as the evil forces are typically males taking control over a female body. Religious symbols such as crucifixes are commonly used to ward off evil spirits. The transformation of an innocent young girl into a demon possessed monster connotes the theme of loss of innocence. An example of an iconic possessed girl character is The Exorcist’s Reagan MacNeil. She goes against Christian morals by her demonic actions and foul mouth. While the concept of possession hasn’t been explored in our trailer, it shares similarities due to our character’s lack of control of their own body. 

Gramsci’s theory of The Hegemonic model suggests that dominant groups in society maintain the ‘spontaneous consent’ or subordinate groups to keep their dominance in society. The ideas of hegemony work through ideologies : narrow views of elements of real life. our summer trailer includes elements of hegemony, such as the use of dolls as a prop, as these are typically toys for girls. However, it goes against hegemony for a teenager to be playing with toys intended for children, and our character is also given a sense of Male power through the wielding of the knife, a phallic object.

Derry’s theory of the human monster deals with the evil within a character, or insanity, giving the viewer more details on the inner workings of the antagonist’s mind, allowing us to sympathise with the trauma of their past. this concept is explored in our summer trailer through our protagonist becoming insane after running out of her medication. This makes her both the protagonist and antagonist, as she has to fight against her own inner evil.