Film Theorists: Carol Clover - ‘Final Girl’ Theory (1993)

Carol Clovers ‘Final Girl’ Theory – ‘Men women and Chainsaw’s (1993)

Ripley

Laurie

Clovers book ‘Men women and Chainsaw’s (1993) is based on how gender is depicted in horror. Clover suggests that 'in these films, the viewer begins by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experiences a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film.' The 'Final Girl' in a horror movie is stereotypically a female personality that has a similar set of characteristics throughout the horror genre. She is customarily not a rebel; she remains a virgin and is sexually reluctant by choice. She comes across as a social outcast because she doesn’t partake in drinking, smoking or drugs. Typically, the 'Final Girl' has a past relating her to the villain in some way and she will be the last person alive to confront the villain. She will survive the moral failing that all the other characters in the film lack. However, she will still have a sense of appeal about her. Regardless of being investigative and having an androgynistic name (e.g., Teddy, Billie, Ripley, Laurie, Georgie & Sidney etc.), she will still wear tight fitting clothes and have long hair that makes her an engaging figure. The theory states that the 'Final Girl' moves the narrative forward through her intelligence, curiosity and investigative nature. The weapon she uses to confront the villain makes the ‘Final Girl’ appear masculine. The use of 'phallic symbols' such as a knife, chainsaw, hanger or knitting needle is used against the killer in a penetrative method. Ultimately she avoids death in order to tell her story and finally restores justice and order in the community.

The final girl has been observed in many films, including Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Hellraiser, Alien, and the Scream franchise.

  

My opinion: Halloween

In Halloween, the Final Girl, Laurie (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), does not move the narrative forward in a very significant way, she doesn’t actually kill her attacker. It can be argued that she ends up attacking the killer, because she is reacting to the events that Mike Myers has set in motion by escaping from a mental asylum and murdering her friends. There are several shots that are even filmed from Michael’s direct viewpoint, reinforcing that throughout the film, Michael holds the power. 

Long shot of Laurie - Use of shadows

Taking account that some shots (but very few) are from Laurie’s point of view, many shots are formed through the audiences eyes (a technique called voyeurism).

Infamous Knitting Needles

Instead of being substantial characters, the females in the film play passive roles. They are often objectified, meaning they are there to be looked at rather than do anything important.

 So who cares if we’re watching a movie through a man’s eyes rather than a woman’s? 

If films reflect the culture that they are from, then the danger of always seeing men as active and women as passive in movies might mean that people expect men and women to act like that in real life. That’s not to say that men are suddenly supposed to go around disguising themselves and hacking teenagers to death, but that essentially, men are the important ones while women are mostly there just to be looked at. I love slasher films – I would just like to think that as a woman, I can play a bigger part, which in my opinion isn’t asking for too much, it’s conceivable after all.