Think of your favorite horror movie. Now think of who the killer was. Was it a man? Chances are, probably. In fact, I can only think of a select few movies in which the killer was a woman. Is this sending the wrong message about men? Or about women? I read an article a woman wrote about a script for a horror movie she wrote in screenwriting class. She said her teacher wrote, "Women can't be seriel killers!!!" on her paper after handing it in. If I were her teacher, I would have commended her for thinking outside the box, but that makes me think, do people want to see women seriel killers in horror movies?
Jennifer also talks about the movie called Monster. This movie features a female seriel killer. Amanda in Saw III was also a killer.
Another article tells us what we already know, that women are portrayed as weak in horror movies. And if you ask me, dumb too. How many of you have seen a horror movie where the woman gets a chance to kill her killer and just bonks him on the head, knocking him out for a couple minutes, and then she thinks he's dead. Unfortunately her fate isn't so good after the killer regains consciousness (if he even lost it in the first place). Click here to read the article.
My thoughts on female killlers in movies is for one, the writers probably think that a female victim is more entertaining to watch than a male victim is, but also I think that people hear more about male seriel killers on the news. I'm not going to get into all of those statistics and stuff. I figured I'd write a few of my blogs about the content of certain types of movies, and I noticed a trend in horror movies. I like to watch horror movies because they make me anxious, and that's part of the appeal. I think that if I were to watch a movie where a woman was shown as the killer from the very beginning, I'd be just as anxious as I am with all other horror movies I watched. As long as it's well-written, I am likely to get scared from a horror movie. :)
What are your thoughts on female killers in movies? Would you like to see it? Do you think it sends a bad message about men to us? Do you know of any other movies that feature female killers?
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I love horror movies, so this post caught my attention right away.
ReplyDeleteI think society just sees men as usually physically stronger of the two sexes, and considering in every day life, most rapes, murders, and abuse cases are committed by men, it is just easier to write them into a role as the "bad guy".
I personally think that different is always good. I loved it when the bad guy in Saw turned out to be a woman. In movies like the Omen or pet cemetary, a child is portrayed as a killer.
I think people like to be surprised, but obviously the old stand by of Freddie, Jason, or Michael, will always work. Case in point, the number one movie in theaters this week is the new Friday the 13th Movie.
I do not watch a lot of scary movies, but of the ones I have seen or heard about the killer was most likely a man. I think having the killer always being male does send across kind of a stereotypical message to people. People automatically assume the killer is a man usually in movies and when it is a woman it catches them off guard because they do not expect it to be a woman. I think woman can be just as brutal as men these days.
ReplyDeleteThe women are always the ones being terrorized in horror movies because they are "allowed" to show their emotions. Imagine for a second that a man was being chased by a serial killer or a supernatural being in a movie, and as the killer closes in, the man screams. I can hear people in the audience saying "Grow a pair",or something similar, as if being afraid makes the guy somehow less masculine.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, the women are always portrayed as dumb (So dumb you could strangle them with a cordless phone). Sure, it propels the plot forward, but would it kill the woman to turn on a light before entering a room? Or, better idea, not investigate strange noises or enter the creepy, haunted house? I mean, men can be just as dumb (if not moreso) as women.
Something I just realized: these two stereotypes go hand in hand. Men serial killers tend to single out female victims. Since female killers generally commit crimes of passion, their victims are mostly male.