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Author
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Comment
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sophiepeers
Unregistered User
(12/27/04 4:33 am)
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female protagonists
i've started a paragraph in my dissertation about the way that female
protagonists/victims in horror films are similar to the female lead
in fairy tales. ie; they are hunted, and victimised they are put
through tests. they are always the peson who fights the 'baddy'
in the end. they are always beautiful, young, nubile women. i was
wondering whether anyone had any thoughts. anything would be appreciated
:)
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redtriskell
Registered User
(12/30/04 1:19 am)
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Re: female protagonists
Do you have a particular horror film in mind? If so, which one? I love horror movies and fairy tales, but it seems to me that the girls in movies are frequently convenient, as opposed to specific, targets. Horror film girls just seem to be random victims, usually. With the possible exception of Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween. Plus the fact that film baddies are generally plain lunatics (ie- Jason, Freddy, Norman Bates), while fairy tale villains generally have a vested interest of some kind (ie- the Wicked Queen in Snow White, Cinderella's stepmother). Just some thoughts. Good luck on your dissertation.
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cmoore0013
Unregistered User
(1/1/05 3:57 am)
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Horror VS Fairy Tale
I too love both types of films and stories. In fairy tales, the heroines are usually stalked for a purpose. Cinderella is the main exception, because the cinderella tale is nothing that is really hoffific or violent, just depressing and cruel.
You might want to compare Hansel and Gretel with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It is the exact same plot when you really think about it. Kids get lost and come upon a house where a cannibal(or group of cannibals) live.
Bluebeard is used in a way with Sleeping With The Enemy or The Stepfather. Both are about killer husbands.
I heard somewhere that Nightmare on Elm Street is a little bit like Beauty and the Beast. Freddy never physically hurts Nancy, but is very threatening. This is true with Beauty and the Beast.
Cinderella is much like the film and novel Carrie. Carrie is a tormented girl with an evil mother and evil students(stepsisters). There is a prince(popular jock Tommy Ross), and two fairy godmother types(gym teacher Rita Collins and kind, popular student Sue Snell). Although, the story is a little darker, it is still the basic outline of Cinderella.
And finnally, Snow White has a little bit in common with Suspiria. The lead heroine is very Snow White looking. The set(a German ballet school) looks a little bit like a surreal castle. There is strange surreal lighting and a murderous witch.
Suspiria is not too much like Snow White, but not many films are. Snow White is by far the most layered of all the fairy tales, because it fits in the horror and drama catagories. I'm trying to think of something else that has anything to so with Snow White, but I can't.
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birggsw
Unregistered User
(1/1/05 6:24 pm)
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Horror VS Fairy Tale
Interesting. I've noticed how often it is the girl who must save the day in fairy tales if there are a boy and a girl in danger (Hansel & Gretel). I don't know what it means. In horror films, I just assumed they used a good-looking young woman so we'd care more about her distress.
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cmoore0013
Unregistered User
(1/3/05 2:40 am)
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Yes, that's true.
Look at most fairy tales. Cinderella might have help from a magical source, but the things she got from it would be nothing unless she had enough courage to go into the ball room.
Hansel and Gretel is the best example of couragous females. In Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it's the girl who saves the day, at least in the remake. In the original, she didn't do much but run and scream.
Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are the two that never really have a good fight. Snow White, IMO, is a very stupid character. In most versions, this is made up by the fact that she is 7 years old, but in some versions, she is around 15 or 16. That makes her really dumb in those versions.
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