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.

TOP FIVE: Horror Films.

TOP FIVE: Horror films.

Like the 'top five' posts I did before, this is my top five horror films, which will fit into all different sub genres of horror, and could possibly not be considered horrors to some, but personally, I'm categorising all of these as horror. 

(AGAIN, no particular order.)

1. It Follows (David Robert Mitchell, 2014).

I watched this film for the first time quite recently, and it has just the perfect amount of "scary" for it to be enjoyable, and leave me able to sleep comfortable that night. I love the fact that it's a new idea, and not something I've seen before. Many horror films use social fears and present them in the form of a monster, like The Hills Have Eyes or Eden Lake. Yes, vampire films could also be said to be a metaphor for societies fears of STI's and the spreading of them, but I feel like this film is done so differently, and  I like that. Although, the ending was ambiguous and felt like it was cut short. Despite the ending though, I would definitely recommend watching this if you're looking for an unpredictable horror film.

2. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980).

Like I said in my Top Five films post, I adore this film and Nicholson's performance is absolutely fantastic. It's a wonderful portrayal of Stephen King's book, and definitely something to watch if you're wanting a classic, or simply something different.

3. The Amityville Horror (Andrew Douglas, 2005).

If you didn't guess from my Deadpool review (I did try to be subtle), I am in love with Ryan Reynolds, and his performance in this film just makes me love him even more; the intensity of his character is insane, and causes me to watch this remake of the 1979 original over and over again. This is a film for those who like to be scared, and it always makes me jump, time after time.

4. The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014).

This film is one of the most terrifying horror films I have ever seen! I've only been able to watch it full throughout once, and I genuinely struggled to sleep without seeing figures in the dark corners of my bedroom. Honestly, it's terrifying, but the storyline is enigmatic and worth the watch. Despite the young boy being extremely frustrating to watch at times, he redeems himself eventually and makes the film worth watching.

5. The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991).

An absolute classic! There isn't much to say about this one, as I like to rudely assume that everyone has seen it due to its mass following and popularity. It follows a detective played by Jodie Foster who seeks help from Hannibal Lecter, and despite my personal disliking to Foster, I could watch this film over and over.

Film Review: Talk To Her.

FILM REVIEW: Talk To Her (Pedro Almodovar, 2002).

Originally titled, Hable Con Ella, I am currently studying this film for my A2 Film Studies exam and felt that reviewing it would help gather clear thoughts on the film in terms of 'empowered women in world cinema', and be used as a revision technique.

When first watching the film I got the impression that I should have been bored from the start, but I actually got really interested almost instantly, with the character of Benigno definitely intriguing to me from the start, and finding Lydia empowering one minute, then disempowered the next, I just wanted to keep watching to try and make sense of the film. 

It's definitely a good film to use as a counter argument for Empowered Women in my exam, but there is some points that could be used supporting empowerment; Lydia's multi faceted lifestyle and personality, being portrayed as a beautiful, popular woman, who also takes on a typically masculine role as a bullfighter makes her extremely enigmatic and empowered. However, spoiler alert, when she let's the bull put her into a coma purely for El Nino, I felt like her empowerment went straight out of the window. Earlier in the film El Nino's friend said "She'd let the bull tear her apart if it meant you'd see", and that's exactly what she did.

Benigno and Marco's friendship is so disempowering for the women on screen, as they both have full control of Alicia and Lydia and both, especially Benigno sexual and take advantage of the powerless women. The use of the friendship also results in a warmer feel for Benigno, as we associate ourselves with Marco and eventually start to feel sorry for Benigno before we take the time to real how twisted he actually is.

The cross cutting and non-chronological order of the film definitely makes it a more intriguing viewing experience, as you're not entirely sure of any character until you're pretty far into the film. Despite the dark themes in the storyline,the empowering references to Franco's era in Spain via the Opera and Alicia's fighting nature, with Lydia's powerful lifestyle, the women in the film can be seen as mostly empowered, except when they're given passive roles, which eventually do lead to them being empowered, most of the time. This film is definitely half and half in terms of empowered women, and I can see why some people didn't enjoy it, but personally I did.

TOP FIVE: Favourite Films of All Time.

As one of my first posts I felt like it would be necessary to do a couple "Top Five" posts to give a sense of what I like and what sort of things I will be posting, so I thought I'd start with my 'Top Five Favourite Films of All Time."

(IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, that's just too difficult.)

1. Pretty Woman (Garry Marshall, 1990)

Pretty Woman has to be my all time favourite 'typical girly film', and I'm not particularly a massive fan of chick flicks or rom-coms, but this is definitely an exception. I watched it for the first time when I was pretty young, and got fairly obsessed with it, then last year I studied it in AS Film and really got to know the film inside and out. It is definitely a very predictable storyline, but Julia Roberts and Richard Gere really play the parts perfectly, and provide audiences with romance, comedy and a pleasant viewing experience. The whole lacking of independence and reliance on men theme does bug me slightly, but despite this it's just a great film, especially if you're looking for a typical cliche filled girly film without cringing at today's romcom cinema.

2. Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)

I remember in my early teens I used to see gifs of this on Tumblr alllll the time, and one day I decided I needed to watch it, and when I did I'm pretty sure I ended up watching it multiple times the same week. I absolutely fell in love with it, which was strange at the time because I had never really been into 'indie' films. The peculiar storyline, dark themes and soundtrack all intrigued me and stole my attention away; I ended up googling the meanings behind the story line, downloading the soundtrack and watching youtube videos to explain the film to me, I was hooked. The film was also a shared interest between myself and my boyfriend when we first met, being one of his favourite films too it created so much more interest in the film and resulted in me watching it an unbelievable amount of times since discovering it a few years ago.

3. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975)

Watching this film for the first time as a young child I remember thinking how strange it was, and it wasn't until I was in my teens that I actually began to appreciate how fantastic it actually is. If I could see any movie in an actual theatre, it would definitely be this one, because on screen it's definitely a one of a kind film, so to see it live would more than likely be unbelievable. The acting, mise en scene, and soundtrack absolutely make the film, and I couldn't think of any ways in which they could be improved. Tim Curry played an absolutely incredible Frank-N-Furter, a part that I could never believed would be played by him until I saw it. Curry, Sarandon and Bostwick played the lead roles like you wouldn't believe and they definitely made the film so spectacularly unique that it made it into my all time favourites.

4. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

Another film that I first watched at a young age and absolutely loved, this has to be my all time favourite horror film. From being a child my dad introduced me to various different horror films, varying from Hammer Horror to Stephen King, and this just so happens to be one that I loved more than the others. I read multiple King books throughout my teens, Carrie being my favourite, but the film, neither the original or the multiple remakes, really did it for me, but The Shining is a film I could watch hundreds of times over. This was my first time seeing Nicholson on screen too, and he was what really sold the film to me; Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Jack Torrance was perfection, creating such suspense and was definitely Oscar worthy in my opinion.

5. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)

I absolutely adore Tarantino, so this film being in my top five is no surprise to most, but I just had to put it in this list because of how many times I've seen it, and still continue to watch it. The multitude of fantastic actors, the film making and mise en scene make the film so much more watchable, as the storyline alone could be seen as not particularly enigmatic. Nonetheless, I still love the film, and the viewing experience is almost unique, as a film like this is so hard to find, with action, humour and sophisticated performances from all the cast.