Slasher films & their relation to feminism

[Jill Monroe]

With the "reimagining" of the modern classic "Nightmare on Elm Street" looming, I found myself remembering the impact of the ORIGINAL film (anyboy who is member of Generation X or older should remember the true fear factor of the original Nightmare on Elm Street).

The one thing that has always been apparent to me is the phenomena of the "FINAL GIRL", in this case, "Nancy Thompson". I would say She and Jamie Lee Curtis' "Laurie Strode" from the "Halloween" films set and raised the bar for the idea of the "Final Girl" that was only MET by "Sidney Prescott" in the "Scream" series.

Slasher films seem to have a weird connection to feminism, i think, because the sole survivor is almost always a heroine but the heroine is often forced to take on masculine traits after enduring a purging of her femininity by way of unimaginable horror.

What do you think?

[Rampage]

I can agree with that.

Another great example is Sigourney Weaver's character (Ripley?) in the Alien movies. It is not slasher but the convention is there I believe.

[Jill Monroe]

Sigourney Weaver's "Ellen Ripley" from the Alien films , at least up till Alien 3 was a FINE example of a "Final Girl". Those films were "sci fi horror" so they definately qualify.

Her character was definately "feminine" and was often ignored/overlooked by her male counterparts even as she began to see something was seriously wrong. the characters who you THOUGHT would be best suited to deal with the situation were dispatched. Ripley was left alone and forced to reach down into herself to find strengths and abilities she thought she didnt have. I think throughout the 1rst film she retained her femininity and was more relatable to a broader section of women where as in the 2nd film in (in the wake of "Rambo" mania) She took a much more masculine presentation but still showed that a woman could be just as hard and tough as a man while still retaining things like her maternal instinct toward Newt.

One interesting twist to the "Final Girl" theory that i'd like to highlight is "Sidney Prescott" in the Scream series. USUALLY the "Final Girl" (Nancy, Laurie Strode etc) is sexually unavailable. Many other female AND male characters are often punished for their carnal endeavors in these horror films including sex & drugs. Sidney, however, had sex, gave up her virginity no less and still survived. Same thing (to a lesser degree) with Alice in Nightmare on Elm Street five.

[Rampage]

I want your opinion on another "final girl" in my opinion at least.

Trinity from the Matrix.

In the end, Morpheus is neutralized, barely surviving his ordeal at the hands of the "Agents". Neo is DEAD in her arms. And Trinity, the sole survivor, one of the baddest asses in the movie, gives in to her more feminine side to profess love for Neo, get him up and spur him to the win, even managing to do it from beyond the Matrix itself.

Not horror. Not conventional. Not even the final winner but definitely the final girl saving the day.

[Jill Monroe]

I dont know if "Final Girl" would be an appropriate title for Trinity, since (as you pointed out) the Matrix doesnt remotely fall into the Horror genre.

however, she IS an example of a classic theme ....women using their talents to PASSIVELY facilitate "saving the day"....reinvented for a new generation. She clearly had power and capability to stand on her own, but rather than HER being the sole "savior" of the film, she uses her femininity to spur on the MAN to rise up and get the job done.

Think of June Clever from "Leave it to Beaver" or the mother from "Father knows best". they were women who clearly could see the bigger picture in situations the husband/father could not and yet though THEY provided him with the key to "solve the problem", it was SHE that really did so and she was content to let him have the glory for it.

That role had its purpose and in this (as some might say) "POST feminist world", Trinity was like a high tech, sleek version of it. Powerfull as she was, she still had to give the MAN the tools needed to save the day.

[Caroline Forbes]

Can I just clarify, Jill - are you saying that Slasher films with the "Final girl" are or are not "feminist"?

:)

[Jill Monroe]

I think some slasher films and their "final girls" are more FEMINIST (in their presentation) than others. I was more trying to explore the odd connection between slasher films and feminism because it has been a pattern for nearly 4 decades that a woman is the sole survivor and/or the one to defeat the monster. that ALONE would make slasher films "feminist" inspite of the horrific ways many other female victims in the films are dispatched but its not that simple.

i wanted to see what others thought. what do you think?

[Caroline Forbes]

Okay, I just wasn't sure what your position was and I didn't want to answer under false info :)

I'm not sure I ever consciously thought about it before, but I guess I generally viewed Slasher films...hmm...wait. I think that I have two competing and contradictory views. When I think of B movie horror in general, I guess I think about it as a vehicle for getting a "hot" girl naked on camera and killing her in a really graphic sexual way. lol. Like these movies are made by a bunch of guys acting like 13 year old boys.

BUT if I think about the final girl phenomenon itself, like we see in Halloween or NOES, that DOES show a female triumphing over the (stronger, meaner, eviller) bad guy. I think there I would disagree about her taking on MALE traits to do it. Though if I actually dissect it, you could say it's the "plain" girl who is allowed to be "smart" who wins in the end, not the "pretty dumb blonde" who got killed in the first 30 minutes.

So I guess I think that it is and it isn't and depends a lot on the movie.

[Jacob Black]

I really like this topic. I think in alot of ways, those kind of movies are Pro Feminist, especially the ones we've been talking about. The biggest example for me is Sydney Prescott in Scream, as that trilogy is absolutely one of my favorites.

Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson did a great job at taking the lore of horror movies and giving it life again in the 90's. Scream at once, very frightening but almost a satire on the horror movie industry itself, but I think in any of those movies, it's really the writing that comes down to it. Because i've watched a many horror movies where the woman is the protagnist and the hero, and I absolutely just don't care about her, because she seems like she HAS to be the hero because she is a woman and that's just how it's done.

Where as Laurie Strode & Sydney Prescott are the heroes because... they just have it IN them. They have a personal stake in what's coming after them, they aren't just fighting for their lives, they are fighting a "legacy".

Roman being the mastermind behind all the killers in Scream 3.
Laurie Strode being Michael's sister.

I don't know, I just think it's a little poetic how in those films in particular, these main characters take on almost a "mothering" aspect to the killer. Laurie Strode, we KNOW she wants Michael dead, but there is an odd tenderness, an almost she understands why Michael is the way that she is.. she still.. I don't know it's still like she almost LOVES him, and Sydney in Scream 3, she kills Roman, but she coddles him, she cries with him as he dies. There is both a ferocity and and an emotional bond that you will NEVER see a man have in a scary movie scenario, and I think that THAT is a powerful statement for women.

[Jill Monroe]

Okay, I just wasn't sure what your position was and I didn't want to answer under false info :)

I'm not sure I ever consciously thought about it before, but I guess I generally viewed Slasher films...hmm...wait. I think that I have two competing and contradictory views. When I think of B movie horror in general, I guess I think about it as a vehicle for getting a "hot" girl naked on camera and killing her in a really graphic sexual way. lol. Like these movies are made by a bunch of guys acting like 13 year old boys.


i like that you observed this. i think that this is one of the more disturbing, underlying themes of horror films that became more and more prevelant with the "golden age" of Horror films ushered in by Psycho.

the core of the whole "big breasted hot girl getting annihilated by the killer/monster in some graphic way" scenario really points to the fact that these movies are designed to titillate men with two primal things to them...sex and violence. These women are often unattainable to the usual sort of guys that frequent these films and so them getting killed naked (usually right after they engage in sex , the implication of sex or some other vice) is like a perverse gratification. it certainly was that way for Norman Bates in Psycho. and have you noticed how most modern serial killers in slasher films often have some deep seated psychosexual problem? from Norman Bates to Billy Loomis (Scream). Even Michael Myers who killed his sister after she was unavailable to him because she was busy sexing her boyfriend. He watched her naked before he killed her.


BUT if I think about the final girl phenomenon itself, like we see in Halloween or NOES, that DOES show a female triumphing over the (stronger, meaner, eviller) bad guy. I think there I would disagree about her taking on MALE traits to do it. Though if I actually dissect it, you could say it's the "plain" girl who is allowed to be "smart" who wins in the end, not the "pretty dumb blonde" who got killed in the first 30 minutes.

So I guess I think that it is and it isn't and depends a lot on the movie.

There's only one "pretty dumb blonde" that became a final girl and that was "Lori Campbell" from Freddy Vs Jason, though she was hardly worth caring about and rather forgetful in comparsion to other final girls/heroines from Nightmare on Elm Street or even Friday the 13th.

I think for me, the strongest examples of "Final Girls" that seem to connect and show a progression for each generation would be "Laurie Strode (Halloween) "Nancy" (Nightmare on Elmstreet) and "Sidney Prescott" (Scream) each of them could be seen as "plain" though they each had a natural beauty about themselves. each of them became the investigative consciousness of their respective films....we depended on them to find out more...as well as save us (so to speak) from the horror that came with getting too close. the only thing I notice that seperates "Sidney" from "Laurie" and "Nancy" is that she breaks from the "Final Girl" tradition of being typically sexually unavailable. Sidney has sex and yet she not only survives but she overpowers her killer outright.


Brandon notes that "Sidney" is his favorite horror movie heroine. I know my mom has always said "Laurie Strode" was her's...and "Nancy Thompson" is mine. There hasnt really been one since "Sidney Prescott" t hat has MATTERED has there?

Other notable "Final Girls" include "Alice" from Friday the 13th. "Alice Johnson" from Nightmare on Elmstreet 4 &5 who manages to stand out as one of the few Final Girls to over power the killer TWICE and live to tell about it.

[Caroline Forbes]

I meant "plain" as in contrast to the "slutty blonde" lol. The girl not wearing as much makeup etc etc etc. Not that they are unattractive in real life lol ;)