RAPHAEL ALBUQUERQUE DE BOER WHO IS GOING TO SAVE THE FINAL GIRL? THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION IN THE FILMS HALLOWEEN AND THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS Tese submetida ao Programa de Pós- Graduação em Inglês: Estudos Linguísticos e Literários da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina em cumprimento parcial dos requisitos para a obtenção do grau de Doutor em Letras. Orientador: Prof. Dr. José Soares Gatti Junior JULHO/2014 Raphael Albuquerque de Boer Who is Going to Save the Final Girl?: The Politics of Representation in the Films Halloween and The Silence of the Lambs Esta Tese foi julgada adequada para obtenção do Título de doutor, e aprovada em sua forma final pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Inglês: Estudos Linguísticos e Literários Florianópolis, 07 de Julho de 2014. ________________________ Prof.ª Dr.ª. Viviane Maria Heberle Coordenadora do Curso Banca Examinadora: ________________________ Prof, Dr. José Soares Gatti Jr. Orientador e Presidente- UFSC ________________________ Prof.ª, Dr.ª Anelise Reich Corseuil (UFSC) ________________________ Prof.ª, Dr.ª Laura Loguercio Cánepa (UAM) ________________________ Drª Simone Pereira Schimdt (PGL – UFSC) ________________________ Drª Magali Sperling Beck (UFSC) ________________________ Prof. Dr. Dr. Tacel Ramberto Coutinho Leal (UEL) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to thank CNPQ for providing me financial assistance during my doctoral studies; I would also like to thank a number of people that contribute personally and professionally so that this dissertation could have been written. They are: My advisor, who has been working with me for eight years, sharing his knowledge and teaching me how to break paradigms; Professor Anelise. It was in her class I first read many of the relevant texts I ended up working in my doctoral dissertation. I also would like to thank her for always being so thoughtful in all moments of my academic period; My bosses and friends (in alphabetical order) Adriana Delagnello , Denise Corrêa, Maria Ester Moritz, Marimar da Silva (for her intelligence, diligence and thoughtfulness) and Raquel D’Ely (her joyfulness for always being so considerate as well as for contributing for my pedagogical improvement); Professor Laura Mulvey. I have no words to say how much she has inspired me with her magnificent work and for being a wonderful human being. Working with her (and being advised by her during my sanduíche in 2012) was with, no shadow of a doubt, one of the highlights of my academic life. My mother for being the greatest love of all. She was the one who always supported and loved me unconditionally; My father, who taught me how to love horror movies; My dear friends querid@s Christelle (my sis), Litiane (P.Y.T), Nara (the sweetest), Priscila (my best student and listener) and Leo (the youngest clever boy) and Raimundo (the slave), Laura (the arian girl) and Day (the soul partner) for having always expressed their love through many events over these last two years; Pearl, a Friend (capital letter) I can never forget. She has always been there for me, with me. My best companion. “That’s what friends are really for” My greatest friend Moisés. I do not probably have enough words to express how much he means to me; Tacel, my main role model of intelligence and perseverance. It was because of him I first thought of pursuing an academic career; Luciani Malatér, the first of my all college professors to believe I could go further; Rubelise, for The Color Purple ; All my friends that directly or indirectly contributed for my developments as a better person; My tutorhood group, the sweetest one; Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Travolta for the soul; Madonna, for the inspiration and gender; Myself, as a full circle. ABSTRACT Who is Going to Save the Final Girl? The Politics of Representation in the films Halloween and The Silence of the Lambs RAPHAEL ALBUQUERQUE DE BOER UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA CATARINA 2014 Supervising Professor: Dr. José Gatti This dissertation aims at analyzing female representations in two film productions of the North American horror cinema, specifically of its subgenre slasher films, namely Halloween , directed by John Carpenter (1978) and The Silence of the Lambs , directed by Jonathan Demme (1991). My main theoretical framework is film, representation, gender, feminist and queer theories (Butler, 1990, 1993; Clover, 1989; Dika, 1985, Halberstam, 1995; Hall 1973, 1997; Mulvey, 1975, 1981; 2006; Rockoff, 2006; Weedon, 1995). My hypothesis is that the figure of the final girl, in the two films selected for analysis, is not progressive as suggested by the author Carol Clover in her work Men, Women and Chainsaws (1989). On the contrary, the two female characters are represented, in the narrative, as subjugated by the patriarchal system that has been conventionalized in the slasher subgenre. In order to provide arguments for my hypothesis, I analyze general aspects of both form and content of the two films, as well as specific scenes, using the cinematic elements of mise-en-scène, props, characterization, editing and lighting in order to obtain relevant results for my research. Key-words: Representation, slasher films, final girl, gender RESUMO Who is Going to Save the Final Girl? The Politics of Representation in the films Halloween and The Silence of the Lambs RAPHAEL ALBUQUERQUE DE BOER UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA CATARINA 2014 Supervising Professor: Dr. José Gatti Esta tese de doutorado objetiva analisar as representações femininas em duas produções cinematográficas do cinema de horror Norte-americano, especificamente do seu subgênero slasher films , intituladas Halloween , dirigido por John Carpenter (1978) e The Silence of the Lambs , dirigido por Jonathan Demme (1991). Para tal análise, eu utilizo como referencial teórico as teorias de estudos de cinema, representação, gênero, feministas e queer (Butler, 1990, 1993; Clover, 1989; Dika, 1985; Halberstam, 1995; Hall, 1973, 1997; Halberstam, 1995; Mulvey, 1975; 1981; 2006; Rockoff, 2006; Weedon, 1995) para compor os meus argumentos. A minha hipótese consiste no fato de que a figura da final girl não é inovadora como sugere a autora Carol Clover em sua obra Men, Women and Chainsaws (1989). Ao contrário, a personagem feminina é representada na narrativa como subjugada pelo sistema patriarcal que se convencionou em filmes do gênero. Para a investigação da minha hipótese, foram feitas análises gerais dos filmes propostos, tanto considerando suas formas quanto conteúdos, bem como a de cenas específicas, utilizando-se dos elementos de cinema tais como mise-èn-scene, elementos de cena, caracterização de personagens, edição e luz a fim de obter resultados relevantes para a minha pesquisa. Palavras-chave : Representação, slasher films, final girl, gênero LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: The movie poster is appealing due to its sexual connotation represented by the murder’s long knife Figure 2: Laurie (the final girl) is portrayed as hysterical after having fought with her monstrous aggressor Michael Myers Figure 3: Hannibal, the Cannibal “Real-Life Monster” Figure 4: Queer Bil Figure 5: Halloween’s credit sequence already depicts the film’s gloomy tone Figure 6: The sequence of events that precede Judith’s murder Figure 7: The gaze which culminates in Judith’s death Figure 8: “Our” identity and voyeuristic gaze is unveiled by Michael’s parents Figure 9: The word “sister” expresses Michael’s anger towards women Figure 10: Annie’s recklessness and sexual interest lead her to death Figure 11: Bob’s death motif seems unequal in comparison to Linda’s brutal murder Figure 12: The Final Girl fights against death for twenty five minutes in the last scene of Halloween Figure 13: Clarice in a man’s world Figure 14: Gender Trouble: Clarice is again positioned as inferior in this representation of a patriarchal mise-en-scène. Figure 15: Bodies that Matter: Buffalo hides his penis in order to perform as a woman while her victim cries for help. Figure 16: Bill’s victim tries to survive while Bill builds his new “skin” Figure 17: Clarice’s facial expression conveys her frailty expected to belong to the female gender TABLE OF CONTENTS OUTLINE OF THE DISSERTATION .................................... 15 PROLOGUE ............................................................................ 16 CHAPTER 1 ............................................................................ 21 INTRODUCTION ................................................................... 21 1.1 Statement of the Problems and Goals ............................ 26 1.2. Theoretical Framework ................................................ 35 1.3. Significance of the Research ........................................ 46 1.4. Research Questions and Procedures ............................. 47 CHAPTER II ........................................................................... 49 Representation and the Slasher Film ........................................ 49 2.1. Representation .............................................................. 49 2.2 Slas (her) Films: A Genre (der) Trouble? ...................... 55 2.3. The Slasher Film .......................................................... 56 2.4. The Monster and the Final Girl .................................... 65 CHAPTER III .......................................................................... 73 Who is the Boogeyman: The Viewer or the Monster? ............. 73 3. 1. Halloween’s opening scene: The sister trouble .......... .77 3.2. The boogeyman and women ........................................