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Final Girl Sociology

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Even so, the question remains: If masculinity is what allows the Final Girl to beat the monster, why is the Final Girl a trope at all? Why not make the surviving and victorious character male? The answers to this question are as contrasting as the theories behind the character of the Final Girl. Some cite the tendencies of misogynistic violence. Hitchcock himself famously stated “Torture the women!” In basic terms, an audience cares more if the violence on screen is directed towards a woman. The female members of the audience care because they relate directly to the Final Girl, while the male members of the audience are more content when giving something they are interested at looking at - in this case, the female body. However, as antifeminist …show more content…

Indeed, a majority are, however in Friday the 13th one of the quintessential examples of the classic slasher, it is revealed the monster is the mother of Jason Vorhees - a woman. It is true that she meets a brutal demise, however Friday the 13th is the only classic slasher examined for this essay which included a female antagonist while exhibiting the other narrative tropes. While this may not seem founded in particularly feminist ideals, this film’s narrative development can be seen as giving female characters in slasher films the capacity to be something more; to be evil - something which directly negates the “goodness” the antifeminist ideology in slashers usually …show more content…

In Scream, the Final Girl has sex, and survives not only Scream, but the four following installments of the franchise. Strong and resourceful female characters are gaining popularity in almost every genre. Most importantly, and perhaps most surprisingly, the horror is the genre that offer women the most on-screen and speaking time. Women are only seen more than men in one genre - horror. Female characters are seen on screen 3% more than their male counterparts, at 53% overall. The closest genre in on-screen time is romance, at an overall 45%, 8% lower than horror. Horror also offers the most overall speaking time for female characters at a 47% overall, which is staggering considering women are usually relegated 1/3 the amount of speaking time compared to their male counter

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

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774 Words | 4 Pages

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