Feminism is defined in Webster's dictionary as, "Organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interest." Over the years it's came to mean a lot of things, all of which encompass the embodiment of empowering women. Giving women status, power, importance and above all equality in comparison to men. One of the most powerful tools we have as a society to promote the idea of feminism and the movement of equal rights for women are films. Films have the ability to reach mass audiences and spread ideas. I argue that no other genre promotes the idea of feminism better than horror.
I argue that horror does a better job than action.
Action often has heroines out of obligation and necessity. A female character is written into a screenplay because a studio feels compelled to add in a character because of an outcry from society that it wants to see more female characters. These characters are rarely leaders. Most of the time they aren't even notable sidekicks. Instead they are often forced, third wheels that seem to get in the way of the main protagonists. They feel unneeded and as if they were added to the script last second.
Other times even when they are a leader, the fact that they are female seems to be the general focus. Not that they're heroic. Not their intelligence or their bravery or their strength, but the fact that they're female. If anything it almost seems counter intuitive to the idea of feminism in the first place. If the idea is equality, to showcase that a woman can be every bit as good as a man, then it would seem that the focus should be on her characteristics and her qualities, not her sex.
I argue that horror does a better job than drama.
Women unfortunately face a lot of stereotypes in society. Drama often depicts these stereotypes. That women are supposed to be wives and mothers, the caregivers of their husbands and their children. That they have their place in our world, and they should adhere to it. Drama if anything doesn't defy these stereotypes, it defines it. Women in drama, while admirable, respectable and yes, even heroic are still often portrayed by social norms and social expectations. They're the woman that stands beside the man. The woman that stands beside her children.
Horror is where you see women shine. Horror is where you see women take on the role of heroine. Horror is where feminism is best portrayed.
Let's take the most recent horror film to come out, one that is still rocking the box office as you read this; HALLOWEEN (2018). This film is all about a heroine, Laurie Strode taking it upon herself to bravely and cleverly take on Michael Myers. She did so in the first HALLOWEEN in 1978, selflessly putting herself in potential danger to protect Tommy Doyle and Lindsay Wallace. Even more so than the original HALLOWEEN or this most recent HALLOWEEN,she aggressively went after Myers in HALLOWEEN: H20. Throughout the films she has been involved in, she has been shown as strong, resilient and resourceful.
And she wasn't the only strong female role in the HALLOWEEN franchise.
Rachel Carruthers from HALLOWEEN IV: The Return of Michael Myers was quite buoyant in her effects against Myers as well. She was courageous and extraordinarily astute. She was the leader of the film. She didn't assist the men, the men assisted her. Moustapha Akkad was once asked his greatest regret with the HALLOWEEN series, and he replied that he felt allowing the Rachel Carruthers character to be killed off was the biggest mistake that was ever made in a HALLOWEEN film.
Want other examples? Because I have them. I have lots of them.
How about Erin from YOU'RE NEXT? Holy shit. Talk about a character that is 100% kick ass. Erin outsmarts, outwits, out does everyone else in the film. She's incredibly intelligent and makeshifts MacGyverisms out of everything around her to her advantage. Showing that in a hostile situation, a woman doesn't have to be scared and hopeless. She can fight back using brains and brawn.
Nancy Adams from THE SHALLOWS? A woman being shown once again to be brave, resourceful and resilient in a dire situation.
I feel almost as if I'm being too modern and I sure as Hell don't have to be. There's nothing new in what I'm saying. It wasn't as if this resurgence of feminism suddenly got horror to wake up and jump on the bad wagon. It was driving the band wagon, full speed ahead before anyone made the suggestion.
Let's go back to the 80's.
The heroine of FRIDAY THE 13TH? The only one out of all of the men and women to figure everything out and finally defeat Mrs. Voorhees? Alice. And really something out to be said about Pamela Voorhees as well. Perhaps not as flattering, but having a female killer, a strong female antagonist was in a way symbolic for the feminist movement as well. It showed that in entertainment, be it literature, television or film, that a strong female antagonist could be every bit as frightening and threatening as any male.
Nancy from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS and WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE is also a phenomenal heroine. In the first film she is the crafty one who devises the plan to trap Freddy and defeat him. In the third film, she is the leader among the group. The one that encourages and inspires everyone to come together in an effort against Freddy. In the seventh film, again the one who has to use her intelligence and know how to defeat the monster.
Kyle from CHILD'S PLAY 2 is another classic example. Not only is she heroic in her actions but she also acts as a protector and role model to the central character of Andy Barclay. She gives the character someone to idolize and look up to, thus encouraging audience members to idolize and look up to her in the same way he does.
Erin (must be what you name a girl if you want her to turn out to be an awesome heroine) from the 2003 remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE? When everyone else has failed to even tease the thought of being a match for Leatherface and the demented Hewitt family, who cuts them down to size and has the last laugh? Erin.
Then of course I save the best for last. Be there a better example of an heroine than that of Sidney Prescott from the SCREAM films? In four films, she proves unkillable and more a threat to Ghostface than Ghostface is to her. She's the poster child for a horror movie protagonist. Strong, intelligent, brave, the total package. She has it all.
And I'm still not done quite yet.
How about also looking at it from a production point of view? In my opinion the most horrifying and terrifying film I have ever seen is Pet Sematary. I don't know if I'll ever watch a film that scares and disturbs me more than it did. Do you know who directed the film?
Mary Lambert
When asked about her vision for horror and why she was able to convey it on the screen in such an effective manner she replied that she felt it had everything to do with her being a woman. She said in partial it reminded her of being pregnant. Pregnancy for her was an unknown, and the unknown can be quite intimidating. For nine months you have to care for something you cannot see. Numerous amounts of hopes and fears accumulate about what the future will hold. I found it a rather odd response, and I'm not 100% sure if I got it or how I could connect it to the intensely frightening parts of PET SEMATARY. Yet, I don't question it because obviously it worked. I can't even think about that film without the hair on my neck and arms standing up. I'm not even comfortable typing about it right now.
So with that said, I wrap up my thesis that Feminism is best portrayed in horror. From the late 1970's up and through today, horror continues to produce the strongest, smartest and cleverest heroines of all the genres.
