Sex & Death

Comparison Essay # 7554

Film > Analysis, Criticism, Etc.
Film > Artist

Sex & Death

Femininity as seen in the movies "Carrie" (USA, De Palma, 1976) and "Ginger Snaps" (Canada, Fawcett, 2001).

2,430 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2002 Canada

Paper Summary:

This paper compares the use of femininity as being the "other" to the male norm in two horror films: "Carrie" and "Ginger Snaps." The writer shows that in contemporary horror films the "other" is used as a basis for horror while femininity is the "other" represented in these two films.

From the Paper:

"The concept of the "Other" has been motivating horror film since the genre's inception in the early 1900's by the German expressionist movement. The Other represents that which is not of the norm, and because of this becomes an object of fear and loathing. What is not understood has always stood as a point of horror. It then stands to reason that in a patriarchal society, women are easily placed in the category of Other by the male dominated "norm." Female sexuality has been demonized in mainstream horror, and the process that leads to it, puberty, shown as the cause of evil. Two films that are prime examples of this trend, and which we will be discussing at length, are Carrie (USA, De Palma, 1976) and Ginger Snaps (Canada, Fawcett, 2001). Both films show a young girl whom at the onset of puberty develops monstrous abilities. This monstrosity paralleled with the girl's awakening sexuality, and it is the repression, or lack thereof, of this monstrosity/sexuality that leads to catastrophic results."