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American Horror Story Film Analysis

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American Horror Story: Coven is undoubtely a controversial TV series, as it is at the same time both chauvinist and feminist. The show clearly adopts the male gaze and is limited by chauvinist stereotypes, but it simultaneously challenges the tropes it relies upon.
The concept of the male gaze, theorised by Laura Mulvey in the 70s, suggests that we tend to see media products from a male perspective, as most of the producers are male and heterosexual. Therefore, the female characters are sexualized and objectified, in order to appeal to the audience. American Horror Story: Coven conforms to this …show more content…

Rape culture is strictly linked to the idea of slut shaming, which consist in making women feel guilty for what they wear or for their attitude towards their sexuality. American Horror Story: Coven both conforms to and rejects rape culture; in the pilot, Madison is raped at a party by a bunch of drunk boys. She is wearing a short, tight dress and high heels – and she is drinking. The boys drug and rape her, filming the fact. At a first sight, it might seem like the show blames Madison for what happened to her; after all, she was wearing provocative clothes and she was drinking, and as rape culture teaches, “She was looking for it!”. However, American Horror Story: Coven challenges this trope by not making Madison’s rape glamorous; by showing it in its brutality, the show wants to criticize rape culture and slut shaming, underlining how brutal and beastly rape culture and slut shaming are, without accusing Madison of being raped due to her apparel and attitude. Moreover, what is different from most of the rape cases is that Madison, instead of acting as an unarmed victim that feels guilty and ashamed for what happened to her, gets her revenge, by overturn the boys’ bus only with a finger, showing how strong, powerful and vindictive she can be – just like a

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O Brother Where Art Thou? is a film that will take you on a perilous journey with Ulysses Everett McGill and his simpleminded cohorts. This film may be set amidst the early 1930’s Great Depression era, but it still has a Homer’s Odyssey feel to it. Down in the dusty and highly racial south, Everett recruits a couple of dimwitted convicts, Pete Hogwallop and Delmar O’Donnell, to help him retrieve his lost treasure and make it back home before his wife marries another suitor.

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In a castle high on top of a hill lives an inventor's greatest creation, he was a near-complete person. The creator died before he could finish his hands. Instead, he is left with metal scissors for hands. Furthermore, he has lived alone, until a kind lady discovers him and welcomes him into her home. A well as he shows his true talent by cutting hair, grooming pets and making beautiful ice and topiary sculptures.

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“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.” Said and written in one of Alice Walker’s novels, Possessing the Secret of Joy. The novel encompasses the impact of having culturally controlled gender roles and brings awareness to how women feel powerless in their society. Her quote shows how quickly ignorance in humanity stunts the growth of empowered people. Moreover, this quote can represent the relationship between power and women, which, consequently, is discussed in the documentary, Miss Representation. Alice Walker’s wise words appear in the first shot of this film.

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Throughout history the portrayal of gender roles have been maintained by a specific standard, specifically where the man is the main figure, and the woman is the submissive figure that is being acted upon. However, lately, specifically the last ten or so years, many movies have shifted this ideology. These movies in modern times show increasingly more women in positions of power, as well as in marriages where there is an equal amount of power between both the husband and wife. There are also more movies showcasing non-traditional relationships, such as, domestic partnerships and LGBTQ+ relationships. One movie in particular that showcases a shift in the status quo, in terms of the masculinity and femininity expected from individuals especially that of a relationships, is Tyler Perry’s

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One of the best usage of sound design as a tool of storytelling has to be in the first sequence of The Exorcist. As a horror movie, which as a genre builds itself on the vicarious experience it provides, uses more complex patterns of sound design templates to enhance the adventure of watching the movie. Throughout the first scene, Ken Nagle lays what the audience will be the experiencing through the duration of the movie with sound design; the duel between good and evil. The Exorcist’s first sequence, the audience can hear the digging sound of the workers, which resembles the heart pounding.

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