LGBTQ+ female protagonists in horror cinema today: The Italian case

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-235
Author(s):  
Lauren De Camilla
Keyword(s):  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Sexual Orientations ◽  
Italian Culture ◽  
Cultural Anxieties ◽  
Dario Argento

Abstract This article examines representations of LGBTQ+ female protagonists in three recent Italian horror films: La terza madre (The Mother of Tears) by Dario Argento (2008), A Pezzi: Undead Men by Alessia Di Giovanni and Daniele Statella (2013) and The Antithesis by Mirabelli (2017). As homosexuality traditionally falls within the realm of the abject (that which is expelled) in horror films, the genre serves as a medium through which we may assess national and global sensibilities about LGBTQ+ identities. Filmic textual analysis and a consideration of horror and melodrama conventions reveal how these protagonists expose cultural anxieties about non-normative sexual orientations in Italy today. While these films include minority protagonists and offer some resistance to discrimination, they ultimately represent homosexuality as a threat to mainstream Italian culture.

Cross-border Implications: Transnational Haunting, Gender and the Persistent Look of The Eye

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Ajuria Ibarra
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Film Production ◽  
Visual Preference ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Film Series ◽  
Eastern Traditions

The Eye (Gin Gwai, 2002) and its two sequels (2004, 2005) deal with pan-Asian film production, gender, and identity. The films seem to embrace a transnational outlook that that fits a shared Southeast Asian cinematic and cultural agenda. Instead, they disclose tensions about Hong Kong’s identity, its relationship with other countries in the region, and its mixture of Western and Eastern traditions (Knee, 2009). As horror films, The Eye series feature transpositional hauntings framed by a visual preference for understanding reality and the supernatural that is complicated by the ghostly perceptions of their female protagonists. Thus, the issues explored in this film series rely on a haunting that presents textual manifestations of transposition, imposition, and alienation that further evidence its complicated pan-Asian look. This chapter examines the films’ privilege of vision as catalyst of a transnational, Asian Gothic horror aesthetic that addresses concepts of identity, gender, and subjectivity.

Interviews with Dario Argento

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Andrew Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Visual Memory ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
The Other ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Genre Films ◽  
Dario Argento ◽  
Early Influences

This essay presents two interviews with Dario Argento, one conducted by Élie Castiel and the other by Stephane Derderian. In the Castiel interview, Argento talks about early influences on his career; his approach to every film; eroticism and sadism as well as the question of voyeurism in his work; the importance of objects in the genre films that he has made; and the future of horror films. In the Derderian interview, Argento shares his thoughts on the bloodiness in Deep Red; what the subject of visual memory that often comes up in his films such as The Bird with the Crystal Plumage represent for him; the place of homosexuality in his films; why people who see his films don't look for a suspect as much as they look for a truth; the psychology of the murderer vs. the psychology of the investigator in his films; and the presence of the world of painting in Deep Red, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, and The Stendhal Syndrome.

The Horror of Progressive rock: Goblin and Horror Soundtracks

2016 ◽  
pp. 175-190
Author(s):  
Craig Hatch
Keyword(s):  
Hip Hop ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Progressive Rock ◽  
Vital Component ◽  
Musique Concrete ◽  
Dario Argento

Audio is perhaps the most vital component in the construction of horror films; from the child’s lullaby in Profondo rosso/Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975), Bernard Herrmann’s use of stingers in Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960), to the musique concrète of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974), the canon of great horror films are inextricably tied and indebted to their soundtracks. And yet despite the importance of this audio-visual synchronicity, Italian horror soundtracks in particular have endured not only as part of the films they were made to complement, but also independently of them. With Goblin embarking on their first US tour as a band as late as 2013, to being sampled by contemporary electronic and hip hop acts such as Justice and Madlib, the work of Goblin and other composers such as Fabio Frizzi has received a continued level of interest both with and without the context of their accompanying images.

“I’m Neither a Slut, Nor Am I Gonna Be Shamed”: Sexual Violence, Feminist Anger, and Teen TV’s New Heroine

2021 ◽  
pp. 152747642110153
Author(s):  
Kristina Brüning
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
Affective Dimensions ◽  
Female Solidarity

This article interrogates the representation of feminism and feminists in contemporary US teen drama series. Focusing on Riverdale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Charmed, I explore the racialized affective dimensions of female protagonists’ reactions to sexual violence. Textual analysis of the function of female anger—its causes, expression, and consequences—in sexual violence storylines signals the emergence of a new feminist figure within teen drama: the joykill, a postfeminist and postracial version of Sara Ahmed’s feminist killjoy. In these series, anger sparked by sexual violence incites female solidarity and culminates in utopian scenarios of feminist success. This new, celebratory representation of feminists and feminism as a unifying force visually centers diversity, while the intersections between sexism and racism in experiences of sexual violence remain unexplored within storytelling. Despite its intersectional look, this hollowly diverse feminism is thus racialized as white.

scholarly journals Terrors of Girlhood

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Casali
Keyword(s):  
Female Sexuality ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Adolescent Women ◽  
American Horror Film

<p>Since the birth of the genre, American horror filmmakers have posed female characters as prey and objects of sexual desire. Adolescent women in particular act as both the victim and as eye candy for viewers. From the damsel in distress to the rape victim seeking revenge, women in horror films exist to be antagonized, and so often, their exhibition of femininity and sexuality determines the severity of their suffering. Moreover, though the popular horror film narrative tends to explore the fringes of human nature, few horror films openly deal with the fears and concerns of women outside of threats to their physical being.</p> <p>In the past decade, the horror genre has produced a new crop of young female characters who challenge the tropes of traditional horror films by trading in their role of damsel in distress for the role of the antagonist and anti-hero. What’s more, these films deal with themes relevant to young women, such as body image issues, tumultuous relationships, and sexual repression. In this thesis, I analyze the popular American horror film <em>Jennifer’s Body </em>(2009), which features two violent female protagonists and explores the horrors of adolescent female friendships. In my analysis, I examine whether or not the re-imagined female characters in this film are a progressive reconstruction of gender, and identify ideological conventions of the horror genre that continue to denigrate femininity and female sexuality.</p>

Scrap Metal, Stains, Clogged Drains: Argento’s Refuse and its Refusals

2016 ◽  
pp. 111-126
Author(s):  
Karl Schoonover
Keyword(s):  
Scrap Metal ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
The Uncanny ◽  
Mise En Scene ◽  
Critical Account ◽  
To Come ◽  
Dario Argento

It is a cliché to title a critical account of horror with a list of things.1 Things such as those that precede the colon in my title announce the uncanny role given to them and the expressive hyperbole granted objects by horror diegesis. What I find interesting about this titular evocation of horror’s things is that the books and essays they announce rarely address these objects themselves. Instead, horror’s things are pretexts for a discussion of the unique affective registers of horror or its exuberant corporeality. This essay will attempt to account for things in the giallo and horror films made by Dario Argento during the first decade of his directorial career, widely regarded as his canonical period. In what follows, I largely bracket the infamously wasted bodies of those iconic films in order to allow the matter that populates Argento’s mise-en-scène to come to the fore.

scholarly journals Mother versus Daughter: Identifying the Female Archetypes and their Conflicts in Nick Joaquin’s “The Woman with Two Navels”

10.17158/497 ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Crishia Victorino ◽  
Joycelyn Espana ◽  
Julaila Velez ◽  
Virgilind Palarca
Keyword(s):  
Women Characters ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Female Protagonists ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Mother Daughter Relationship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Female Archetypes ◽  
Relationship Of

<p>The Philippines has a long history of being conquered by the male-dominated west. We see evidences of these patriarchal politics through our literature. Most of these works are included in the Filipino literary canon. But there is an argument whether or not these required reading which actually perpetuated the sexist myths that prevailed in our society. Every after year, the students are presented with material teeming with sexual stereotypes that students do not easily recognize. Nick Joaquin is typically found in required reading lists. His award-winning novel “The Woman who had Two Navels” (1961) has been read in classrooms usually in the patriotic context. The aim of this study is to reread this classic literary masterpiece, and to identify the female archetypes present within, and to show their anti and pro feminist implications. The researchers used textual analysis to identify the images of women characters present in the novel, juxtaposing them against Female Archetypes based on Johnson’s classifications. Through textual analysis, the researchers provided textual evidences to support the claims. Tables were used as tally sheets. The results showed that the female protagonists depict multiple female archetypes that made the mother-daughter relationship of Concha and Connie very complex. Their contradicting archetypes prove that there is a male constructed competition between them. The novel is clearly more than just Joaquin’s account of the travails of post-Spanish Philippines. It is a reflection of a universal phenomenon of the male constructed competition between women. The archetypes are clearly antifeminist and therefore the novel should be read with care especially in the classroom.</p><p><strong><br /></strong></p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Female archetype, conflicts, Nick Joaquin, Philippines</p><div> </div>

It Gets Better Videos for Suicide Prevention in LGBTIQ+ Adolescents

Crisis ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Kirchner ◽  
Benedikt Till ◽  
Martin Plöderl ◽  
Thomas Niederkrotenthaler
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
German Language ◽  
Professional Help ◽  
Characteristics Method ◽  
Sexual Orientations ◽  
It Gets Better Project

Abstract. Background: The It Gets Better project aims to help prevent suicide among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) adolescents. It features personal video narratives portraying how life gets better when struggling with adversities. Research on the contents of messages is scarce. Aims: We aimed to explore the content of videos in the Austrian It Gets Better project regarding the representation of various LGBTIQ+ groups and selected content characteristics. Method: A content analysis of all German-language videos was conducted ( N = 192). Messages related to coming out, stressors experienced, suicidal ideation/behavior, and on how things get better were coded. Results: Representation was strong for gay men ( n = 45; 41.7%). Coming out to others was mainly positively framed ( n = 31; 46.3%) and seen as a tool to make things better ( n = 27; 37.5%). Social support ( n = 42; 62.7%) and self-acceptance ( n = 37; 55.2%) were prevalent topics. Common stressors included a conservative setting ( n = 18, 26.9%), and fear of outing ( n = 17; 25.4%). Suicidality ( n = 9; 4.7%) and options to get professional help ( n = 7; 8.2%) were rarely addressed. Limitations: Only aspects explicitly brought up in the videos were codeable. Conclusion: Videos do not fully represent gender identities and sexual orientations. Messaging on suicidality and professional help require strengthening to tailor them better for suicide prevention.

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