Men, Women and Chainsaws

Men, Women and Chainsaws

via GIPHY

1. What does Clover mean by 'female victim-hero'?

"The hero part always understood as implying some degree of monstrosity, whose status in both roles has indeed been enabled by 'women's liberation'. Feminism, that is, has given a language to her victimization and a new force to the anger that subsidizes her own act of horrific revenge". I think Clover is trying to say that a 'female victim-hero' means there are elements throughout the film which contains some form of evil whether that be something that the female to to defeat and overcome which could potentially be apart of her (normally in horror films) or could physically be some form of evil. Allowing her to perform heroic acts, redeeming her character. However, her body language and information given to us as an audience in the film, whether that be a flashback or verbally given to us explains how she has been victimized, perhaps then which creates the evil for instance this can be related to the film 'Carrie' who is victimized in the beginning of the film when she starts her menstrual cycle whilst in the showers with other classmates. They make fun of her and bully her for this making her believe she's dying and so forth, making her the victim. She then performs evil acts on those who bullied her but then performs heroic acts, alternately making her the 'female victim-hero'.


via GIPHY
2. Why does Clover say that males relate to the females in horror films, in particular, the 'final girl'?

The reasons why males relate to the females in horror films, especially the 'final girl' is Clover states in the reading "Pulling gym shorts down and thumb-rubbing glasses are things boys do to each other, not, by and large, things that girls do to each other or that boys do to girls" This is something boys would understand, due to them typically pulling pranks or picking on one another which can usually lead to victimization. Especially in the film 'Carrie' who is victimized by her classmates, firstly when she starts her menstrual cycle in front of everyone, then when she gets tricked into going to prom with a popular boy in school only to find out it was all a practical joke, leading to her sloshed with pig's blood at the senior prom in front of her entire school as well as teacher alternately setting her over the edge. Due to males understanding situations such as these, they root for girls such as her ,dur to males normally being the ones who play practical jokes on one another and not the girls doing it to one another.   

3. Why does Clover suggest that horror research is problematic?

Clover suggests that horror research is problematic due to horror audiences being understudied, this is because productions don't aim for a specific audience, they focus on more mainstream genres and ideas aimed at a much wider audience. They tend not to focus on audience statistics but more on the basis on hunch and higher budget cases. One investigation that was taken place was a local outlet which kept track for a period of roughly four weeks on the rentals of two low budget rape-revenge films; 'I spit on your grave' and 'Ms. 45.' After the four weeks, they concluded that 'Ms. 45.' was rented roughly four times out of five by men, and the renters of both sexes were nearly all under the age of twenty-five. For 'I spit on your grave', it was rented much more than the other, nine times out of ten to male viewers, mostly under the age of twenty-five. Concluding that they do square with the standard profile of theater audiences for horror.

4. Who does Clover suggest make-up the typical horror audience?

Clover suggests that film audiences are generally less analyzed in comparison to television audiences, because of what statistical surveys suggests. They tend to be sponsored by well-known studios, a good percentage of horror films have been produced independently. Audiences for horror films are understudied, they tend to make less on the basis of audience statistics. After a research took place at a theater screening, broke down the type of audiences attending horror films; firstly, young men which are frequently seen in groups, although they're also seen solo, male's are also seen with females as a couple which consists of various of ages, solo 'rogue males' (older men), adolescent girls in groups. These groups normally vary depending on the sub-genre of the film, for instance the more mainstream the film is, the more 'normal' the audience is. The male genre however, is unmistakably the target audience of horror fanzines. Male viewers are prepared to identify with not only screen females in any film, however more so screen females that feature in horror film world.

5. Was there parity between horror audiences in regards to those who watched horror films at the cinema and those who watched them at home through rentals?

There are many similarities that Clover has expressed within her text between those who watch horror films at the cinema and those who watched them at home through rentals. Firstly, men are consistent viewers with both, for the research that she studied with rentals the results concluded that mainly men rented out the two horror movies displayed 'I spit on you Grave' and 'Ms. 45.' in comparison to women, they were more than likely also under the age of twenty-five. The other survey suggests that men also visit the cinema frequently, whether that be in groups, with a partner or going solo. However, in this investigation women are also seen going with large groups, although they are not seen alone, displaying the genders are similarly equal on this result. However, the sub-genre also has an impact on what gender will go visit what movie, displaying the characteristics one may possess in comparison to the other. For instance stereotypical outlooks would suggest the male gender would go and visit more gore and unpleasant films in comparison to girls perhaps going to get a thrill/scare more than seeking gore and unpleasantness.

6. What are the two ways identified by Clover in which audiences identify with characters? 

One of the ways in which Clover identified in which audiences identifies with the characters is, Primary Identification. This is when the audience moves with the camera, wherever the camera follows, so does the audiences attention, wherever it may be and whatever it may be up to, In further detail Clover states in her book 'Men, Women and Chainsaws', that 'the camera can entertain different position with ease' meaning, the camera doesn't just focus on character position but also omniscient ones including different degrees of personality.
The second way in which Clover identifies is, Secondary Identification, this meaning with the character of empathic choice. In further detail Clover states in her book, that 'competing firgues resonate with competing parts of the viewer's psyche', meaning for example the masochistic victim and sadistic monster.