how does representation theory apply to last years work?

I will be talking about the representation of patriarchy and misogyny in horror due to the rise in female protagonists and how their behaviour is stereotypical or subverted. I will be linking this to the five theories and explaining their use, by using The Collector trailer from last years students (jumpscare) to provide examples and reasoning. Mulveys theory states that audiences are forced to view cinematic text via the male gaze. It is largely shown in the victim shots of this trailer. In this trailer, we see this as the first victim is a young teenage girl laying across the cell floor sleeping. We can say this is the heterosexual male gaze as she is shown as an object in the viewers eye, as something to be watched. This shows that the girls purpose is stereotypical and links to the idea that men are better at physically helping themselves – which is misogynistic. However, as the genre is a slasher this subverts the idea as she is likely the ‘final girl’. This signifies a change in the patriarchy as females are shown to be fighting and taking more masculine traits. this shot works in the trailer as it is an enigma of whether she will live or not. But due to the semantics of the sub-genre slasher the audience will expect her to live and ruin the ending. Overall the trailer does follow the conventions of the male gaze, but due to the genre does not need them. Clovers theory of the final girl plays a significant role in this trailer as it is a slasher. The main victim is female and can be identified with regardless of gender. Women identify with her as she is strong and survives at the end of the film. However, men can also identify with her as there is no pressure for the man to survive. connoting the idea that men are not always the more dominating gender. The trailer shows this as the antagonist is male and will likely be over powered by the female protagonist at the end. This links to patriarchy as the semantics of being male or female in film is becoming more permeable. The final girl is also shown as being weak in some aspects – still feminine. This conveys the idea that no matter how strong the character, death (or the antagonist) might still get her. However, it can also signify that she will escape. As light plays such an important part in the trailer we can see that the final girl is always heading toward the light. Showing the connotations of both death and escape, which can be the same in horror. Derry’s theory of religion and sexuality do not have a large impact on this trailer. As it states that something corrupted tries to get into the victim and then corrupt them. Which can connotate the ideas of rape. However due to the use of weaponry you can get the same effect of a phallic object being forced into the flesh of a young teen victim. It also signifies religious grounding in bloodletting to rid evil while also not showing any links to religion in the trailer. Gramsci’s hegemonic model is show throughout the trailer. An example of this is when the antagonist appears behind the protagonist - while wearing a mask and holding a weapon - as she screams. This shows that the antagonist is the dominating as the dominated group has no way of escaping. It also connotes that to secure spontaneous consent the antagonist must make the protagonist feel afraid. This signifies patriarchal power in the trailer as men (the antagonist) are stereotyped as being the more dominating sex due to their strength and stature. This signifies that women (victims) are weaker by comparison and therefore makes them ‘lower’ than men. This works well in the trailer as it makes the threat feel more realistic and signifies the problems in idealizing one group over the other by showing the over simplified threat to the societal means through symbolism. Derrys theory of the human monster is shown in this trailer through the antagonist. This is as he is shown to have a form of psychosis that allows him to prey on victims with no sense of morality which likely shows that he is a psychopath – meaning without emotion. This signifies the idea that the antagonist is a victim to there own mind and that there was no way of changing this. It also connotes that is the antagonist did not suffer with this, that the trailers events would not have occurred. The connotations of the human monster indicates that there is no thought to the killing and kidnapping however due to the film title the antagonist can be labelled as methodic or a collector of victims.