The document discusses the "final girl theory" developed by Carol Clover. The final girl is the last character left alive at the end of a slasher film who confronts the killer. She is typically an intelligent, curious, and vigilant character who moves the narrative forward. According to Clover, final girls sometimes have unisex names and occasionally share a history with the killer. While some have criticized the theory as predictable, Clover argued it subverted the typical sexualized representation of women in horror films by positioning the audience to identify with the surviving female character rather than the killer.

1. The Final Girl Theory
By Priscilla Amponsah

2. What is the final girl?
This refers to the last character left alive in order to confront the killer in a slasher movie
genre, who is left to tell the story- often events unfold through her eyes
The character is always conventional, in a sense that they follow a certain characteristics, e.g.
Even though is obvious from the name of the theory, the final girl is always a female.
She’s always ‘the virgin’, where the only way she can avoid death is not to have sex, drink
alcohol, smoke or to take drugs (has morals behind the message, in hope to ‘educate’ its
audience).
Presented to be intelligent and resourceful in comparison to those around her and those that
eventually becomes one of the many victims.
Usually contains a mixture of being the hero, attractive and the damsel in distress, enables the
audience to have sympathy towards her (audience made to be on her side).
Mostly (although not all), tends to be brunette, contrasting the promiscuous blond (often
sexualised), who traditionally is one of the killers earliest victims.
Presented to be the ordinary woman- audience can relate to her due to similarities, in
comparison to the ‘blonde popular slutty girl’.
This theory/term was discovered by ‘Carol J Clover’ who examined the slasher movies and
thus noticing the consistence.
This gave way/ changed the sexualised females, who were often seen as victims nor were they
protagonist-this subverted the normality of such representation of women.
However others have criticised such theory stating that it has now become ‘predictable’ in
contemporay society.

3. The final girl is
the
‘investigating
consciousness’
of the film,
moving the
narrative
forward and as
such, she
exhibits
intelligent,
curiosity, and
vigilance.
According to
Clover the final
sometimes have a
unisex name, such
as, Teddy, Billie,
Georgie and
Sidney.
The Final Girl
(Clover 1992)
Occasionally the final girl has a shared history with the killer,
for example, in ‘Halloween 2’, Michael Myers is revealed to be
the brother of Laurie Strode, in ‘Scream 1’, Sidney Prescott's
boyfriend, Billy Loomis is the killer and in ‘Scream 3’, the killer
is revealed to be Roman Bridger, who is the half brother of
Sidney.

4. Examples Of Final Girl

5. Clover v.s. Freud’s Theory
Clover Theory:
In relation to the final girl
theory, Clover indicated that
we as the audience are
structured and thus are
‘forced’ to identify not with
the killer, but with the
surviving female (final girl).
Instead of identifying with
the sadistic voyeur (the
killer), she suggests that our
identification has switched
to the victim, who she calls
(a masochistic voyeur).
Freud’s Theory:
Came up application of
psychoanalytical theory
(Oedipal complex), these
include:
Sadism: here he states that
this is a post Oedipal attention
switching from the mother to
the father, or in horror terms
where the (soon to be victim)
can identify with the killer
(shared history e.g. in the case
of the final girl).
Masochism: Pre Oedipal
states that the mother is all
powerful (sense of authority).
So we as the audience we are
put in a state of masochistic
because we take pleasure in
identifying with the female.