Gender in the horror genre: Hard Candy

Gender in the horror genre and the final girl trope in Hard Candy (David Slade, 2006).

How gender stereotypically represented.

Within the horror genre, men are almost always presented as a killer or monster, or a just as powerful masculine figure, such as a police officer or detective. The men are always the ones to try and save the final girl, even though they often die themselves, but if not, they’re usually the killer of the monster threatening the female victim. This is so that females appear weaker, and in need of men to help them survive, which is why the final girl trope is occasionally seen as a positive for women in the film industry, as she overcomes evil and survives. However, women in horror, especially friends of the final girl, are very often killed for partaking in sexual activity, or drinking and smoking, and are also very often unclothed in their death scenes, in order to give a male gaze and sadistic viewing experience for a male audience. On the other hand, in some films women are the killer, and in lots of films where the monster is un-gendered, they use vagina dentata or phallic imagery to give the monster a gender. In films like Predator, the monster is a vagina dentata, and even in Alien when the monster is phallic, there is still vagina dentata in the structure of the monster, and the aliens are in fact a mix of both. But going back to my previous point about girls being killed for ignoring vices of the final girl, such as being sexually active or taking drugs and alcohol, they're also often killed whilst being sexualised or unclothes. My point is proven clearly in the opening of Halloween, it makes it clear what can get a girl killed in the horror genre, especially because the boy who she had sex with had walked away unharmed and it shows a clear example of the tropes in traditional horror films and where they stem from. 

Hard Candy: enigmatic horror film.

It could be argued that the film doesn’t have a final girl, and I personally agree; Hayley was never a victim of Jeff’s, she only let him believe that, she was always in control and never threatened by Jeff, so despite having some traits of a final girl, like being sexually unavailable and avoiding drugs, she can’t really be seen as the only survivor from the killer, since technically, she is the killer. Obviously this is untypical, and so are the gender roles within the film which add to it being an enigmatic film within the horror genre in terms of gender. The roles are completely switched from a typical horror film, because, in a nutshell, the paedophile is the victim, being tortured by a fourteen year old girl. As well as this, the killer in the film never actually kills anyone, she is clever enough to make Jeff kill himself, without ever actually having to harm him. However, it could be argued that she is a modern day version of the final girl, as she takes a complete twist on the typical character, yet is still technically a final girl. 

Hayley's dynamic character.

Hayley is dynamic in her appearance, especially for the main female character within a horror film. Geena Davis’s Institute of gender in the media shows that within the film industry, 36% of teenage girls are sexualized, whereas only 32% of adult women are sexualized and within this film, Hayley isn’t sexualised once, which is usually a key part of horror, that the main girl at some point is undressed, sexualized and/or vulnerable. This is yet another reason why the film could be seen as enigmatic, as Hayley (Ellen Page) takes on a diverse female role. Due to Hayley not being a stereotypical female in the film, she has to take on other roles and her main role is taking stereotypical male roles for the genre and doing them herself. Her brains and calm being during the whole situation, like mentioned before, are typically male in the genre, as well as her ability to do typically male actions, like tying a noose or performing surgery. As well as this, the investigative role that she plays, is typically a male role, as they’re normally the hero in the form of a police man or detective. After completely emasculating Jeff, like previously mentioned, and her boyish style, combined with her intelligence and calm manners during intense situations, she takes on many typically male traits, which further distances her from a typical final girl in horror films. It could be argued that it's a negative gender representation because of her taking on male roles, however the fact that she's able to take on different gender roles and be multifaceted is definitely a positive in my opinion.
 

Jeff's dynamic character.

Within the media, and horror films, men are usually the dominant figure, and this is different in Hard Candy, as Jeff is portrayed as weak and has a lack of control from the start. Men are either the powerful, invincible killer, or the hero who saves the weak female lead. However. in this case the male lead is portrayed as weak, being made to beg or his life and tortured to the point he breaks down all his own walls and tells his own story of childhood abuse. Due to him being so weak, the audience might also start to sympathise with him, which is what makes the film so controversial and dynamic. The paedophile murderer, is presented as the victim, and completely emasculated when Hayley performs a fake surgery to castrate him, causing him to beg for his own life, which is very unlike a male in a horror film, as screaming and begging for your life is a female trait in the horror genre. Jeff’s character is the complete opposite of a generic lead male in the horror genre, as he lacks any form of power or masculinity.