2. Do Jeremy Tunstall's 4 character
roles for women apply to the film?
Jeremy Tunstall’s 4 character types are: Domestic, Marital, consumer
and sexual.
Domestic- In the film, Dana can be seen to fit this category.
We see that she is a lot different from her room
mate, Jules, both in the way she dresses and acts.
Marital- Again, Dana also fits this role because she's the
most sensible. She doesn't wear clothes that reveal lots of
skin which indicate that she isn't ‘slutty’. She also comes
across as quite shy, a shown in the opening scene.
Consumer- Jules is the person to fit this role, contrary to
Dana she's the typical stereotype of a late teenage
female, who drinks, has sex and does what would be seen
as taboo.
Sexual- Jules also fits this role because of the way she
behaves, and of what she wears, this seems to be almost
the opposite to Dana. We are clearly shown this during the
scene where she's dared to 'make-out' with the wolf as well
as the sex scene in the woods with her boyfriend.
3. How is Dana typical of Clover's 'Final
Girl' theory?
Dana is the perfect representation of a final girl.
Her name is quite androgynous and not particularly
feminine.
She's very much the opposite of Jules. Dana
doesn't wear revealing clothes whereas Jules
appears to be near enough naked when ever she is
shown.
Dana is also a book worm. In the opening of the film, we see her in her bedroom
packing for the trip, she plans to take some reading material should she get
bored, but Jules has other plans and tells Dana to get rid of them.
She was also not wearing trousers when she is first shown and the
underwear that she was wearing wasn't very feminine or sexy. Finally, when
Curt enters the room and points it out to Dana she is clearly embarrassed.
She also isn't scared to fight and kill in order to survive. She gets battered
around and put through some very tough situations which most would give up
and die, but she always fights back in order to survive.
Despite the fact that Dana applies to Clovers final girl theory, Dana isn't a virgin
which is a key element of the theory, and the first time this seems to be the
case.
4. Jules undergoes mental and physical
transformations during the film, how do they cause
her to become a horror archetype?
Once again at the start of the film, we find out that she dyed her
hair form brunette to blonde, which applies her to one of Propp's 8
character types, the dumb blonde that always dies first .This is the
main physical change we see of her.
We later find out that the underground facility, put some sort of drug
in her hair dye that causes her not to think properly, which maybe
why she 'makes-out' with the wolf...
She also changed mentally
when her and Curt are in the
woods, and the facility released
pheromones through the moss
on the ground to make them
more sexually towards each
other which lead her to a very
very violent and brutal death
right before Curt’s eyes
5. How is Mulvey's Male Gaze theory
exemplified in the film?
Mulvey's male gaze theory is exemplified in
the film and is mostly dominated by Jules.
Jules is revered to in the film as 'The whore'
and we also get this impression through
cinematography.
When ever Jules on camera its often through a
close up or tilt of her body. In the scene where
Jules is dared to kiss the wolf, we see her
walking seductively towards the wolf, as this
goes on, the camera tilts up from her legs to
her head, following her as she walks.
Furthermore the scene where she is
seductively dancing in front of the fire, the
camera is at a low angle so its as if the
audience is looking up to her like she's in
power.
6. As the audience we are made to be voyeurs; when does this
happen & why is it important in regards to representation
of character?
This first happens in the scene where Dana
is about to get undressed in front of the
mirror but is unaware that the mirror is see
through from Holden's room.
Holden is able to see Dana but she isn't able to see him. He stands there
for a bit looking at her to see if she can see him too but we soon find out
that she cant see him and then goes to unbutton her shirt. Feeling
uncomfortable, Holden goes to Dana's room to tell her about the mirror.
He also offers to change rooms with her to make her feel more
comfortable. This lets us know that Holden is respective of women and
Dana. Had this been Curt, he might have stayed and watched her get
undressed, as he's made out to be the jock, as well as in the first scene
where Dana had no trousers on and Curt has a full conversation with her
like that and only to nonchalantly tell her right at the end of the scene.
Finally, after Dana and Holden swap rooms, he purposely gets changed in
front of the mirror knowing that Dana can see him. This being an example
of scopophilia.
7. As the audience we are made to be voyeurs; when
does this happen & why is it important in regards to
representation of character?
Throughout the film, Jules is the
main character which we as an
audience are made to be voyeurs.
Whenever the camera is on her
we get close ups of different parts
of her body, such as the scene
where she is dared to make out
with the wolf.
What’s more she is also always
wearing something revealing or that
doesn't cover up a lot of skin, the
overall way in which she acts
provocatively is also a way which we
as the audience are turned in to
voyeurs.
8. Summarise the way women are
represented in The Cabin in the Woods.
In the film, women are represented
as objects. The male scientists in
the underground facility make Jules
look and behave like a 'slut'. They
change the way she looks to make
her a dumb blonde to make her
more appealing and they control
the way she acts by using
pheromones.
They get joy and pleasure out of
watching
her
act
like
this.
Dana on the other hand is not
represented as a sexual object. In
some ways she's quite tom-boyish and
unlike Joules, when Dana is in trouble
she wont cry for help but fight back
and even kill in order to survive.
