#theresearch

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Intro

When we think of horror we primarily think of things like psycho serial killers, monsters hiding in the dark, or terrifying scenarios like swimming in a lake with giant sharks or being trapped in a cave with no cell reception. Rarely do we look at the characters experiencing and living through these situations. A common archetype within horror movie survivors is the Final Girl , a character that was introduced in the 70’s that vastly differed from the screaming heroines in the 50’s and 60’s. The Final Girl  is the main female character that is the sole survivor in the movie, always outliving both her female and male companions. The Final Girl  since her creation has undergone many shifts that have been praised as contributing to the empowerment of women, but as time goes on has also been criticized to contributing to the flaws in the current day Final Girl . The genre of horror and its interaction with female representation is interesting because it  has the ability to push conventional boundaries while being heavily influenced by the societal issues surrounding the time of the films. This why the question of how have Final Girl has evolved over the past 50 years needs to be asked and researched. As a new decade approaches the Final Girl  will continue to change, and to understand the direction of this pivotal character within horror. By understanding the factors that have influenced past transitions we can understand how this has affected  today’s Final Girl and allows us to predict how the Final Girl of future will then be influenced by the current day representation of women in horror.

What did the Final Girl  Look Like?

When the Final Girl  was introduced to horror the character often fell under stereotypes that correlated with societal expectations of women. One of the most popular of the stereotypes was the virgin, which was intended to make the character more vulnerable, naive, and innocent in order to represent ideal femininity at that time (Clover 1922). To contrast what women were expected to act like, often films had a sexually active secondary female character that died whose purpose was to criticize female promiscuity around the 60’s and 70’s (Younger 2017). This was intended to show through visual representation and behavior who “deserved” to live versus the women who were not worthy. Other common stereotypes included the role of mothers and connecting women to nature. George Faithful, a philosophy PHd., looks at how Ripley’s story arch turns into one about motherhood, as it is revealed in Aliens that she has outlived her daughter, and feels protective over the little girl, Newt. This role was intended to show another category that women were expected to fall into and rewarded with more screen time if they did. The roles of nurturing characters were strongly influenced by World War II, as this was the primary role for women for a long period in every genre (Conrad 2011). The early societal influences of the Final Girl  dictated her appearance, and often surrounded the idea of purity and femininity which tied into concepts such as virginity and motherhood. As the view of the concepts became increasingly more progressive the characters developed with the times, allowing the horror genre the potential to break these stereotypes.

Around the late 70’s into the 80’s the Final Girl  transformed from character’s whose survival relied on luck to a character who became increasingly more autonomous. Whereas women had previously survived by how Trencansky, author of the article “Final Girl s and Terrible Youth: Transgression in 1980s Slasher Horror”, described as “seemingly at random, based on their ability to scream, run, and avoid the pursing monster…”in films, such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Final Girl over time drifted away from surviving on luck as she developed a stronger will to live which resulted in the character confronting  the villain directly (Trencansky 2001).  One major component in this transition was the Final Girl acquiring the ability to adapt in dangerous situations whereas in the past the character usually did not having the tools intellectually or physically to survive. These girls within 80’s to 90’s horror, like Sydney from Scream, are described stronger characters as Katie Max, horror enthusiast, described her as “Bad ass” and observing she could “could really hold her own physically”  (Hitchens 2015).  The transition of condemning women in horror movies to celebrating their victories over the villains developed with the popularity of the women’s liberation movement in the 70’s into the 90’s that focused around celebrating women’s independence and sexuality. This new trend of independent Final Girls has created new opportunities for women in horror to play more complex roles.

While these more complex roles have been viewed as a positive shift from the negative stereotypes that women once played in the past, these roles have also been viewed overtime as becoming increasingly more flawed. In films like The Descent, the Final Girl  is a more well rounded character with the plot being heavily influenced by her character development instead of the villain’s (primarily male) backstory (Lazard 2009). Whereas the old problem was the Final Girl being one dimensional, the new problem lies in process of  the character being fleshed out. The traits the Final Girl is adapting are often viewed as male, making her success more relatable to male audiences versus female ones (Keinser 2008). The characteristics that are usually represent of female characters are not being integrated with these survivalist traits, but are being completely replaced by them. This makes her an unrealistic version of a strong women, which often leads female audiences to identify with the secondary female characters that often are victims and a portrayal of fear (Clover 1992). This has set up debate about whether the current day Final Girl  is a positive or negative representation of women, as the current society and their view of women continues to currently shape how the Final Girl is being portrayed. Understanding society’s response to this character and the reasons behind these reactions have the potential to predict how women in horror will be represented in the future.

Methods

In order to create realistic representation of how today’s society views women in horror films today compared to the past, I utilized quantitative and qualitative research methods. I conducted a survey, observations, and an interview in order to access a diverse sample of the population. The survey was taken by 116 people across a variety of ages and gender, the interview included two hosts of a horror themed podcast, and the observations were of six individuals who were watched a modern horror film.

To reach as the largest audience possible, I created an online survey that was distributed via Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. I chose online distribution in an attempt to have respondents be both male and female and from a large pool of ages to understand how the evolution of women in horror has changed throughout the decades in the opinion of viewers. Respondents ranged from ages 15 through 50+, while a majority (63%) came from the age group 12-20 and only 22% being 40 or older. In terms of gender, the replies were primarily female ( 69%) with a small portion being male (31%) and one respondent identifying as other.

A majority of the questions on the survey centered around the Final Girl  including questions about her intelligence, appearance,  behavior, and primary characteristics. This also included specific questions on examples of strong Final Girl s as well as positive or negative stereotypes that possible surround this specific character. All of the questions around personal opinion of the Final Girl  included an other response that allowed respondents to type in an answer that was not available in the multiple choice answers.  In order to code the varying responses and large variety of answer I received I put the answers into two categories. The first category was answers that described the Final Girl  that was the most popular in the 70’s when the character was first introduced. The second category was answers that described the Final Girl  that resembled the character’s transformation into the 80’s and 90’s. The other main category was stereotypes and where these possible two versions of Final Girl ’s in today’s society fall under.

The observations were conducted in a natural setting with a small group of mixed gender, 5 girls and 3 males, all primarily of the age 15-20.  These specific volunteers were not fans of horror films, and had no previous knowledge or opinion of the films being watched. The observations were conducted at the location of one of the volunteer’s homes. The volunteers were instructed to watch The Descent and react as natural as possible and encouraged to keep an open dialogue through the movie. Their facial reactions as well as body language was recorded in response to the horror films.  After the movie was viewed,  I asked their overall option of the Final Girl .

I interviewed the hosts of the horror film podcast, Werewolf Ambulance. The Show has over 200 episodes covering horror form the 60’s to present day from a large variety of genres. All the questions asked were open answered, and unlike the survey asked about perceptions of the Final Girl  in the past, now, and what she could look like in the future. Similar to the survey I categorized their answers into positive and negative stereotypes, but added the category of future projections and past causes of shifts in the Final Girl .

Results

The results revealed how society today views past and present day Final Girls. The survey was used to target a wholistic sample that could possibly represent the changes and perceptions of people who are subjected to horror films, and all parts of horror films intended audience. The questions about demographics were asked to understand how gender might play a role in perspective, as well as the age and social climates the respondents were exposed to. While the  116 survey respondents were intended to represent popular opinion across society today, the observations were aimed towards collecting natural reactions that were untainted by preconceived notions or opinions about the film. They were conducted in a space they were all familiar with to allow me to record their natural, and first reactions to The Descent, a more modern representation of the Final Girl  today. The interview with Werewolf Ambulance was conducted because the other forms of primary research targeted audiences with low to moderate knowledge of horror, where as these two individuals had extensive knowledge of horror films from every decade. Their knowledge of horror films allowed more in depth questions than the surveys, and allowed a well rounded and educated opinion on the trajectory of the Final Girl ’s character. Holistically the data revealed society’s overall interpretation of the modern girl today is negative, but this option is heavily based in gender and built off of past versions of the Final Girl . The direction she is traveling is still inconclusive, but varies specific factors of where society’s view of women is going and the increased involvement of women in the film industry.

Across the data, audiences today associate stereotypes such as popularity and helpless with current and past Final Girls. When asked on the survey what stereotype was associated most with the Final Girl, the highest percentage answered popular. This correlated with an answer to a similar question in the interview, where they answered “sort of plunky,”. This revealed that across audiences who rarely watch horror films to ones that are very familiar with the genre, this is an attribute is trait of popular is on of the most impressionable of the character. The survey responses also revealed that when audiences are asked what they remember women doing the most in the horror films, their answers did not align with characteristics that typically describe a Final Girl . Among the survey, 42% answered screaming, but a majority of these answers (40%) were women compared to men (29%). This large disparity in answer between gender was also seen in the answer to the question “What do you think of horror movies today?,” where 60% of the women answered suspenseful, or “I don’t watch scary movies,” compared to the men who answered suspenseful at 40%. These feelings of lack of interest or suspense were also recorded in the observations, as people in the audience were visibly distressed by clutching something or screaming at the jump scares. While some of these observant showing visible fear were male, throughout the movie it was consistently women, who were recorded to have related to the character and root for their survival throughout the film.

There was a reoccurring finding in all the research of the Final Girl’s significant development compared to the characters past versions. In the survey when asked what word they associated with the Final Girl  was strong, with the highest percentage for the strongest Final Girl  being Ripley in Alien. This idea of being strong was a key element of the Final Girl  according to both of the interviewees, but they provided deeper insight by commenting on the different types of strength that each Final Girl presented in each new decade since the 50’s. It was discussed that today’s Final Girl  compared to the past is more confident and fleshed out as well as having a stronger internal will to leave. This stronger internal will to live was observed in a modern Final Girl in The Descent and recognized by the audience through their descriptions of the the character as “Bad ass” multiple times by different viewers, regardless of gender.

Ultimately with elements such as stereotypes and past development, the view of today’s modern girl was recoded mixed, with the consensus she was unrealistic. In the observations and the interviews the opinions on whether the Final Girl was positive or negative was mixed. One female observant commented after the film “I feel like she was correct, but not positive, like I feel like if I was her I would die, but if I could, I would do exactly what she would do” while another answered “even though the affair subplot was somewhat unnecessary and played into some stereotypes shown in film … it does show her confronting an emotional problem amongst the terror of the creatures in the cave, which is admirable.” This shows two similar opinions that both exhibit positive and negative feelings toward the character that is a hero, but flawed in plot and development. The interviewees answered a similar question, but based their answer more off of comparisons of final girls , “I think the Final Girl in the new millennium in the last ten years is a more of a strong accomplished, confident women, where as the previous infinity before that were more like harpies.” They followed up this answer by also commenting on the new entering stereotype of where the Final Girl has “had some type of life or professional training that has geared her for this moment,” and has possible made her less relatable, similar to what the first observant addressed. While the interview talked of a positive progression to this point, it was revealed that they were uncertain about the future fearing the Final Girl could eventually regress to become ironic, or be represented more positively as girls comfortable with their identity. On the survey 65% believed that the current representation of the Final Girl  was negative, with a majority of women believing this (72%) compared to men who’s majority answer was positive (59%).  This reveals that similar to the observations and survey that a majority of those who criticize the current day Final girl are female, but there is still a recognition of her past progression and potential progress.

Discussion

The secondary and primary research shows that ultimately the progression of the Final Girl, from the 1950’s to the present, was viewed as becoming increasingly more positive up until today. Today the Final Girl ’s representation of being viewed as negative or positive is highly influenced by the gender of the viewer, which has opened a discussion about what direction the Final Girl will take. Looking at past and present Final Girls, it is inconclusive whether the next versions of the character will lead to more empowering roles or a regression to demeaning ones.

The primary research shows that todays audience still views past Final Girls, like Ripley in Alien or Sydney Prescott in Scream, as positive compared to more contemporary movies that were also a choice. In these specific films from primary the 80’s and early 90’s the women possessed a prevalent ability to adapt to new, dangerous situations that presented them with a high level of competence and inner strength. They were viewed as more positive compared to the previous 70’s version of the Final Girl  where this was not present (Trencansky 2001). This will to live began creating a new version of the Final Girl  that would stick resulting in horror creating more independent and stronger roles for women to play. Many of the observants of the Descent called the women “Badass” and cheered her on as she overcame the cave creatures that had killed off her friends. The observations also showed that the audience was visibly concerned and distressed when the secondary characters died. This might suggest the observing party had grown attached to the Final Girl’s character as a result of her personal growth being intertwined with the plot of the movie. This was something that was introduced with characters in the past two decades, and well as has extended to include fleshed out secondary characters that have become more important to the story.

Despite the Final Girl  being primarily described as strong, the action of the Final Girl remembered most by the audience was not fighting back or plotting against the villain, traits associated with the turning point of the character’s ability to adapt. In the survey 42% answered screaming, with fighting back actually being the least answered option. The quality of screaming often described Final Girls of the past like in Hitchcock’s Psycho or in the film Halloween, where the characters survival correlated more with luck. Because the majority of the survey was primarily women, this could indicate Keinser’s observation that “Female viewers’ emotional responses disprove the theory that women are empowered through the assertive, victorious Final Girl; female viewers are not identifying with the victorious Final Girl, but with the unlucky victims,” (2008). This could have also influenced the lead to the majority response being “Suspenseful ” to the question “How do you view Horror?” This question also had a reoccurring response of  “I don’t watch scary movies,” that was typed only by women into the other section. This could be due to the suspense they feel heavily identifying with the victims of horror films, where as males do not experience or relate to this as intensely. The deaths scenes for women in films generally last twice as long and are more vivid and violent compared to male death scenes that are usually implied or suggested and not as gory. (Clover 198).  This was a result of the male gaze in horror and the sexualization of women’s death and the symbolic nature of how they died. The host of werwolf ambulance described the 70’s specifically as a time that “ men are still going to be upset that, that (rape) happened to a women, but its also tittlating that they’re seeing that.” Women primarily experience only the horrific experience and fear that the scene is intended produce.

As horror has evolved so has the portrayal of the Final Girl as a result of cultural shifts in society. Once feminism became a popular movement, the inner strength of the Final Girl became more popular among audiences. In the 70’s one popular subplot of the Final Girl  was rape redemption films, where the character found strength in overcoming the trauma and seeking revenge. In today’s current generation this is no longer popular type of Final Girl  as the cultural views on sexual assault have developed and are extremely more negative than in the past. In the interview one possible reason the Final Girl ’s character has become more confident and her personal development becoming such a large part of the plot is because women are being given more opportunities to become involved in the movie making process. In movies such as American Mary it was a film written by women  “where the sexual assault was handled as the disgusting thing that it is. And just feminism sticking in the culture,” (Hitchens 2018). This inclusivity of women can also be seen in movies such as The Descent, where the director Neil Marshal commented on the process of writing the roles for the six female leads and in order to do so consulted a lot of women for their feedback in order to create realistic “strong willed contemporary women.”  Today’s major cultural shift that has contributed to the Final Girl  has been allowing women to create female characters and make movies that are creating new version of the Final Girl  that are independent of male assistance, but who also cary the primal instinct of survival and are smart enough to accomplish that.

In the past there has been major problems that have resulted from the shifts and development of the Final Girl  character. The most recent shift from the 80’s to the 90’s of the Final Girl  becoming more adaptable has been viewed as flawed in its delivery. This Final Girl  has been viewed as possessing  vulnerable and feminine qualities and then acquiring “masculine” traits such as intelligence and physical strength to overcome the villain. This has caused a problem as it has been viewed as creating the male audience’s representation of women being empowered versus a realistic version. In the survey many of the write in responses to the question “what stereotype do you associate with  female characters in horror?” The answers were primarily about how attractive she was, with the highest percentage answer being popular. This suggests that the roles of the Final Girl  are still being made with ideal versions of beauty to satisfy male horror fans, while making it unrealistic and harder for women to relate to the Final Girl . In the observations it was mainly the women in the audience that took note through the film how “beautiful” the women were or how “perfect” they still looked after being in a cave and having to fight for their lives. This may show that the women are hyper aware of the unrealistic female’s appearance in horror films, whereas the males expect the appearance of beauty and therefor do not find it abnormal.

While the current Final Girl  of today is viewed as having more positive qualities such as strength, adaptable, and intelligence, she was viewed primarily as negative in the primary research. Mainly women viewed her as negative compared to men. Similar to how the appearances of this current age Final Girl  is unrealistic, this could suggest the character is becoming increasingly more unrelatable to female audiences as it had in the past. In the observing party many of the females found the women in the film to bad ass, but also commented they could never see themselves being in the same situation. The film had six strong female roles, but the situation that they only truly related to women who had been in similar experiences. These experiences in the past have been babysitting, prom, or hanging out with a group of high school friends, but movies that have done this in the past have often incorporated stereotypes such as the virgin, the outcast, or the tom boy (Clover 1992). A new type of Final Girl that is emerging is one with a background or pervious training that has prepared them for the villain or dangerous situation they are about to encounter. The interviewees in this scenario recorded she remembers her training and is equip enough in the knowledge and skill to save herself . This could also be a contributing factor on the response from the majority of women on the survey viewing todays final women as negative. Just like the situation in the film The Descent, women can’s relate or project themselves onto other characters like in popular films such as You’re Next, because they themselves don’t posses this training. This may also be the reason that the majority of the men responded the representation of women in horror today is positive, because they are watching a women succeed but not looking closely at how she is succeeding or putting themselves in the same situation as the character. The Final Girl today is portrayed more positively than the past versions of herself, but the research suggests she is becoming more unrealistic and straying away form being an overall positive representation of women for women.

Possible directions that the Final Girl  could take in the future are both a stronger female characters or ones that are eventually going to mimic her 1970’s or 1980’s ancestors.  Younger Beth, an author of The Conversation, believes that the women are continuing to grow more positive despite their flaws, and will continue to do so if stereotypes are flipped and the women in the films continue to create their own paths. This is similar to why Lazard praised the Decent for being a new possible beginning for the positive representation of women. She commented that the women in the movie challenged the labels of masculine and feminine traits by being women who participated in extreme sports, but also women who were intended to have realistic reactions in the cave and not acting like men to solve their problems. When asked where they see the Final Girl  progressing the interviewees responded that they see her becoming more positive until a certain point, until the character is then made to become ironic or a subtype will be formed where the character becomes trendy. This may suggest that in the future the Final Girl  could eventually lose what made originally made the character a break through for women’s roles in horror, and in many other film genres. This threat of relapse can be observed in other film categories such a science fiction, where many of the leading female roles that are being portrayed as heroes are becoming glorified sidekicks (Conrad 2011)  The primary research shows that the Final Girl  today is currently undergoing a transformation similar to the 70’s shift and the 80’s shift. While those transitions, while flawed, were primarily viewed as positive, this current shift is being viewed primarily as negative, with the potential to be positive. This suggests that how the Final Girl  looks in the future is based on how the audience continues to react to today’s Final Girl s and major social and cultural shifts being experienced currently.

The Final Girl in the past has been praised for surviving, fighting, and achieving the ability to adapt. Today’s final girl is being praised for continuing this progression of strength and skill, as well as developing a backstory that engages with the audience more and is crucial to the plot. While the character is becoming more positive in some ways, her development has also resulted in the character developing in ways that are not geared towards female audiences, and still represent a male version of an capable women. This may be creating the divide in gender being currently experienced on the topic of her representation is positive or negative, and how that affects her future representations. The research shows that the potential of a positive representation may lie in increased female involvement and a female character that is an accurate portrayal of women’s growth in society.  

Limitations

The primary research contributed to the question “How have women in horror evolved over the last 50 years?,”  represents a small sample of society, and therefore does not accurately represent society as a whole. The survey was distributed, but the answered primarily came from the people following my own social media accounts which resulted in an overwhelming response coming from Colorado. The observations were also primarily made up of females, but because they were not fans of horror may have hindered their ability to compare and contrast the Final Girl  they saw to past versions. The survey responses were also primarily from the age 10-20 as a result of this, not getting a wholistic interpretation of the Final Girl  from people who grew up in the eras of the introduction of the Final Girl  and her two major transitions. In the future a more diverse demographic should be targeted, and the observing parties should consist of multiple movies from different eras to encourage and open dialogue about their interpretation of the Final Girl ’s changes overtime.

Conclusion

This research has shown how the Final Girl  has evolved in history up until this point in history, and the possible transitions the current Final Girl  maybe going through today. More research needs to be done in the future to observe how this Final Girl  continue to compares to new Final Girl s in horror films that continue to be made.  By keeping this research open it will continue to give insight how society ultimately views women through the character and how the audience continues to react, to eventually create a more realistic, strong contemporary women in film.

Appendix A: The Survey

Gender

Age

What do you think of horror movies today?

In today’s scary movies with a female lead, how would you rate her level of intelligence?

Which word do you associate the most with female survivors in horror films?

Out of these scary movies, which female survivor is the strongest?

In the horror genre, what is the main reason do you think the last female survivor is the last one to live?

What stereotype do you associate most with female characters in horror?

What is the main reason secondary female characters in scary movies die?

Do you think think female leads in horror films today are a positive or negative representation of women?

Appendix B: Interview Transcribed

1.What are some stereotypes of women in horror you’ve seen fulfilled the most?

The virgin, um mousey, the hoe

do you guys still say hoe? The sort of plucky, who has hard times and now is rising above is that a stereotype? I think that’s like the new thing of like the women in you’re next. Like ohh all of a sudden she remembers that she is a bad ass survivalist. And is like I’m going to turn this chair into like 8 spears and kill people with it. Yeah thats a recent one.

2.Which ones have you seen broken and how? What happened to the character because of it?

The one that comes to mind is Jamie Lee Curtis in Prom Night. She was the sexy one but she still needed up living in the end.

Oh interesting. She was the sexy one.

Of course she was Jamie lee Curtis

3.What is one movie you feel has a strong Final girl? What qualities makes her a strong?

I think you’re next is a good example, but thats with survivalist training, but thats not the best example of a being a strong women because thats not generally available to most of the public

The remake of the night of the living dead where they updates where as in the 60’s one is screaming or comatose

Yeah those are good roles for her

And in the new one she’s screaming, comatose for 5 minutes, and is like I’m going to put a bandoleer of shotguns on and am gonna start killing things so she kinda flips the script on that in 1990.

The babysitter where she would’ve been the final girl, but she is the murder girl.

Oh what about cabin in the woods where she is the final girl but she kinda just burns the world down.

So um qualities that they have would be a willingness to fight

And being conscious

I’m trying to think of a movie with a final girl whose unconscious

The house of the devil. She’s not really the final girl she loses.

What about Everybody loves Maggy (or Maddy something with Jonny depps ex wife) lane. She was also the final girl but also the bad guy

4. What is one movie you feel has a weak final girl? What are her qualities?

A final girl is usually strong in general.

She finds the strength throughout the movie.

Or she’s had some type of life or professional training that has geared her for this moment  like the nurse in dawn of the dead

Or like in chopping mall where the girls dad is a marine.

Yeah because when your dads a marine you’re a marine too

Marine is genetic.

5.How does the final girl differ from secondary female characters in horror? How does she compare to the male secondary characters?

I guess it kinda just depends on the era.

I think secondary female characters have gotten better in a lot of ways too.

I think thats true across a lot of movies too. Not just like the funny friend or like those characters are kinda burnt up now.

I think thats partially because women are being allowed to write movies now.

Oh were allowed ti write movies now thats exciting. And we can vote. But no thats true I cant think of the last time I saw a newer movie where I was like why is this person even in it.  But compared to men, do you think men are being portrayed as dumber?

Or being portrayed more honestly haha.

I mean they’re not the smart ones.

Depends on the genre. Like in comedy dumb confident men, or like the guy in cabin in the woods. I’m going to jump my motor bike over this chasm.

6. What are other major cultural shifts that you think have affected horror films and women’s role in them?

Providing women the opportunities to make horror movies and getting involved in the process. I think about American Mary like theres no way that movie gets made by dudes.

Oh and if it did it would be so fucked up.

Thats a movie where the sexual assault was handled as the disgusting thing that it is. And just feminism sticking in the culture

And more acceptance of the gay people because they’re not as stereotyped in the films, in horror films specifically

And if they still are stereotyped its not as vulgar as the stereotypes there once was

Same with black people.

7. What’s one major shift you’ve seen in today’s representation of women in horror compared to past decades?

Theres a lot less sexual assault of women to get them going. Like rape redemption films and that stuff and theres not a lot of that anymore thankfully.

Do you think thats like a studio issue, like women don’t want to do that.

I think its like a cultural issue. I think people have finally started to recognize..

Rape not cool.

I could not put it anymore eloquently.

Can you call that the title of your paper. Final Girls; Rape not cool.

I think we finally started ti admit that the funny trope of the movie or that like we can do other things to keep the story moving along. Cause it was all from the male gaze Like a mans going to be upset that that happened to a women but its also tittlating that they’re seeing that. The 70’s were gross man

Were there just not female horror fans

No there were

8. Do you think the evolution of the final girl has created an ultimately positive or negative representation of women in today’s horror?

I think it depends on what era

Like a modern final, like in strange land which was in 1998, and the girl in the movie in the movie has this horrible experience, but theres no attention paid to her (allen: no no no) The stories about her dad, but this horrible things happened to her and you don’t even know if she’s okay, like they don’t even put in a scene showing that she’s okay. And that would not fly now and its just like 20 years later so I think in like now movies women are treated a hell whole of a lot better. And so I think the final girl in the new millennium in the last ten years is a more of a strong accomplishes confident women where as the pervious infinity before that were more like harpies.

Yeah and its almost like the male characters have become weaker like to become the villains

Yeah like the betas or  the victim. Or be  the alpha like in cabin in the woods sacrifice themselves.

9. In what direction do you see the representation of women in horror going?

I think at some point its going to regress to be ironic. Like women are going to go back to being useless in horror movies as like a subversive thing. It would be like a last house on the left sort of thing, which is a bad example because she goes on to murder.

I think of something like Raw where thats not like a slasher movie and they’re not final girls, but has a representation of women like “this is who we are  so you guys just have to deal with it, like were cannables ” but gingersnaps comes to mind as well. Like “were werewolves and this what you puberty did to us.”

I can see it continuing in a more positive direction but I can also see there being sub secretive progressive movie where it becomes trendy at some point, they cant just let ladies have anything.

References

Clover, Carol (1992). Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton, Princeton University Press.

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Carpenter, John (Director). (1978). Halloween. Compass International Pictures.

Craven, Wes (Director). (1996).A Nightmare on Elm Street. Dimension  Home Video.

Craven, Wes (Director). (1996). Scream. Dimension Home Video.

Conrad, Dean (2011). “Femmes Futures: one hundred years of female representation in sf cinema.”Science Fiction Film & Television, 4(1), 79-100. doi:10.3828/sfftv.2011.5

Faithful, George. (2016). Survivor, Warrior, Mother, Savior: The Evolution of the Female Hero In Apocalyptic Science Fiction Film of the Late Cold War. Implicit Religion, 19(3), 347-370. doi:10.1558/imre.v19i3.29626

Hitchens, Allen & Maxie, Katie, personal communications, May 9th, 2018.

Keinser, Jody. (2008). Do you want to watch? A study of the Visual Rhetoric of the Postmodern Horror Film. Women’s Studies, 37:4, 411-427, DOI: 10.1080/00497870802050019

Lazard, L. (2009). V. ‘You’ll Like This - It’s Feminist!’ Representations of Strong Women in Horror Fiction. Feminism & Psychology, 19(1), 132-136. doi: 10.1177/0959353508098627

Hitchens, Allen & Maxie, Katie.  (2014, October 24). Werewolf Ambulance. Episode 44: Scream. Podcast retrieved from http://werewolfambulance.libsyn.com

Hitchens, Allen & Maxie, Katie. (2014, October 24). Werewolf Ambulance. Episode 116: The Descent. Podcast retrieved from http://werewolfambulance.libsyn.com

Marshall, Neil (Director).(2005). The Descent. Celdor Films.

Trencansky, S. (2001). Final Girls and Terrible Youth: Transgression in 1980s Slasher Horror. Journal Of Popular Film & Television, 29(2), 63.

The horror genre within film is unique, at it has been over the past decades analyzed more in depth and recently viewed as carrying academic and social significance. Horror has the ability to push conventional boundaries and is often heavily influenced by the societal issues surrounding the films. One of the main focuses within research of these films has been gender representation within the main characters, specifically the victim and the villain. Historically women have always been portrayed as the weaker party that fall prey to a masculine, sexually repressed monster or figure. Over the past 50 decades there has been a shift from helpless victim to what is now known as the “Final Girl.” The Final Girl is the main female character that is the sole survivor in the movie, always outliving both her female and male companions. The final girl has been recorded to undergo a transformation around the turn of  each decade. Today’s interpretation of the current final girl is divided, as academics and pop culture either see her as a new vision of empowerment for women, or a current regression back to negative female stereotypes. As a new decade approaches the final girl will continue to change, and to understand the direction of this pivotal character within horror it is essential to understand how the final girl has evolved over the past 50 years, why, and how this has affected how we currently view her in today’s culture. 

Key words: victim, villain, Final Girl, stereotypes, shifts, gender

  Horror films in the past to present day have mainly focused on a female protagonist trying to survive stalker, killer, ghost, alien, ect.. A consistent stereotype the female lead often falls under is the virgin.  Carol Clover, a professor of films studies, theorizes in her novel surrounding gender and horror that desexualizing the final girl it is done in order to further feminize the character, making her more vulnerable (1922). This also corresponds with the observation of Beth Younger, a professor of gender and women’s studies, that women who are sexually active, often secondary characters, tend to die first as seen in popular films Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2017).  These contrasting characters are representatives of what was acceptable for females in society (purity), and what was criticized (promiscuity). This is also identified in how the characters physically appear on screen. Often the final girl is homely or tomboyish in appearance (Clover 1922). This also provides visual symbolism to who “deserves” to live directly contrasting that of the companions who are scantily clothed whose morals are then projected as questionable. These societal standards were primarily targeted to the female audience, as there has been little research on the stereotypes of men, as these movies were often recorded through the male gaze by primarily male directors. 

Others common stereotypes include the roles of the mother. Female protagonists are often viewed as characters whose identity is in some way tied to the idea of reproduction or nurturing. Within the Alien franchise, the philosophy professor George Faithful looks at how Ripley’s story arch turns into one about motherhood, as it is revealed in Aliens that she has outlived her daughter, and then later feels protective over the little girl, Newt (2016). This is similar to Conrad’s observations about Alien, but he theorizes this an influence of the films in the pre World War II era, where women were primarily cast as mothers and wives (2011). Similar to the stereotype of the virgin, the character of the mother is another result of how society categorized women in general and the roles they were expected to take. Often the view of how women should be in society is projected through this final girl who is rewarded with being the only survivor, whether its because she was pure or she fit into a role that was common while her companions that pushed boundaries were punished. 

Around the turn of  the 1970’s into the 1980’s the character of the Final Girl underwent one of it’s first transformations. Films after the release of  Hithcock’s 1960 Psycho, female characters began expanding beyond just the prey or the victim, but developing as characters with the will to survive. This adaptation began to be represented in films such as  Rosemary’s Baby (1968),Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and Halloween (1978). The women in these films unlike the protagonist in Psycho, do survive and put an extraordinary amount of effort to do so.  Sarah Trencansky, author of, “Final Girls and Terrible Youth: Transgression in 1980s Slasher Horror,” credits the 1970’s female protagonists survival being determined “seemingly at random, based on their ability to scream, run, and avoid the pursing monster…”(2001). While Trenscanky observes how the women survive, Clover observes that the women don’t just outlive the villain, but are ultimately saved by an outside force, like how Laurie was saved by Dr. Loomis in Halloween or Sally by the passing stranger in Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1922). Women in films were rarely given skill that contributed to their own survival beyond screaming, running and being forced to depend on outside forces to save them, but their survival alone marked a step in the direction of a more empowered view of women. 

In the 1980’s horror films began changing how the final girl defeated the villain. Whereas in the past the females took a more passive approach to trying to live such as hiding, in films such as Aliens (1979) and Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) the women became more aggressive and autonomous in their own survival. Trencansky notes that the most significant change in character was in the final girl’s ability to adapt to the dangerous reoccurring events she is faced with(2001). This new found strength was also noted by Katy Maxi in an episode of her horror podcast about the film Scream. She noted that the character of Sydney could be described as a “bad ass” and “could really hold her own physically” (2015). The cause behind this development of strength was directly influenced by the social climate, just as the social climate had shaped stereotypes in prior films. The character of the female victim in horror  after the 1970’s began to grow more independent, and eventually stronger, as the women’s liberation movement popularized. The shift from flight or flight continues to influence films in the 2000’s, resulting in  the increase of female leads that do more than scream and forming a new era for the film genre that had previously taken pleasure of making women victims by punishing them for “taboo” behavior (Younger 2017). The two major shifts of horror have created a new character that continues to gradually develop more, creating more complex and diverse female characters that are no longer being punished for what not to do, but being credited as worthy to live and inherently having the traits and characteristics to do so. This progression revolved around the women no longer being helpless or dependent on their male counterparts, but finding their own inner strength and will to live to develop skills that would help them do so.

In the past, the final girl’s development has been viewed as gradual improvement towards a positive representation of women. As the female character in horror films have increased in ability to survive, there has also been an increase in discourse if the adaptation of the final girl is continuing to improve or beginning to regress . The argument of the present day final girl empowering women focuses on not just the character’s behavior, but also the renouncing of conventional interactions, personality, and appearance expected of female characters. Laura Lazard, a Gender and Women’s study graduate, talks about the creation of a new sub type of final girl in the movie the Descent. The female characters within the film are active, strong, sporty women who focus on life threatening problems versus trivial ones. Lazard notes that the most important part of this is the fact the women are sporty, but not manly or portrayed as “butch” (2009).  This is similar to the view of Maxi in her podcast episode about the film. She comments on how female characters can be strong, but still one dimensional, whereas in the Descent all six leading female roles are “fleshed out” (2017). The characters in this film represent the new shift this decade is undergoing today, one where its no longer about if the character survive and why, but her overall development and complexity to be seen as a strong, realistic, female role. Contrasting Lazard’s opinion that the integrating of female and masculine qualities are a positive development, Conrad believes that female character’s are not mixing gendered traits but are more so borrowing masculine identities. She contributes these borrowing of traits as allowing the female character to still be attractive and pure, but also have the traits of being smart and crafty without being too masculine (2011). A professor in creative non fiction the digital arts, Jody Keinser, agrees that masculine traits in female characters being emphasized is negative, but for different reasons. The female character being both masculine and feminine is intended to relate to both male and female viewers. This has created a rift as the traits aren’t balanced, so that the male viewers identify with the main protagonist, while the female audience identifies more with the secondary characters that are “unlucky victims” (2008). The shift into a stronger female character was viewed as initially positive, but because of the imbalance of female to masculine traits and a lack of disparity of strong female characters, the final girl has the potential to become a male representation of a strong women, that does not relate to females. This contrasts what the final girl is suppose represent and can possible lead to adopting new negative stereotypes.

In horror the final girl has a trend of outgoing stereotypes and expectations as the social climate continues to change. The character has been historically a representation of how women are viewed in society, and what is acceptable or unacceptable behavior. The trend in the past has been documented as women being viewed as stronger and more independent characters, but the current shift of the character both critiques and praised the most recent transformation. More research needs to be conducted to understand if today’s final girl is moving in a positive direction that will continue breaking stereotypes or if it is in a new direction of creating more.

References 

Clover, Carol (1992). Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. Princeton, Princeton University Press. 

Cameron, James (Director). (1986). Aliens. Twentieth Century Fox.

Carpenter, John (Director). (1978). Halloween. Compass International Pictures.

Craven, Wes (Director). (1996).A Nightmare on Elm Street. Dimension  Home Video.

Craven, Wes (Director). (1996). Scream. Dimension Home Video.

Dean Conrad (2011). “Femmes Futures: one hundred years of female representation in sf cinema.”Science Fiction Film & Television, 4(1), 79-100. doi:10.3828/sfftv.2011.5

Faithful, George. (2016). Survivor, Warrior, Mother, Savior: The Evolution of the Female Hero In Apocalyptic Science Fiction Film of the Late Cold War. Implicit Religion, 19(3), 347-370. doi:10.1558/imre.v19i3.29626

Keinser, Jody. (2008). Do you want to watch? A study of the Visual Rhetoric of the Postmodern Horror Film. Women's Studies, 37:4, 411-427, DOI: 10.1080/00497870802050019

Lazard, L. (2009). V. ‘You’ll Like This - It’s Feminist!’ Representations of Strong Women in Horror Fiction. Feminism & Psychology, 19(1), 132-136. doi: 10.1177/0959353508098627

Maxie, Katie, & (2014, October 24). Werewolf Ambulance. Episode 44: Scream. Podcast retrieved from http://werewolfambulance.libsyn.com 

Maxie, Katie, & (2014, October 24). Werewolf Ambulance. Episode 116: The Descent. Podcast retrieved from http://werewolfambulance.libsyn.com 

Marshall, Neil (Director).(2005). The Descent. Celdor Films. 

Trencansky, S. (2001). Final Girls and Terrible Youth: Transgression in 1980s Slasher Horror. Journal Of Popular Film & Television, 29(2), 63.

Intro

When we think of horror we primarily think of things like psycho serial killers, monsters hiding in the dark, or terrifying scenarios like swimming in a lake with giant sharks or being trapped in a cave with no cell reception. Rarely do we look at the characters experiencing and living through these situations. A common archetype within horror movie survivors is the Final Girl , a character that was introduced in the 70’s that vastly differed from the screaming heroines in the 50’s and 60’s. The Final Girl  is the main female character that is the sole survivor in the movie, always outliving both her female and male companions. The Final Girl  since her creation has undergone many shifts that have been praised has contributing to the empowerment of women, but as time goes on has also been criticized to contributing the flaws in the current day Final Girl . The genre of horror and its interaction with female representation is interesting because it  has the ability to push conventional boundaries and is heavily influenced by the societal issues surrounding the time of the films This why the question of how have Final Girl s evolved needs over the past 50 years needs to be asked and researched. As a new decade approaches the Final Girl  will continue to change, and to understand the direction of this pivotal character within horror it is essential to understand what past transitions looked like and how it influences today’s Final Girl  in order to predict how the Final Girl  of future will be influenced by the current day representation of women in today’s horror films. 

What did the Final Girl  Look Like?

When the Final Girl  was introduced to horror the character often fell under stereotypes that correlated with societal expectations of women. One of the most popular of the stereotypes was the virgin which was intended to make the character more vulnerable, naive, and innocent which was intended to represent ideal femininity at that time (Clover 1922). To contrast what women were expected to act like, often films had a sexually active secondary female character that died, whose purpose was to criticize female promiscuity around the 60’s and 70’s (Younger 2017). This was intended to show through visual representation and behavior who “deserved” to live and versus the women who were not worthy. Other common stereotypes included the role of mothers and connecting women to nature. George Faithful, a philosophy PHd. looks at how Ripley’s story arch turns into one about motherhood, as it is revealed in Aliens that she has outlived her daughter, and then later feels protective over the little girl, Newt. This role was intended to show another category women were expected to fall into and rewarded with more screen time if they did. The roles of nurturing characters were strongly influenced by World War II, as this was the primary role for women for a long period in every genre (Conrad 2011). The early societal influences of the Final Girl  dictated her appearance, and often surrounded the idea of purity and femininity which tied into concepts such as virginity and motherhood. As the view of the concepts became increasingly more progressive the characters developed with the times, allowing the horror genre the potential to break these stereotypes. 

Around the late 70’s into the 80’s the Final Girl  transformed from character’s whose survival relied on luck to a character who became increasingly more autonomous. Whereas women had previously survived by how Trencansky, author of the article “Final Girl s and Terrible Youth: Transgression in 1980s Slasher Horror”, described as “seemingly at random, based on their ability to scream, run, and avoid the pursing monster…”in films, such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the Final Girl  had a stronger will to live which resulted in the character confronting  the villain directly (Trencansky 2001).  This major shift also included the Final Girl  acquiring the ability to adapt in dangerous situations versus not having the tools intellectually or physically to survive. These girls within 80’s to 90’s horror, like Sydney from Scream, are described stronger characters as Katie Max, horror enthusiast, be described her as “Bad ass” and observing she could “could really hold her own physically”  (2015).  The transition of condemning women in horror movies to celebrating their victories over the villains developed with the popularity of the women’s liberation movement in the 70’s into the 90’s that focused around celebrating women’s independence and sexuality. This new trend of independent Final Girl s has created new opportunities for women in horror to play more complex roles.

While these more complex roles have been viewed as a positive shift from the negative stereotypes that women have played in the past, these roles have also been viewed overtime as becoming increasingly more flawed. In films like The Descent the Final Girl  is more well rounded character’s, and the plot was heavily on their character development instead of the villains (primarily male) backstory (Lazard 2009). Whereas the old problem was the Final Girl  was one dimensional, the new problem lies in process of  the character being fleshed out. The traits the Final Girl  is adapting are often viewed as male, making her success more relatable to male audiences versus female ones (Keinser 2008). The characteristics that are usually represent of female characters are not being integrated with these survivalist traits, but are being completely replaced by them. This makes her an unrealistic version of a strong women, which often leads female audiences to identify with the secondary female characters that often are victims and a portrayal of fear (Clover 1992). This has set up debate about whether the current day Final Girl  is a positive or negative representation of women, as the current society and their view of women continues to currently shape how the Final Girl  is being portrayed. Understanding society’s response to this character the reasons behind these reactions have the potential to predict how women in horror will be represented in the future.

Methods

In order to create realistic representation of how today’s society views women in horror films today compared to the past I utilized quantitative and qualitative research methods. By conducting a survey, observations, and an interview in order to access a diverse sample of the population. This included a survey that was taken by 116 people across a variety of ages and gender, an interview with two hosts of a horror themed podcast, and observations of three individuals who were watched popular horror films for the first time.

To reach as the largest audience possible, I created an online survey that was distributed via Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. I chose online distribution in an attempt to have respondents be both male and female and from a large pool of ages to understand how the evolution of women in horror has changed throughout the decades in the opinion of viewers. Respondents ranged from ages 15 through 50+, while a majority (63%) came from the age group 12-20 and only 22% being 40 or older. In terms of gender, the replies were primarily female ( 69%) with a small portion being male (31%) and one respondent identifying as other. 

  A majority of the questions on the survey centered around the Final Girl  including questions about her intelligence, appearance,  behavior, and primary characteristics. This also included specific questions on examples of strong Final Girl s as well as positive or negative stereotypes that possible surround this specific character. All of the questions around personal option of the Final Girl  included an other response that allowed respondents to type in an answer that was not available in the multiple choice answers.  In order to code the varying responses and large variety of answer I received I put the answers into two categories. The first category was answers that described the Final Girl  that was the most popular in the 70’s when the character was first introduced. This included answers that depicted the Final Girl  as weaker or less capable. The second category was answers that described the Final Girl  that resembled the character’s transformation into the 80’s and 90’s that described the Final Girl  as having a stronger will to live. The other category was stereotypes and where these possible two versions of Final Girl ’s in today’s society fall under.

The observations were conducted in a natural setting with a small group of mixed gender, 5 girls and 3 males, all primarily of the age 15-20.  These specific volunteers were not fans of horror films, and had no previous knowledge or opinion of the films being watched. The observations were conducted at the location of one of the volunteer’s homes. The volunteers were instructed to watch The Descent and react as natural as possible, and encouraged to keep an open dialogue through the movie and to comment on elements of the character.  Their facial reactions as well as body language was recorded in response to the horror films.  After the movie was viewed,  I asked their overall option of the Final Girl .

I interviewed the hosts of the horror film podcast, Werewolf Ambulance. The Show has over 200 episodes covering horror form the 60’s to present day from a large variety of genres. All the questions asked were open answered, and unlike the survey asked about perceptions of the Final Girl  in the past, now, and what she could look like in the future. Similar to the survey I categorized their answers into positive and negative stereotypes, but added the category of future projections and past causes of shifts in the Final Girl . 

Results

The results revealed how society today views past and current Final Girl s. The survey was used to target a wholistic sample that could possible represent the changes and perceptions of people who are subjected to horror films, and all parts of horror films intended audience. The questions about demographics were asked to understand how gender might play a role in perspective, as well as the age and social climates the respondents were exposed to. While the  116 survey respondents were intended to represent popular opinion across society today, the observations were aimed towards collecting natural reactions that were untainted by preconceived notions or opinions about the film. They were conducted in a space they were all familiar with to allow me to record their natural, and first reactions to The Descent, a more modern representation of the Final Girl  today. The interview with Werewolf Ambulance was conducted because the other forms of primary research targeted audiences with low to moderate knowledge of horror, where as these two individuals had extensive knowledge of horror films from every decade. Their knowledge of horror films allowed more in depth questions than the surveys, and allowed a well rounded and educated opinion on the trajectory of the Final Girl ’s character. Holistically the data revealed society’s overall interpretation of the modern girl today is negative, but this option is heavily based in gender and built off of past versions of the Final Girl . The direction she is traveling is still inconclusive, but varies specific factors of where society’s view of women is going and the increased involvement of women in the film industry. 

Across the data, audiences today associate stereotypes such as popularity and helpless with current and past Final Girl s. When asked on the survey what stereotype was associated most with the Final Girl  the highest percentage answered popular. This correlated with an answer to a similar question in the interview, where they answered “sort of plunky.” Across audiences who rarely watch horror films to ones that are very familiar with the genre this is an attribute that is remembered the most.  The survey responses also revealed that when audiences are asked what they remember the women doing the most in the horror films did not pertain to characteristics that typically describe a Final Girl . Among the survey, 42% answered screaming, but a majority of these answers (40%) were women compared to men (29%). This large disparity in answer between gender was also seen in the answer to the question “What do you think of horror movies today?,” where 60% of the women answered suspenseful, or “I don’t watch scary movies,” and the men who answered suspenseful were at 40%. These feelings of lack of usual interest or suspense were  recorded in the observations as people were  in the audience were visibly distressed by clutching something or screaming at the jump scares. While some of these observant showing visible fear were male, throughout the movie it was consistently women, who were recorded to have related to the character and root for their survival throughout the film. 

There was a recognition in all the research of the Final Girl’s significant development compared to the characters past versions. In the survey when asked what word they associated with the Final Girl  was strong, with the highest percentage for the strongest Final Girl  being Ripley in Alien. This idea of being strong was a key element of the Final Girl  according to both of the interviewees, but they provided deeper insight by commenting on the different types of strength that each Final Girl presented in each new decade since the 50’s. It was discussed that today’s Final Girl  compared to the past is more confident and fleshed out as well as having a stronger internal will to leave. This stronger internal will to live was observed in a modern Final Girl in The Descent and recognized by the audience through their descriptions of the the character as “Bad ass” multiple times by different viewers, regardless of gender.

Ultimately with elements such as stereotypes and past development, the view of today’s modern girl was recoded mixed, with the consensus she was unrealistic. In the observations and the interviews the opinions on whether the Final Girl  were positive or negative was mixed. One female observant answered after the film “I feel like she was correct, but not positive, like I feel like if I was her I would die, but if I could I would do exactly what she would do” while another answered “even though the affair subplot was somewhat unnecessary and played into some stereotypes shown in film … it does show her confronting an emotional problem amongst the terror of the creatures in the cave, which is admirable.” The interviewees answer to a a similar question based their answer more off of comparisons of final girls , “I think the Final Girl  in the new millennium in the last ten years is a more of a strong accomplishes confident women where as the pervious infinity before that were more like harpies,” while also commenting on the new entering stereotype of where the Final Girl has “had some type of life or professional training that has geared her for this moment,” and has possible made her less relatable. While the interview talked of a positive progression to this point, it was revealed that they were uncertain about the future fearing the Final Girl  could eventually regress to become ironic, or be represented more positively as girls comfortable with their identity. On the survey 65% believed that the current representation of the Final Girl  was negative, with a majority of women believing this (72%) compared to men who’s majority answer was positive (59%).  This reveals that similar to the observations and survey that a majority of those who criticize the current day Final girl are female, but there is still a recognition of her past progression and potential progress. 

Discussion 

The secondary and primary research shows that ultimately the progression of the Final Girl  up until the 1950’s until now was viewed as becoming increasingly more positive up until today. Today the Final Girl ’s representation of being viewed as negative or positive is highly influenced by the gender of the viewer, which has opened a discussion about what direction the Final Girl  will take. Looking at past and present Final Girl s, it is inconclusive whether the next versions of the character will lead to more empowering roles or a regression to demeaning ones. 

The primary research shows that todays audience still views past Final Girl s like Ripley in Alien or Sydney Prescott in Scream as positive compared to more contemporary movies that were also a choice. In these specific films from primary the 80’s and early 90’s the women possessed a prevalent ability to adapt and to new dangerous situations that presented them with a high level of competence and inner strength. They were viewed as more positive compared to the previous 70’s version of the Final Girl  where this was not present (Trencansky 2001). This will to live began creating a new version of the Final Girl  that would stick resulting in horror creating more independent and stronger roles for women to play. Many of the observants of the Descent called the women “Badass” and cheered her on as she overcame the cave creatures that had killed off her friends. The observations also showed that the audience was visibly concerned and distressed when the secondary characters died. This might suggest the observing party had grown attached to the Final Girl’s character her personal growth was intertwined with the plot of the movie, something that was introduced with characters in the past two decades, as well as the result of flesh out secondary characters. 

Despite the Final Girl  being primarily described as strong, the action of the Final Girl  remembered most by the audience was not fighting back or plotting against the villain, traits associated with the turning point of the character’s ability to adapt. In the survey 42% answered screaming, with fighting back actually being the least answered question. The quality of screaming often described Final Girls of the past like in Hitchcock’s Psycho or in the film Halloween, where these characters survival more correlated with luck. Because the majority of the survey was primarily women, this could indicate Keinser’s observation that women identify more to the secondary characters of horror film versus the Final Girl herself (find quote). This could have also influenced the lead to the majority response being “Suspenseful ” to the question “How do you view Horror?” This question also had a reoccurring response of  “I don’t watch scary movies,” that was typed only by women into the other section. This could be due to the suspense they feel heavily identifying with the victims of horror films, where as males do not experience or relate to this as intensely. The deaths scenes for women in films generally last twice as long and are more vivid and violent compared to male death scenes that are usually implied or suggested and not as gory. (Clover 198).  This was a result of the male gaze in horror and the sexualization of women’s death and the symbolic nature of how they died. The host of werwolf ambulance described the 70’s specifically as a time that " mans going to be upset that, that (rape) happened to a women but its also tittlating that they’re seeing that.” Women primarily experience only the horrific experience and fear that the scene is intended produce. 

As horror has evolved so has the portal of the Final Girl  as a result of cultural shifts in society. Once feminism became a popular movement the inner strength of the Final Girl  became popular among audiences. In the 70’s one popular subplot of the Final Girl  was rape redemption films, where the character found strength in overcoming the trauma and seeking revenge. In today’s current generation this is no longer popular type of Final Girl  as the cultural views on sexual assault have developed and are extremely more negative than in the past. In the interview one possible reason the Final Girl ’s character has become more confident and her personal development becoming such a large part of the plot is because women are being given more opportunities to become involved in the movie making process. In movies such as American Mary it was a film written by women  “where the sexual assault was handled as the disgusting thing that it is. And just feminism sticking in the culture,” (Maxi 2018). This inclusivity of women can also be seen in movies such as The Descent where the director Neil Marshal commented on the process of writing the roles for the six female leads and in order to do so consulted a lot of women for their feedback in order to create realistic “strong willed contemporary women.”  Today’s major cultural shift that has contributed to the Final Girl  has been allowing women to create female characters and make movies that are creating new version of the Final Girl  that are independent of male assistance, but who also cary the primal instinct of survival and are smart enough to accomplish that.

In the past there has been major problems that have resulted from the shifts and development of the Final Girl  character. The most recent shift from the 80’s to the 90’s of the Final Girl  becoming more adaptable has been viewed as flawed in its delivery. This Final Girl  has been viewed as possessing  vulnerable and feminine qualities and then acquiring “masculine” traits such as intelligence and physical strength to overcome the villain. This has caused a problem as it has been viewed as creating the male audience’s representation of women being empowered versus a realistic version. In the survey many of the write in responses to the question “what stereotype do you associate with  female characters in horror?” The answers were primarily about how attractive she was, with the highest percentage answer being popular. This suggests that the roles of the Final Girl  are still being made with ideal versions of beauty to satisfy male horror fans, while making it unrealistic and harder for women to relate to the Final Girl . In the observations it was mainly the women in the audience that took note through the film how “beautiful” the women were or how “perfect” they still looked after being in a cave and having to fight for their lives, which may also show that they are hyper aware of female’s appearance in horror films, whereas the males expect the appearance of beauty, not finding it abnormal. 

While the current Final Girl  of today is viewed as having more positive qualities such as strength, adaptable, and intelligence, she was viewed primarily as negative in the primary research. Mainly women viewed her as negative compared to men. Similar to how the appearances of this current age Final Girl  is unrealistic, this could suggest the character is becoming increasingly more unreliable to female audiences as it had in the past. In the observing party many of the females found the women in the film to bad ass, but also commented they could never see themselves being in the same situation. The film had six strong female roles, but the situation that they only truly related to women who had been in similar experiences. These experiences in the past have been babysitting, prom, or hanging out with a group of high school friends, but movies that have done this in the past have often incorporated stereotypes such as the virgin, the outcast, or the tom boy (Clover). A new type of Final Girl  that is emerging is ones with a background or pervious training that has prepared them for the villain or dangerous situation they are about to encounter. In this scenario she remembers her training and is equip enough in the knowledge and skill to save herself (Maxi). This could also be a contributing factor on the response from the majority of women on the survey viewing todays final women as negative. Just like the situation in the film The Descent, women can’s relate or project themselves onto other characters like in popular films such as  You’re Next, because they themselves don’t posses the training. This may also be the reason that the majority of the men responded the representation of women in horror today are positive, because they are watching a women succeed but not looking closely at how she is succeeding or putting themselves in the same situation as the character. The Final Girl  today is portrayed better than the past versions of herself, but as she goes stronger the research suggests she is becoming more unrealistic and straying away form being an overall positive representation of women for women.

Possible directions that the Final Girl  could take in the future are both a stronger female character or one that is eventually going to mimic her 1970’s or 1980’s ancestors.  Younger Beth believes that the women are continuing to grow more positive despite the flaws, and will continue to do so if stereotypes are flipped and if the women in the films continue to create their own paths. This is similar to why Lazard praised the decent for being a new possible beginning for the positive representation of women. She commented that the women in the movie challenged the labels of masculine and feminine traits by being women who participated in extreme sports, but also women who were intended to have realistic reactions in the cave and not acting like men to solve their problems. When asked where they see the Final Girl  progressing the interviewees responded that they see her becoming more positive until a certain point, until the character is then made to become ironic or a subtype will be formed where the character becomes trendy. This may suggest that in the future the Final Girl  could eventually lose what made originally made the character a break through for women’s roles in horror, and in many other film genres. This threat of relapse can be observed in other film categories such a science fiction, where many of the leading female roles that are being portrayed as heroes are becoming glorified sidekicks (Conrad.)  The primary research shows that the Final Girl  today is currently undergoing a transformation similar to the 70’s shift and the 80’s shift. While those transitions, while flawed, were primarily viewed as positive, this current shift is being viewed primarily as negative, with the potential to be positive. This suggests that how the Final Girl  looks in the future is based on how the audience continues to react to today’s Final Girl s and major social and cultural shifts being experienced currently.

The Final Girl in the passed has been praised for surviving, fighting, and achieving the ability to adapt. Today’s final girl is being praised for continuing this progression of strength and skill, as well as developing a backstory that engages with the audience more and is crucial to the plot. While the character is becoming more positive in some ways, her development has also resulted in the character developing in ways that are not geared towards female audiences, and still represent a male version of an capable women. This may be creating the divide in gender being currently experienced on the topic of her representation is positive or negative, and how that affects her future representations. The research shows that the potential of a positive representation may lie in increased female involvement and a female character that is an accurate portrayal of women’s growth in society.  

Limitations

The primary research contributed to the question “How have women in horror evolved over the last 50 years?,”  represents a small sample of society, and therefore does not accurately represent society as a whole. The survey was distributed, but the answered primarily came from the people following my own social media accounts which resulted in an overwhelming response coming from Colorado. The observations were also primarily made up of females, but because they were not fans of horror may have hindered their ability to compare and contrast the Final Girl  they saw to past versions. The survey responses were also primarily from the age 10-20 as a result of this, not getting a wholistic interpretation of the Final Girl  from people who grew up in the eras of the introduction of the Final Girl  and her two major transitions. In the future a more diverse demographic should be targeted, and the observing parties should consist of multiple movies from different eras to encourage and open dialogue about their interpretation of the Final Girl ’s changes overtime. 

This research has shown how the Final Girl  has evolved in history up until this point in history, and the possible transitions the current Final Girl  maybe going through today. More research needs to be done in the future to observe how this Final Girl  continue to compares to new Final Girl s in horror films that continue to be made.  By keeping this research open it will continue to give insight how society ultimately views women through the character and how the audience continues to react, to eventually create a more realistic, strong contemporary women in film.

Appendix A

Gender

Age

What do you think of horror movies today?

In today’s scary movies with a female lead, how would you rate her level of intelligence?

Which word do you associate the most with female survivors in horror films?

Out of these scary movies, which female survivor is the strongest?

In the horror genre, what is the main reason do you think the last female survivor is the last one to live?

What stereotype do you associate most with female characters in horror?

What is the main reason secondary female characters in scary movies die?

Do you think think female leads in horror films today are a positive or negative representation of women?

Appendix B

1.What are some stereotypes of women in horror you’ve seen fulfilled the most?

The virgin, um mousey, the hoe

 do you guys still say hoe? The sort of plucky, who has hard times and now is rising above is that a stereotype? I think that’s like the new thing of like the women in you’re next. Like ohh all of a sudden she remembers that she is a bad ass survivalist. And is like I’m going to turn this chair into like 8 spears and kill people with it.  Yeah thats a recent one.

2.Which ones have you seen broken and how? What happened to the character because of it?

The one that comes to mind is Jamie Lee Curtis in Prom Night. She was the sexy one but she still needed up living in the end.

Oh interesting. She was the sexy one.

Of course she was Jamie lee Curtis 

3.What is one movie you feel has a strong Final girl? What qualities makes her a strong?

I think you’re next is a good example, but thats with survivalist training, but thats not the best example of a being a strong women because thats not generally available to most of the public

The remake of the night of the living dead where they updates where as in the 60’s one is screaming or comatose 

Yeah those are good roles for her 

And in the new one she’s screaming, comatose for 5 minutes, and is like I’m going to put a bandoleer of shotguns on and am gonna start killing things so she kinda flips the script on that in 1990. 

The babysitter where she would’ve been the final girl, but she is the murder girl.

Oh what about cabin in the woods where she is the final girl but she kinda just burns the world down. 

So um qualities that they have would be a willingness to fight 

And being conscious 

I’m trying to think of a movie with a final girl whose unconscious

The house of the devil. She’s not really the final girl she loses. 

What about Everybody loves Maggy (or Maddy something with Jonny depps ex wife) lane. She was also the final girl but also the bad guy

4. What is one movie you feel has a weak final girl? What are her qualities?

A final girl is usually strong in general.

She finds the strength throughout the movie.

Or she’s had some type of life or professional training that has geared her for this moment  like the nurse in dawn of the dead 

Or like in chopping mall where the girls dad is a marine. 

Yeah because when your dads a marine you’re a marine too

Marine is genetic. 

5.How does the final girl differ from secondary female characters in horror? How does she compare to the male secondary characters?

I guess it kinda just depends on the era. 

I think secondary female characters have gotten better in a lot of ways too.

I think thats true across a lot of movies too. Not just like the funny friend or like those characters are kinda burnt up now. 

I think thats partially because women are being allowed to write movies now. 

Oh were allowed ti write movies now thats exciting. And we can vote. But no thats true I cant think of the last time I saw a newer movie where I was like why is this person even in it.  But compared to men, do you think men are being portrayed as dumber? 

Or being portrayed more honestly haha. 

I mean they’re not the smart ones. 

Depends on the genre. Like in comedy dumb confident men, or like the guy in cabin in the woods. I’m going to jump my motor bike over this chasm.

6. What are other major cultural shifts that you think have affected horror films and women’s role in them?

Providing women the opportunities to make horror movies and getting involved in the process. I think about American Mary like theres no way that movie gets made by dudes.

Oh and if it did it would be so fucked up.

Thats a movie where the sexual assault was handled as the disgusting thing that it is. And just feminism sticking in the culture 

And more acceptance of the gay people because they’re not as stereotyped in the films, in horror films specifically 

And if they still are stereotyped its not as vulgar as the stereotypes there once was 

Same with black people.

7. What’s one major shift you’ve seen in today’s representation of women in horror compared to past decades?

Theres a lot less sexual assault of women to get them going. Like rape redemption films and that stuff and theres not a lot of that anymore thankfully.

Do you think thats like a studio issue, like women don’t want to do that.

I think its like a cultural issue. I think people have finally started to recognize..

Rape not cool.

I could not put it anymore eloquently. 

Can you call that the title of your paper. Final Girls; Rape not cool.

I think we finally started ti admit that the funny trope of the movie or that like we can do other things to keep the story moving along. Cause it was all from the male gaze Like a mans going to be upset that that happened to a women but its also tittlating that they’re seeing that. The 70’s were gross man

Were there just not female horror fans 

No there were 

8. Do you think the evolution of the final girl has created an ultimately positive or negative representation of women in today’s horror?

I think it depends on what era

Like a modern final, like in strange land which was in 1998, and the girl in the movie in the movie has this horrible experience, but theres no attention paid to her (allen: no no no) The stories about her dad, but this horrible things happened to her and you don’t even know if she’s okay, like they don’t even put in a scene showing that she’s okay. And that would not fly now and its just like 20 years later so I think in like now movies women are treated a hell whole of a lot better. And so I think the final girl in the new millennium in the last ten years is a more of a strong accomplishes confident women where as the pervious infinity before that were more like harpies.

Yeah and its almost like the male characters have become weaker like to become the villains 

Yeah like the betas or  the victim. Or be  the alpha like in cabin in the woods sacrifice themselves.

9. In what direction do you see the representation of women in horror going?

I think at some point its going to regress to be ironic. Like women are going to go back to being useless in horror movies as like a subversive thing. It would be like a last house on the left sort of thing, which is a bad example because she goes on to murder.

I think of something like Raw where thats not like a slasher movie and they’re not final girls, but has a representation of women like “this is who we are  so you guys just have to deal with it, like were cannables ” but gingersnaps comes to mind as well. Like “were werewolves and this what you puberty did to us.”