Men, Women and Chainsaws Reading & Questions

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

Clover described the Victim-hero as the following: "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". What I believe Clover means by this is that the female victim- hero -who is the main character within a film- begins her screen life as the victim, being tormented by monstrosities often inflicted by other human beings (often classmates or peers), before turning the tables and seeking revenge for the wrongs committed against her. This was the case in Carrie, where the young girl was drenched in pig's blood at her prom and pelted with tampons in the toilets by other girls at her school as she started her period- in this instance she is depicted as the victim, however, this is soon changed when she uses her telekinetic powers to set the gym on fire- burning the students and the school with it in a form of revenge. The term 'Victim-hero' also includes some element of monstrosity in the heroism, as Clover explained; using often worse acts to get revenge than those used against her. Despite defeating the monstrosity of the oppressors, she then in herself become a new evil which means that the cycle is never fully broken.


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


Clover theorised that males would relate to the female characters in horror films, especially the 'Final Girl'. In the text she describes real life torments that the boys suffer through the education system such as pulling gym shorts down and thumb-rubbing glasses. Whilst these acts are not often meant maliciously they do have a large impact on the social interactions and the emotional balance of young children- being a victim of such activities may cause embarrassment or social exclusion which is a dread for all students. It is through activities such as these that the male audience can not only relate, but sympathise with the female victim-hero and the final girl. Many horror films feature particularly relatable characters suc
h as Carrie, who was tormented in the showers and drenched with pigs blood after being tricked into going to senior prom with the popular boy in school. This embarrassment in front of the entire school may be what ultimately pushed her to the edge and led to her killing everyone; to some extent this could be seen as release for the males, who indirectly see revenge against their oppressors in a satisfactory, although rather gruesome, manner.


Question 3: Why does Clover suggest that horror research is problematic?


Clover argued that the main flaw with horror genre research is that the audiences are critically understudied, this is in part due to specific audiences such as the horror genre not being directly focused upon. Institutions tend to focus primarily on mainstream audiences of far broader film genres as these are the most reliable and likely to make profits at the box office. Further more, many horror films are produced independently and based upon hunch and imitation- hence the vast number of sequels and rip-offs seen in the horror category today. More complications in research arise when the actual viewing of the horror films are taken into account- many low-budget films have a significantly shorter theatrical run, or in some cases, no run-time at all. Clover mentions that in these instances, the film was released straight onto videocassettes for rentals and purchases which hide the real audience figures from sight. Because of this, the extended number of the audience of horror films is not recorded efficiently, if at all.


Question 4: Who does Clover suggest makes-up the typical horror audience?


Clover said in her book that there is no neat answer to this question as film audiences are far less studied and surveyed than TV audiences- this is because what statistical surveys there are are sponsored by major studios. As a significantly large proportion of horror is produced independently, this leads to the horror genre withing film being drastically understudied, however, Carol Clover found that the typical horror film audience comprised of the following groups;

Young men- Often in groups but also solo
Male/female couples- In varying ages, but mostly young
Solo 'rogue' males- Older men of ominous appearance and/ or reactions
Adolescent girls- In groups

She continues to explain that the exact proportions of each group differ between sub-genres but the one constant is the influx of adolescent males, following in the presumption of Stephen King.


Question 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?


In her own research, Clover amassed some 60 employees of rental outlets around the country (America) and asked them to poll the clientele for several films; Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I Spit On Your Grave, Ms. 45, Witchboard, Videodrome and The Evil Dead. The poll confirmed a young male bias. To further this she used three local outlets to track the rental of I Spit On Your Grave and Ms. 45- two low budget rape-revenge films. Ms. 45 was rented 4/5 times by men and both sexes were almost all under the age of 25. I Spit On Your Grave was rented 9/10 times to male viewers and ages varied both above and below the age of 25. Of course she acknowledges that the renter of the film is not necessarily the only watcher of it during its lease but this information was suggestive to real figures. This ties up with the typical horror audience being primarily comprised of young (under 25) males, but also including the occasional female as found by Clover and the assumption made by Stephen King. However, it must also been taken into consideration that the sub-genre will have an impact on the diversity of the audience, the two films that were recorded were rather gruesome rape-revenge films which may not appeal to the female's within the typical horror audience.

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

Clover concluded that there were two ways in which the audience will identify with a character. Primary identification is through the camera work- 'wherever it may be and whatever it may be up to'. It is through techniques such as handheld first-person camera which is arguably the most personal of all. The handheld camera effect gives across the most accurate of emotions and makes the audience feel as if they are experiencing the events along with the character, wherever the character goes (as shown through the work of the camera) so does the audience. This is particularly useful when filming a hero during an attack- especially if they are the 'final girl' or the 'victim-hero' as the audience will be more likely to really root for their survival as they have the feeling they have been with them through the events. Secondary identification is a more emphatic approach whereby the audience individually chooses which character to empathise with. The competing figures within the films resonate with the audience's psyche- The masochistic victim and the sadistic monster which usually the encouragement of a voyeuristic gaze (as devised through camera work and angling).