Violence towards Females & Victimization of Women
One of the biggest criticisms of Scream and other slasher films is that it is argued that they are inherently violent towards women. While these films rake up a body count that is about even between genders, the amount of time and particular way a woman's demise is represented on screen greatly differs. In a study published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, ten of the highest grossing slasher films of the 1990s were taken (Scream and Scream 2 occupy the top 2 slots) and analyzed by gender. It was shown that women are shown that "an average of nearly 11 minutes of footage in the 1990s movies were devoted to displays of women in terror, compared with male characters shown in fear an average of four minutes per film." (Molitor, Luque, Sapolsky, 2003, p.34)
This is evident throughout the entire Scream series but no more so than the very first scene of the first film in which a boyfriend and girlfriend are both murdered. In almost every interaction with a woman, the ghostface killer enjoys toying with her - calling her on the phone, asking her questions, and psychologically torturing her before attacking. In the scene above, Casey's boyfriend is killed in front of her eyes in just a few seconds of screen time. However, Casey's death is dragged out for the entire opening scene with multiple chases and stab wounds. Ghostface almost rarely ever toys with their male victims. They are simply a means to an end, whereas they seems to enjoy the hunt with his female victims. Their murder sprees are a direct correlation of their hatred for women and thus displaying a victimization of women.
Demoralization of Female Sexuality
Within the first three films of the Scream series, the motive for each killer is based on a hatred of female sexuality. Sidney's mother, Maureen is murdered a year prior to the events of the first film and she is mostly remember for her sexual activity. Billy Loomis and his mother, the killers of the first two films blame her for breaking up their family and Roman Bridger, the killer of the third film is Maureen's illegitimate son.
Sexuality is often "punished" in slasher films and Maureen Prescott is a prime example of that. The hatred for her sexual life is so condemned by the killers that her daughter must now suffer their same consequences. According to philosopher Stephen Neale, "it could be maintained that it is women's sexuality, which constitutes the real problem that the horror cinema exists to explore, and which constitutes also and ultimately that which is really monstrous." (Rieser, 2001) The fourth film departs from using Maureen's sexaulity as a motive, however that is mostly because the fourth film is rumored to be the start of a second trilogy series.
Final Girl Trope + A Feminist Horror Film?
Scream like many slasher films incorporates the trope of the "final girl," the girl who gets away from the killer and survives at the end. Scream essentially has two final girls - Sidney and Gail. This is an interesting topic to explore because it replaces the notion that many mainstream films adhere to, a male protagonist. Instead, slasher films put a woman in the center of their narrative. Scream has specifically been praised by critics and even some film and communication scholars for it's representation of strong women. It's important to note that the film's director, writer, and parent company (Miramax) wanted to appeal to a female audience with Scream. They produced it with that specifically in mind. However, does it actually represent women? or is it a representation of how those with the hegemonic powers to create this film view women.
Sidney Prescott and to another extent, Gale Weathers are Scream's final girls. The slasher genre has always had a certain way of writing these characters. "Carol Clover points out that these figures are chaste, unlike the sexually active female victims, and in most cases are best described as 'boyish'" (Wee, 2005) The final girl is almost always a virgin (thus bringing me to my previous point of sexual demoralization in the slasher genre). These conventions were used because they related these women to the male audience of the slasher film. However, Sidney rebukes both of these tropes. She loses her virginity within the first film and is feminine (although she does have an androgynous name, often being referred to as "Sid")
Scream knowingly mocks these and other tropes found in the genre. The clip above, the killer references film violence within a violent film. It also exemplifies a strong female lead who can hold her own against her attacker.
The final girl always survives and in Sidney's circumstances, she killers her attacker(s). However at what cost? To play devil's advocate, there are others who believe, while the "final girl" trope puts an emphasis on female character narrative - that it is actually a harmful representation. "First of all, the heroine's 'success' is severely limited, she rarely wins anything, most of the time barely surviving her ordeals, sometimes even losing her mind in the process. In contrast to a male initiation story, she does not gain a valuable experience, she does not gain entrance into the symbolic, and surely she does not get social approval in the form of 'getting' a boy" (Rieser, 2001) All of these points can be attributed to Sidney. Everyone close to her dies, including her mother and her boyfriend and she herself almost dies numerous times (In Scre4m, she is rushed to the ICU after being stabbed). In Scream 3, Sidney exiles herself following the events of the first two films - living alone with a number of different locks on her door and weapons throughout the house.
Conclusion
The Scream series differs from other slasher films because it is incredibly self-aware. They know the tropes of the genre and they both exemplify and deviate from the norm. However, despite breathing new life into the slasher genre, it still represent the harmful tropes the film tries to break from. Despite having a final girl who is sexuality active and feminine, they still demoralize female sexuality in the form of Maureen Prescott. Secondly, the violence towards women and the misogynistic overtones are still present, as presented in the data comparing the on-screen female deaths to male deaths. Lastly, while Scream has been praised by critics for it's strong representation of women, it is created by men who hold the hegemonic power to do so, and therefore is not an entirely accurate representation of women.
Sources
Final Girl Trope + A Feminist Horror Film?
Scream like many slasher films incorporates the trope of the "final girl," the girl who gets away from the killer and survives at the end. Scream essentially has two final girls - Sidney and Gail. This is an interesting topic to explore because it replaces the notion that many mainstream films adhere to, a male protagonist. Instead, slasher films put a woman in the center of their narrative. Scream has specifically been praised by critics and even some film and communication scholars for it's representation of strong women. It's important to note that the film's director, writer, and parent company (Miramax) wanted to appeal to a female audience with Scream. They produced it with that specifically in mind. However, does it actually represent women? or is it a representation of how those with the hegemonic powers to create this film view women.
Sidney Prescott and to another extent, Gale Weathers are Scream's final girls. The slasher genre has always had a certain way of writing these characters. "Carol Clover points out that these figures are chaste, unlike the sexually active female victims, and in most cases are best described as 'boyish'" (Wee, 2005) The final girl is almost always a virgin (thus bringing me to my previous point of sexual demoralization in the slasher genre). These conventions were used because they related these women to the male audience of the slasher film. However, Sidney rebukes both of these tropes. She loses her virginity within the first film and is feminine (although she does have an androgynous name, often being referred to as "Sid")
Scream knowingly mocks these and other tropes found in the genre. The clip above, the killer references film violence within a violent film. It also exemplifies a strong female lead who can hold her own against her attacker.
The final girl always survives and in Sidney's circumstances, she killers her attacker(s). However at what cost? To play devil's advocate, there are others who believe, while the "final girl" trope puts an emphasis on female character narrative - that it is actually a harmful representation. "First of all, the heroine's 'success' is severely limited, she rarely wins anything, most of the time barely surviving her ordeals, sometimes even losing her mind in the process. In contrast to a male initiation story, she does not gain a valuable experience, she does not gain entrance into the symbolic, and surely she does not get social approval in the form of 'getting' a boy" (Rieser, 2001) All of these points can be attributed to Sidney. Everyone close to her dies, including her mother and her boyfriend and she herself almost dies numerous times (In Scre4m, she is rushed to the ICU after being stabbed). In Scream 3, Sidney exiles herself following the events of the first two films - living alone with a number of different locks on her door and weapons throughout the house.
Conclusion
The Scream series differs from other slasher films because it is incredibly self-aware. They know the tropes of the genre and they both exemplify and deviate from the norm. However, despite breathing new life into the slasher genre, it still represent the harmful tropes the film tries to break from. Despite having a final girl who is sexuality active and feminine, they still demoralize female sexuality in the form of Maureen Prescott. Secondly, the violence towards women and the misogynistic overtones are still present, as presented in the data comparing the on-screen female deaths to male deaths. Lastly, while Scream has been praised by critics for it's strong representation of women, it is created by men who hold the hegemonic power to do so, and therefore is not an entirely accurate representation of women.
Sources
Sapolsky,
B. S., Molitor, F., & Luque, S. (2003). SEX AND VIOLENCE IN SLASHER FILMS:
RE-EXAMINING THE ASSUMPTIONS. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly,
80(1), 28-38.
Wee,
V. (2005). The Scream Trilogy, "Hyperpostmodernism," and the
Late-Nineties Teen Slasher Film. Journal Of Film & Video, 57(3), 44-61.
Sapolsky, B. S., Molitor, F., & Luque, S. (2003). SEX AND VIOLENCE IN SLASHER FILMS: RE-EXAMINING THE ASSUMPTIONS. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 80(1), 28-38.
Rooks,
A. K. (2009). Macbeth's Wicked Women: Sexualized Evil in Geoffrey Wright's
"Macbeth.". Literature Film Quarterly, 37(2), 151-160.
RIESER,
K. (2001). Masculinity and monstrosity: Characterization and identification in
the slasher film. Men and Masculinities, 3(4), 370-392.
Resurrecting
and Updating the Teen Slasher. (2006). Journal of Popular Film &
Television, 34(2), 50-61.
