Homosexuality in Horrors Jags

Homosexuality in Horror Movies

Queer theory is a lesson of how gays and lesbians are represented within film. The images and/or representations are created within film and carry a considerable cultural weight. Gay and lesbian equality are still being talked about today and it is believed that popular television and film representations of homosexuality actually influences the public’s perception.

These representations are however beginning to change although stereotypes of homosexual characters in film still uses the way they are being portrayed. Below are stereotypical characters that you would expect to see homosexuals playing?

QUEEN- A very flamboyant, effeminate gay man who can be considered a drama queen at times.

DRAG QUEEN- Someone who dresses up as a women but is still a man.

SISSIE- A camp person who is not very masculine and is easily scared.

BUTCH- A woman who is the masculine character within a lesbian relationship. So she is a bit of a tomboy.

FEMME - The more female character within a lesbian relationship.

LIPSTICK LESBIAN- Slang term used to describe a lesbian women who exhibits extreme feminine gender attitudes.

SOFT BUTCH - A woman who exhibits some stereotypical butch lesbian traits without fitting into a masculine stereotype.


The horror movie that I chose to write about in “The Lost Boys”(1987). I chose this particular film because it is one of my all time favourite horrors and there is a debate going on whether the main character's brother, sam (Corey Haim), is gay or not. But I think he is gay in this film simply by the way he acts and the things that he does to suggest that he is gay.


During different scenes throughout the film his character is portrayed towards boys rather than girls. This could be proven because in one particular scene where a topless saxaphone player is drawing his attention while his brother is focused on a pretty girl in the crowd. Another example is that he keeps a poster of a boy on the front door of his closet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwW7pWaGCeI
http://www.joblo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33356

 

 

Silence of the Lambs Questions Jagz

Silence of the Lambs Questions

 

Discuss three points within the film that semiotics were being used. How did these relate to the genre and narrative?

The iconic scene in this movie is properly when Clarice is telling Dr. Lecter her story of when she ran away. She explains that she heard screaming and when she finally got to her barn she found out that the lambs where screaming. Hannibal then staes that "If you save Catherine then you can stop the awful screaming of the lambs" which connects to the movies titles "The Silence of the Lambs".

There arev many symbols in this movie that could represent different things, one of the main symbols that is seen often in the movie is the F.B.I logo. This represents control and safety.

Discuss in detail how the genre was communicated in the opening scene of "Silence of the Lambs" using genre analysis. Make sure you embed terminology.
In the opening scene Clarice is running on a track in a foggy forest. This could represent mystery and expectation. On the tree there is writing that says “Agony, Pain Love-It”, this could the director uses lots of close ups of the face to give the impression that the characters are talking about something serious. This also happens with scenes involving one of the main characters, Hannibal Lecter.

How is the main female chracter portrayed in this film? How does it relate to femminist theory.

The main female character is portrayed as a tough but also fragile character because she wants to catch the main killer. There are many things that she does to suggest this such as telling a room full of male officers to leave the autopsy, politely.

At the beggining of the film where she takes an elevator that's filled with men, the men are wearing and red and she is wearing white, this could suggest that the men in the film are evil people I.E Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill and the hero is a woman. Clarice does reveal that when she was younger that she ran away from her cousins house because the lambs were screaming. She says that she carried on of the lambs and that it was so heavy. This is the first time in the movie where we find out that she was vunrable and weak.

How is the queer theory relatable to some of the characters in this film? Make sure you give examples and embed terminology.

The queer theory is relatable in the Silence of the Lambs because of many different scenarios in the film. One of the main scenarios is that the main killer, Jame Gumb a.k.a. Buffalo Bill, is a transvestite. A lot of questions were asked in the film to why he kills and skins only women and to find out exactly what he wants, Dr. Lecter also says that he wanted to be socially accepted.

Another theory is that when Clarice seeks help when she finds a clue, the cocoon in one of the victim’s mouths. She goes to what seems to be a gay couple who are represented as being happy and accepting who there are. This is because it looks like Claurice are good friends with both of them and jokes when one of them attempts to “hit” on her, which doesn’t work out. If the couple are represented as being angry and mad then it wouldn't balance out the main villian who is a transvestite.

Femenist Theory Jags

Feminist Theory

Feminism could be seen as a revolution that includes women and men who wish the world can be equal without boundaries. Feminists can be anyone in the population, men, women, girls or boys. Feminist film theory focuses on the function of female characters of society's view of women.These female characters are the stereotypical characters of women we expect to see in film.

So a stereotypical woman in a horror movie would be a dumb blonde. An example of a dumb blonde would be Drew Barrymore’s character in “Scream” where she talks to a complete stranger on her home phone and eventually gets killed by her not being able to answer questions regarding horror films (her favourite movie genre) in order to save her boyfriend and herself. Other stereotypical characters are damsels, housewife, cheerleader, the sexual object, the princess ect.

Feminist theorists believe and argue that mainstream cinema was organised around a series of gazes constructed for male pleasure. This is called Scophilia. Scophillia is basically where the male character gazes when women are presented as an image, whilst the man is the bearer of the look.
Most directors uses the camera shots to show the gaze of the male viewer looking at the female, often in a sexual way so feminist film theory argue women are added for visual pleasure.

A “Femme Fatale” character are women who use their sexual power to trap male characters. Femme fatale characters are popular with film noir genre. She tends to draw the male character into the schemes of the plot and controls his action. Male characters that are manipulated by femme fatale characters and are always often end up in bad scenarios.

An example of this would be in "Transformers" when Sam Wikwiki (Shia Le Bouf) stares at Mackala (Megan Fox) when she is observing his engine. The camera tilts up and down her body to give the impression that basically all the guys are watching fix up the car.