The role of women in horror movies...

[SymphonicX]

Hey all
I was thinking about the role of women in horror movies recently, spanning the eras of horror films - there's a wide assumption that Ripley was one of the first true strong female leads, and from there the perception of women changed in the genre...

But I don't think that's necessarily true, as the idealogical "pure" female lead was promoted through decades of horror films from the 80s to present day.

However we're more likely to see women getting dirtier in the actual films, rather than always running away we sometimes see more brutal behaviour coming through certain characters.

How do you feel certain director's have portrayed women in horror movies? Do you think it's been fair or are the stereotypical characterisations of females just as stereotypical as the portrayal of men?

We all know Romero has traversed the gender issue in the dead movies - with strong female leads in both Dawn and Day of the Dead - however did this perception shift from the meek and uninteresting Barbara from Night to Fran in Dawn because of the first Alien movie?

I'm basically starting a bit of research, and want to know what the ground level opinion is from the fans of proper horror movies. Think about a female character in a horror movie, what interests you about them, and give us some details on why you think their role is important or damaging...whatever comes to your mind about female characters in horror movies - either leading or supporting - and "spill your guts"...

[krakenslayer]

We all know Romero has traversed the gender issue in the dead movies - with strong female leads in both Dawn and Day of the Dead - however did this perception shift from the meek and uninteresting Barbara from Night to Fran in Dawn because of the first Alien movie?


Dawn was actually released over a year before Alien. I personally think there were a number of factors in the difference between Barb and Fran. Firstly, Romero made four feature films in the interim period, at least two of them with plots focusing heavily on gender issues, so it's likely he just developed his ability to write more interesting female characters. Also, although Barb gets more attention, the character of Helen in Night was much more three dimensional, so it's not that he didn't think to include strong females, perhaps just that Barbara had to be hysterical in order to show a realistic cross-section of reactions in the survivors.



I'm basically starting a bit of research, and want to know what the ground level opinion is from the fans of proper horror movies. Think about a female character in a horror movie, what interests you about them, and give us some details on why you think their role is important or damaging...whatever comes to your mind about female characters in horror movies - either leading or supporting - and "spill your guts"...

As far as females go in horror, in general, I don't really have much of an opinion apart from I prefer it if they exist in a realistic middle ground - directors and writers, being male usually, have a tendency to caricature females. They can't quite get inside the head of a woman to show how they work, so they build their female characters up out of stereotypes. This means the personalities of female characters are usually extreme, i.e.: either hysterical screaming victims or balshy "go grrl!" man-punchers or "sexy", one-dimensional warrior princesses. Rarely do you see a female character in a horror/sci-fi/fantasy film who resembles any non-poser female you've ever met in real life.

[SymphonicX]

Thanks for the reply Kraken, and for the correction - I got my years mixed up with Alien, I thought the original was 1973 or something...
So Franny is a bit of a groundbreaker in that sense? She made some very sharp comments to the rest of the characters especially after the "abortion" scene - she asserted her place in the group and outwardly approached the gender issue...

You're right about the caricature of females, but what female character has stuck in your mind as interesting or slightly away from the curve? What females have you gasping in disbelief at their badly written actions?

[SRP76]

I don't see what's so strong about Fran. She's just an average character. Not quite the fuckup Flyboy is, yet nowhere near as useful as Roger and Peter.

I think that's where most women are in the movies. If they're "the star", they'll have all the superhuman qualities. If they're not, they'll just be an average character or facelss victim to whatever the villain is (zombies, Jason, etc.).

We don't see females playing the "group fuckup" role too often, though. Probably to avoid protesting.

[krakenslayer]

Thanks for the reply Kraken, and for the correction - I got my years mixed up with Alien, I thought the original was 1973 or something...
So Franny is a bit of a groundbreaker in that sense? She made some very sharp comments to the rest of the characters especially after the "abortion" scene - she asserted her place in the group and outwardly approached the gender issue...

You're right about the caricature of females, but what female character has stuck in your mind as interesting or slightly away from the curve? What females have you gasping in disbelief at their badly written actions?

Good, off the top of my head:
Ripley
Fran
Sarah from Day
Rhonda LeBeck from Tremors
Nancy from Nightmare on Elm Street 1, 3 and 7
Stevie Wayne in The Fog
Julie Walker in Return of the Living Dead 3
Lila Crane in Psycho
Suzy Bannion from Surpiria (essentially a Goldilocks character, but a realistic one, showing that you can make a good, believable female character from an archetype)

Bad:
Trash from Return of the Living Dead (eye candy who's there to get naked, but made "tough" so it's "okay")
Selene from Underworld (see above)
Lori in Zombi Holocaust (victim victim victim)
Pulan in Last Cannibal World (possibly the worst as she is raped by the HERO of the movie and totally objectified)
Anne Bowles from Zombie Flesh Eaters (dull and one dimensional, exists for no reason other than to get the male characters to the island and after that exists only because the film needs a female lead)
All the girls in the first Evil Dead movie
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (they tried way too hard, too self-consciously, to make her unlike a scream queen that it went into embarrassing territory)