Representation and sterotypes

Representation and stereotypes

Slashers

Scream- Friday the 13th- A Nightmare on Elm Street

Usually, in older slasher films, you will find the same characters. A black character (colour interchangeable) who never lives to see the end, the attractive male bursting with masculinity and braveness, and his counterpart; a foolish, attractive female. And her adequate, Jane Doe sidekick. This can be related to Propp's theory of the fundamentals of a movie, being broken down into simpler elements. The connotations of the women find that they are a symbol of sex, tied to the pre WW2 stereotype that women are simpler than men, in the sense that their understanding of the world is limited to what their husband/ father says. The stigma dictates that women are bound to duties of the home, and to reproduce. The Levi- Strauss theory can be applied here, due to the fact that the protagonist and antagonist have no real back stories, the two main characters are either purely good, or completely evil; binary opposites. However, in the time we live in women have evolved to take a more powerful stance. An example includes Buffy, in hit- TV series Buffy the vampire slayer. She demonstrates a women in a strong leading role, and doesn't bow to the conventional damsel-in-distress that we are all too familiar with. She's still an attractive female, just not simple, and constricted to sex appeal. Most of the time.