Ryan Tarran A2 Media

1. Men, Women &
ChainsawsRyan Tarran

2. What does clover mean by ‘female victim
hero’?
• Clover mentions that the female victim hero is the character who is
victimised by acts of evil within the world of the film. However, in
retaliation the Female victim then fights back, making her the female
victim hero. Clover’s example of this is ‘Carrie’ and Carrie is a girl who
is victimised by her classmates who bully her, which then causes her
to act out in a monstrous way towards those who have bulled her
making her a female – victim – hero.

3. What does clover say that males relate to
females in horror films, in particular, the ‘final
girl’?
• Within the book, Carol Clover states that ‘’Pulling gym shorts down
and thumb-rubbing glasses are things boys do to each other, not, by
and large, things that girls do to each other or that boys do to girls’’.
Clover said this because Males can relate to the Final girl in the way
that they can relate to the way she is victimised by experiences. Due
to being able to relate to the final girl the male is therefore less likely to
relate to the antagonist.

4. What does clover suggest makes up the
typical horror audience?
• Young Males either within groups or by themselves make up the bulk
of the horror audience. Clover also states that there are a few niche
groups of audience members like adolescent boys and girls and
middle aged woman. Another influence that attracts the audience is
the actual genre of the film. This means whether it is a sub-genre or a
hybrid genre it can attract certain niche groups of audience. However,
if the film is generic and does not have a unique sub genre then it is
likely to attract more of a mass audience.

5. Was there parity between horror audiences in
regards to those who watched horror films at the
cinema and those who watched them at home
through rentals.
• Clover covered lots of research into horror audiences. She saw a
correlation between who watched horrors at home through rentals and
who watched them on the big screen. Young males made up the
majority of the audience as well as middle aged males. Majority was
under 25.

6. What are the two ways identified by Clover in
which audiences identify with characters?
• Clover states that there are two possible ways that the audience are able to
identify with the characters on screen. This can be done either with primary
identification which is the method of using a variety of camera techniques. Or
the use of secondary identification which uses the character of empathic
choice. This means that Clover stated that the identification can be
personally constructed from the viewers psyche. Clover proposes that
primary identification carries more weight out of the two as it is significant in
the way it connects to character. One theory that can reinforce this is
Mulvery’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory.