Men, Women & Chainsaws

Ryan Tarran

What does clover mean by ‘female victim hero’?

• Clover mentions that the female victim hero is the character who is victimised by acts of evil within the world of the film. However, in retaliation the Female victim then fights back, making her the female victim hero. Clover’s example of this is ‘Carrie’ and Carrie is a girl who is victimised by her classmates who bully her, which then causes her to act out in a monstrous way towards those who have bulled her making her a female – victim – hero.

What does clover say that males relate to females in horror films, in particular, the ‘final

girl’?• Within the book, Carol Clover states that ‘’Pulling gym shorts down

and thumb-rubbing glasses are things boys do to each other, not, by and large, things that girls do to each other or that boys do to girls’’. Clover said this because Males can relate to the Final girl in the way that they can relate to the way she is victimised by experiences. Due to being able to relate to the final girl the male is therefore less likely to relate to the antagonist.

What does clover suggest makes up the typical horror audience?

• Young Males either within groups or by themselves make up the bulk of the horror audience. Clover also states that there are a few niche groups of audience members like adolescent boys and girls and middle aged woman. Another influence that attracts the audience is the actual genre of the film. This means whether it is a sub-genre or a hybrid genre it can attract certain niche groups of audience. However, if the film is generic and does not have a unique sub genre then it is likely to attract more of a mass audience.

Was there parity between horror audiences in regards to those who watched horror films at the cinema and those

who watched them at home through rentals.

• Clover covered lots of research into horror audiences. She saw a correlation between who watched horrors at home through rentals and who watched them on the big screen. Young males made up the majority of the audience as well as middle aged males. Majority was under 25.

What are the two ways identified by Clover in which audiences identify with characters?

• Clover states that there are two possible ways that the audience are able to identify with the characters on screen. This can be done either with primary identification which is the method of using a variety of camera techniques. Or the use of secondary identification which uses the character of empathic choice. This means that Clover stated that the identification can be personally constructed from the viewers psyche. Clover proposes that primary identification carries more weight out of the two as it is significant in the way it connects to character. One theory that can reinforce this is Mulvery’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory.