BellaOnline Forums TV and Movies Horror Movies Final Girls and Feminism?

I emailed the horror editor some thoughts about his article on the final girl and feminism and then thought I would expand those posts here to see if anyone else agreed/disagreed. :) Have you considered that the lack of virginal purity in the modern final girl is a statement that a woman no longer has to meet the sexually repressed virginal image that society required of women in the past in order to be a strong, intelligent and capable victor? That a woman can still be in charge of her own vigorous sexual expression and not be doomed to endure punishment at the hand of a crazed killer? I think it partly, yes, signifies a current wider acceptance of more violence, more nudity, more sex, more drugs, and a new wave of horror fans who are consistently demanding the envelope be pushed that is inspiring filmmakers (like those in the Splat Pack) to go as far as they think the can get away with. Also, the modern movie goer is not content to see the same obvious characters doing the same obvious things and knowing from ten minutes in who is going to survive and who isn't (hence the explosion of the AsiaExtreme remake industry). I, however, also think that it is the result of two additional issues: 1. In the 1990s, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, working under the Clinton administration, made million dollar back alley deals with all of the major production houses, stating they would push a subtle morality code against drugs, sex and vice. Those contracts reached end of term in 2000. 2. A more modern expression of the female character as a whole who no longer needs to stand true to outdated archetypes of femininity. Seeing as the horror genre has always been the driving force behind breaking the rules of decorum, cinematic and societal, I think that the new Final Girl is the perfect fit. Thoughts? Jillian Jayde

I already replied to this as well - my main comment was and is - can anyone show me a modern day final girl? These days, unless it's a re-make (where the girl is saved by a male) then the final girl dies along with the rest of the cast.

In my personal opinion, I don�t feel that virginal purity, or purity of any kind, be that drugs, alcohol, sex etc. has anything to do with the final girl surviving, or that it should have. Your argument for women in control of their own sexuality might have some strength, if you could show me a Hollywood film where a woman is sexually in charge and still survives. Take for instance the original �Friday the 13th� Alice, the final girl has slept with an older man, drinks and takes part in strip poker � she still survives and is a strong final girl who is also feminine. The only recent, strong final girl I can think of is Lauren German as Beth in �Hostel 2.� I can�t think of many films where there is a strong woman in charge of her own sexuality (apart from European horror) that out does the killer and survives unless she is the killer.

In these articles I�m referring to modern American and Hollywood horror � can you name me any strong Final Girls that live? Because I�d be interested in seeing them. Until Hollywood latches on to the idea that a woman can express herself sexually and NOT get killed at the end of a movie, then the best alternative is to have semi-virginal heroines, who can survive the horror and best the killer as shown in the eighties - these are far supierior role models to men and women.

As I say, these days there isn�t a final girl and it�s far more boring to know that every character is going to die, rather than know the main character is going to live, but question � how is she going to succeed in doing so? Also, if you look at the Asian horror re-make trend, the female characters nearly always go back to the Final Girl archetype � maybe that�s why the West latched onto them, because they wanted to see good out-do evil, rather than evil win (again.) There are no morals in recent horror films at all, and the entire point of ANY story should be to learn something from it.
I think the movie-goers you discuss are probably going to see horror for all the wrong reasons; just to be grossed out and see some female nudity. To me, this is just boring. To most ppl I talk to, who aren�t fifteen year old boys, it is boring. Horror used to be able to cross the boundaries of age, now it fills one gap � tweens, who either don�t know the film is a re-make, or sadistically like to watch people get murdered in nastier and more graphic ways � what�s the point of that? And what does that say about society which is growing more and more sadistic anyway.

If the killer/s are punished, then the audience learn something � anything at all. But in most modern horror, they do not. There have been a few very strong female horror icons on TV, such as Buffy or Sarah Conner (and she is only doing it for the sake of her son - maternal instinct), but other than that � they�re just objectified (where the men are not) and then murdered in sadistic ways (again, the men are killed swiftly.)

If this is all we are offered now, (and I�m speaking as a young man who is sick of seeing the same things, writes his own horror material and is sick and tired of being witness to poorly made re-makes)then I think Gen. Barry McCaffrey had the right idea (If we are to believe it) � after all, look at what happened after 2000.
You talk about the new final girl, well who is she? Where is she? I�d love to see her, because every modern final girl ends up dead or needs the help of a man (in current re-makes) � not exactly a good example of any strength in women at all, if you ask me, and you did LOL.

And if horror film makers are simply making films to get bums in seats, then I have no respect for them creatively anyway. Horror has always pushed the boundaries � but pushing them for pushing�s sake is pointless. I honestly don�t see anything for your argument, because there isn�t any examples of it in modern Hollywood horror. Films made twenty years ago show more empowered females� than today � we�re moving backwards instead of forward � and for what? So that men can get off while watching a woman take her clothes off and get hacked to bits and the killer can carry on unpunished.


If anyone can name me any Final girls in charge of their own sexuality that weren't created years ago - I'd love to know too LOL

I agree.