Representation

Representation within horror is essential whether it is through characters, props or themes and many theorists identify these representations and expand on their meaning and our understanding. A common representation which is discussed is gender. When it comes to the representation of genre in horror, Mulvey talks about the male gaze. This is the idea that women are displayed on screen as an object and male viewers become voyeurs. The camera tends to focus on the female characters body to pleasure the male audience. However, the male gaze is often associated with the slasher genre and so this particular representation does not apply to my trailer as we do not have a female character that creates this representation. Of course it would be a positive thing to represent the male gaze as it would attract a male audience and keep them interested in the film. 

Clover talks about a different type of representation of women when discussing the final girl. This representation views females in the complete opposite way to the male gaze as the final girl usually takes on the males masculinity. Once again this character is often found in the slasher genre, however it is more appropriate to our trailer than the male gaze theory. This is due to the fact that in our summer trailer there is one male character and two females. These three characters are the survivors of an invasion and therefore this can relate to the final girl as the females have survived and are left alive to fight the alien invaders which is typical of the final girl. The female characters in our trailer are not in any way denoted to be sexualised, they are there to play a key part in the film and not to just look at. This makes our trailer strong as it takes a new approach to how females are viewed in horror films and is therefore a post-feminism approach. As a result of this, many females may identify with these two characters therefore attracting a strong female audience. 

Continuing with the representation of women in horror films, Dobbs talks about ‘scream queens’. Scream queens are in many ways related to the ‘blonde slut’, they are objects in the film and are therefore celebrated for their appearance and not their talent. They are often attractive and have blonde hair and the purpose of their representation is for young female audience members to identify with this character and to feel scared.  As mentioned previously, the female characters which feature in our trailer are more relatable to the final girl and this therefore is not a representation which is included in our trailer. This may weaken our trailer as it can mean it will not attract both a male audience and certain types of females. However, despite saying this I feel as though in todays society women are viewed differently and more equally therefore making the characters in our trailer more current and relatable.

Derry’s focus is the monster. He talks about the representation of hauntings and demonic possessions, apocalypse and the human monster.  From this, his discussion of the apocalypse is relevant to our trailer in saying man kinds existence is threatened by inhuman creatures and that the threat often occurs from no where and is a threat to survivors. This therefore supports our trailer as of course we only show the disequilibrium and therefore the reason for their invasion is unknown. Our structure is therefore supported by Derry’s theory as survivors and invaders feature in our trailer and so this theory benefits our trailer. The message behind the apocalypse could suggest an unknown threat to society, that society is changing and becoming dysfunctional and this idea is very common as it relates to zombie horrors which are very popular and have been around for years. This could therefore indicate that our trailer is successful.

Further expanding on Derry’s theory is the representation of hauntings and demonic possessions. Typically this theme is represented through a young girl who is often possessed by a male force against her will which is therefore symbolic of rape. This representation is supernatural and often associated with religion and sexuality. As a result of this, this particular representation is typical of a psychological/supernatural sub genre. Hauntings and demonic possessions is a representation that does not feature in our trailer, however the idea of possession and taking over could relate to the aliens taking over the world and therefore have a different and larger approach to the idea of possession as it connotes a loss of control. This is positive for our trailer as we have incorporated other ideas from sub genres into ours to ensure it still creates fear as many are afraid of loosing control. 

Gramsci’s approach to representation includes the hegemonic model and ideologies. This is the theory of morality and what is expected to be considered right and wrong. He talks about how ideologies are supported and how they are sometimes challenged. They give a view on reality and so often teen punishment, which is common in the sub genre of a slasher, is associated with this theory. When looking at our trailer, this type of representation does not apply as we do not focus on dominant groups or messages of morality. Our trailer is more to do with the unexpected and individuals of society coming together.