Females typically fall into the “damsel in distress” character archetype in horror films, as they are often stereotyped as weak and easily frightened. However, females often overcome this initial fear in horror films, by being the last survivor and having to confront the film’s antagonist. This representation conforms to stereotypes in the wider media where the ideal woman would be very feminine, i.e. fragile and emotional.
In the wider media, teenagers are frequently stereotyped as being very naïve and unintelligent. This is used in the horror genre, as teenagers in horror films act on this naivety and put themselves in peril. Often they are helped by an older, worldlier character that advises them and warns them of impending danger; more often than not the teenagers will ignore this warning.
These generalisations and representations of particular age groups and genders are useful in horror films as a means of scaring the audience. Very intelligent, organised and fearless characters are not the norm for protagonists of horror films as these characters would not be scared or find themselves in peril easily, making the fright less intense for the audience. As a result, we will be supporting these representations in our film, as they are an effective way of scaring viewers.
Our protagonist and antagonist, before becoming a ghost, will be fragile and weak, our protagonist being tormented by a supernatural being and our antagonist being a victim of bullying and eventually committing suicide. Our protagonist does initially subvert these stereotypes as she is a bully herself, and as a result is not seemingly emotional. However, this does fall into another media stereotype as, especially in representations of schools, popular women are portrayed as nasty and gossipy.
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