Joey Comeau of A Softer World fame recently compiled a list of good, rape-free, trigger-free horrors and it really is an interesting exploration of a minority field of the genre. Emma and I are in the process of getting our hands on the ones we haven't seen, but I find myself disagreeing with quite a few of the ones on the list that I have watched already. Let the Right One In for instance, (which after a few comments akin to mine has been removed from the list) I believe has heavily implied sexualised violence. I also argue whether or not The Ruins can be considered a good film (Spoiler alert: it's not).
The list is a good one though, and it's been making me think a lot if I can name any sort of addition, can supply some sort of alternative in time for Halloween. I could name a dozen Hitchcock films for sure (A Shadow of a Doubt, people, watch it), but I'm not sure if they classify as horror as much as they do thriller, even if they deal with horrific themes.
I also always want to include Scream, The Last House on the Left and the original Nightmare on Elm Street in any horror list of recommendation I make, but whilst I certainly think all three have compelling female characters and even some feminist-friendly values, they're all definitively about the effect sexualised violence has had on a protagonist. The Others, which is included in Comeau's list, is certainly a good one that escapes the rape-trap, involving a pretty awesome lady lead. Likewise with the first Paranormal Activity (that said, there is certainly rapey-implications in this one, and definitely all-out rape in movie 3). Comeau's post certainly inspired some thought into the genre though, and Emma and I are going to be on the hunt for some better feminist-friendly horror. Do you know of any yourself?
No comments:
Post a Comment