The presentation of gender in the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

1. How does the director use microelements to present gender in the
film?
For this essay I am going to be reviewing the film ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, I have
chosen this film because of it’s typical slasher and torture-porn elements and the
mixture of these genres shows a wide range of presentations for genders in the film.
Firstly, the presentation of the females in the second scene is very sexualised and
objectified from a feminist point of view because of their costume, which fits in with
the mise-en-scene of a 1973 group of young adults. However this is sexualised
because they are both showing their stomachs and one of the girls is wearing a mini
skirt. Also there is a sense that the males have dominance over the women in the
film as there are three males and 2 females.
We then see what we would call a presentation of the ‘final girl’ which is the girl who
kills herself and is the last person to survive from the attack she has just been a
victim of. She is the last to survive and is the final girl so in some ways, this gives her
strength and shows her to be an independent female. However the fact that she kills
herself suggests she is emotionally unstable and vulnerable, a typical presentation of
females in horror films. This shows that she was very affected by what she had seen
and the things she had been through and they have brought her to this breaking
point.
Voyeurism is used as the stalker effect when the villain watches the victims through
a spyhole which is typical in slashers as they watch their victims before they kill
them, adding to the slow torture they are experiencing because they feel like they
are constantly being watched.
The man in the villains house who is in a wheelchair, is still presented as superior
shown by the microelements such as camera angles, even though he is in a
wheelchair (and this could be presented as a weakness) the camera looks up at him
showing that he is superior or dominant towards the character of Erin played by
Jessica Biel. Another character, which shows the dominance and superiority of men
is the Sherriff as he orders the two girls and one boy to lay on the ground with their
face to the floor however he gets the male character up to show him the events of
the girl who killed herself. This shows the expectation of males and that they have to
be brave. It also shows the worth of women because they are on the floor and the
Sherriff stands above them, the camera looks up to the Sherriff to show superiority.
The first character to be attacked by the villain is a male, which is typical in horror
films as they usually leave females till last to highlight the theory of the final girl this
is later more highlighted as the second and third attacks are also the males leaving
the two girls for last further supporting the final girl. The villain is a male which is
stereotypical in slashers and torture-porn films as they are stereotypically stronger
and more intimidating.

2. The character of Erin finally ends up in the basement of the house where the
elements of torture porn are shown and she sees one of her friends who is hung on a
hook, even though this male is hurt and vulnerable she still looks up at him to show
the dominance of males. However she is slightly dominant towards her other male
friend who she helps and holds up when running away from the villain.
Towards the end of the film it shows that the attacks happen often as she becomes
the hitchhiker like the girl in the beginning highlighting the fact that the villain leaves
females till last again showing the theory of the final girl.
In conclusion the microelements in this film present gender with the stereotypes of
typical horror films for example the final girl element and also the fact that the villain
is a male and the effect of voyeurism is used to uphold this slasher subgenre.