“Halloween”, “Friday the 13th”, “Nightmare on Elms St.”, “Scream”, and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” are just some of the classic movies in the horror film genre. Sometimes known as “Slasher” films, these modern horror movies usually have the same structure.
Structure
The young female lead is stalked by deranged male killer. The male killer usually has a reason for wanting to kill her and the other victims; the audience is able to sympathize with him. The main victim is usually taunted and always alone during the terror; this causes a fear and paranoia that isolates her. While everyone else calls her “paranoid” it’s this paranoia that keeps her alive. Her friends and family are killed off, isolating her even more. The killing of the victims is highlighted as every victim is usually killed in accordance to where they stand in order of importance in society. “Sluts” die brutally, mean characters such as “Jocks” or “bullies” die fairly soon, black men and women die first. And the showdown results in her killing her attacker or surviving to the sequel.
The “Slasher” film is obviously aimed towards teenagers and young adults. This group of people became important to the media and to the economy in the 1980’s when America realizes the spending power they have. Most “Slasher” films star extremely popular young movie stars who are usually already starring in hit TV shows. The soundtracks to the movies usually include the latest popular music and if the structure is followed correctly, millions of teenagers will go to the theaters and indulge in the bloody violence.
This structure says a lot about the modern culture of American youth. First, the fact that the lead is female says we are still very much a patriarchal society. If the lead in a horror movie is male it’s usually not a horror movie. It’s basically turned into a good vs. evil showdown unless the villain is an alien. (Because for some reason a real man would never be afraid of another man, but it’s okay for men to be terribly afraid of Aliens) The lead must be female because the audience wouldn’t know how to react to a male running and screaming in terror. To be the lead in a role where you must scream and run is tradition in horror movies. And to do so comes off as feminine. Also the male role is usually expected to the hero. Since the beginning of time men were thought to be the ones who had to save women, i.e. fairy-tales.
The fact that girls get to “survive” in these “Slasher” film also could be linked to patriarchy. Most of the females that survive are “good girls”. They don’t engage in sex or drugs and are smart, pretty and pure. In fact, the girls who do have sex are usually killed the most brutally. This conveys blatant misogyny because it’s basically saying “girls who have sex = bad = should be killed”.
Another important piece in the structure of the “Slasher” film is the audience’s ability to sympathize with the killer. I find this to be unique. The fact that “Slasher” films make it a point to have killers that make audience’s tilt their head, squint their eyes and say “hmm...I see why he went crazy and killed everyone”, is brilliant. Since the 1960’s when the American public as a whole became more cynical of its “reality” it’s been a little more accepting of “Villains”. Humans find their selves at odds with doing the right and wrong thing every day, and I’m sure more people have actually considered killing another person but wouldn’t admit it.. So to see it justified and acted out on screen almost makes it a pleasant, therapeutic experience. However, the killer is almost always “crazy” so that separates the viewer from fully sympathizing and blatantly rooting for the killer. However, this has become more culturally accepted.
The real star of these “Slasher” films seems to be the killer. They survive every movie and are sometimes the only recognizable character in the franchise. In fact, aside from having a female lead and suspense filled scenes, having a popular villain is a strong part of the “Slasher” film structure. In the killer, we find all the problems with society’s youth. So he now represents the evil in the world, while the virginal female lead represents the good.
“Similarly, when an image of a thing becomes a symbol, we know more about what it does mean if know exactly what it does not mean.” (Wright)
So, if Jason is symbolic for childhood trauma, Freddy represents child molestation, and Michael Meyers represents child murderers, the good virginal female lead must represent everything that is not related to negativity in childhood. Most of the females are pretty, smart, popular, well adjusted teenagers. So when movies portray the epic battle between well adjusted youth and the less fortunate ones, what are they really trying to say? In all of the movies the good girl always seems to win, but they always suffer extreme mental illness or seem to be broken emotionally afterward. And the villain always manages to come back for the sequel.
This is symbolic for society’s constant struggle to raise healthy well adjusted sane children, but somehow we keep ending up with “Jason’s”; broken individuals who are misunderstood and turned into monsters. They are either naturally born “evil” or indirectly created “Evil”. For example, Jason Vor Hees, of “Friday the 13th” fame became a killer to avenge his mother’s death, whereas, Michael Meyers from “Halloween” was simply born that way. And in “Scream” Billy killed because he was emotionally distraught over his parent’s divorce. Whichever way it happens, the killers become evil it all starts in their youth. These monsters now become warnings to society of what could happen to children who are traumatized. Just like these killers have become the modern day “boogeyman” to promiscuous teenagers. While “Slasher” films appear to be just about youth, sex, blood and violence, they seem to be sublimely conveying serious social issues that Americans need to address, such as the psychological health of our youth. But can American look past all the gore and entertainment to see what’s really being talked about in these films?
Wright, Will. 2010 “The Structure of Myth” Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: A Reader Second Edition. Retrieved October 31, 2010 (http://books.google.com/books?id=LZ7mHdAVajYC&lpg=PA119&ots=ei4bHonFYR&dq=the%20structure%20of%20myth%20the%20structure%20of%20the%20western%20film%20will%20wright&pg=PA119#v=onepage&q&f=false)
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