30 min timesd essay: Representation

Representation refers to the construction of meaning about the world that we live in; It is always seen In film, there is always subtext or deeper meaning to what we see on screens. The horror genre could be seen as hegemonic and patriarchal as males somewhat dominate the genre.

Theorist Laura Mulvey spoke about the representation of women in film, and the 'male gaze' which is the idea that of female characters being shown on screen for the erotic pleasure of men. This can be seen in horror films 'psycho' 1960 in the shower scene where the camera pans up and down the women's body, portraying it in a sexual way. This ideology of women being sexualised can be seen in our production 'the girl with the blonde hair' through mis en scene, and camera movement on the mean girl characters. they are dressed in tight and sexual clothing to show their popularity, connoting that if you are to be popular, you have to be promiscuous;When the mean girls are first introduced, the camera pans up and down them, conforming to Mulveys male gaze theory.

Clover's theory on the representation discusses the 'final girl' which is the only surviving female who confronts the antagonist; she is a 'good girl' and virginal. She usually has a uni-sex name, and posses masculine character traits, and this is the only reason that she survives- because she posses these male traits. This could be seen as a patriarchal ideology.  Dobbs says that the idea of the final gir is empowering, as she gets messy, and revenge, not caring about superficial things such as her nails or hair. The sub-genre of our production is supernatural, and it is uncommon for these films to contain a 'final girl' however we have incorporated 'final girl' qualities in character mary-louise. This is seen in the trailer when she refuses to smoke. It is made clear that she is virgin when she refuses to make fun of victim Lorna for being of innocence. Our production conforms to the 'final girl; to some extent however character mary-louise does not posses masculine character traits, we are therefor challenging this idea.

Dobbs spoke about the double contradicting representation of women in horror films; On one hand, they're treated like disposable victims, 'scream queens' who are celebrated for their looks, not their intelligence. On the other hand, they are lead characters and protagonists. Dobbs says that female antagonists are rare. Our production contains 'scream queens', shown through mean girl Luci, screaming and running in the corridor scene. The girl with the blonde hair challenges this theory in a way however, because our antagonist is a female- Lorn when she comes back as a haunting ghost. This in a way is representing women as strong in a way, as they can be aggressors too. Also, this challenges the idea of Horror films being for a male audience, as the protagonist and antagonist are female dominated. This challenges this theory, and is also a unique selling point for our film.

Theorist Derry spoke about the representations of possessions and says they contain sexual connotations as the evil spirit is represented to enter and project from within the female. He says that the victims are almost always female. This is seen as taking over the weaker sex which could be a misogynistic ideology. Our production does not conform to this theory at all as there is no possession in 'the girl with the blond hair'. He also spoke of possessions being a representation of mental illness, as before medical advances, illnesses was seen as demonic. It could be said that our character Lorna conforms to this, shown in the scene when she commits suicide due to depression which is a mental illness; This is linked to why she came back as a ghost. Our production develops this theory in a way.

Berger spoke about ways of seeing, and said that men act and women appear, and that women are aware that they're seen as a male spectator. In our production this is evident through non verbal communication of the mean girl characters, they are aware of the males gazing at that them as they strut when they walk, it is also evident through the controversially revealing clothes that they wear-mis en scene.