REMADE IN OUR IMAGE: GENDER, MELODRAMA, AND CONSERVATISM IN POST-9/11 SLASHER REMAKES by ANTHONY DAY HAYT A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of English and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2014 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Anthony Day Hayt Title: Remade in Our Image: Gender, Melodrama, and Conservatism in Post-9/11 Slasher Remakes This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of English by: Kathleen Karlyn Chair Priscilla Peña Ovalle Core Member Mike Aronson Core Member Chuck Kleinhans Core Member Janet Wasko Institutional Representative and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation; Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded March 2014 ii © 2014 Anthony Day Hayt iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Anthony Day Hayt Doctor of Philosophy Department of English March 2014 Title: Remade in Our Image: Gender, Melodrama, and Conservatism in Post-9/11 Slasher Remakes This project details the ways in which the classic slasher films of the 1970s, and their post-9/11 remakes, are representative of the individual and complex world views out of which each set of films were borne. The remakes manipulate gender roles including those of the Final Girl and the mother; genre conventions, including increases in domestic melodrama and pathos; production models, including the use of star actors, directors, and producers; sexuality and presentation of the sexualized female body; and race, especially in fine differences between white and non-white characters. In doing so, the post-9/11 films reveal a conservative cultural climate that strives to show recovery of the nuclear family unit after trauma, unlike the originals which are more nihilistic in tone and portray families as either absent or deeply flawed and unrecoverable. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Anthony Day Hayt GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene State University of New York at Buffalo University of Arizona, Tucson DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, 2014, English, University of Oregon Master of Arts, 2006, English, State University of New York at Buffalo Bachelor of Arts, 2003, English, University of Arizona AREAS OF SPECIAL INTERESTS: Feminist Theory, Gender Theory, Genre Theory, Horror Film, Independent Film, Popular and Hollywood Film. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of English, University Of Oregon, Eugene, 2014 Oregon Film Enthusiasts, Founding Member, University of Oregon, 2013 Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of English, University of Oregon, Eugene, 2009-2013 Adjunct Instructor, Department of English, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2006-2008 Teaching Assistant, Center for Academic Development Services Summer Program through the Educational Opportunity Program (CADS/EOP), State University of New York at Buffalo, 2005 Graduate Teaching Fellow, Curator Cinema Studies Film Library, Department of English, University of Oregon, 2008-2009 HONORS AND AWARDS: Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Department of English, University of Oregon, 2014 v Graduate Teaching Fellowship, Department of English, University of Oregon, 2008-2013 Travel Grant, Department of English, University of Oregon, 2011 Graduated Cum Laude from the University of Arizona, 2003 Certificate of Academic Distinction, University of Arizona, 2002-2003 Fall 2001 – Spring 2003, Dean’s List at the University of Arizona vi For my parents, grandparents, and future wife – thank you for teaching me the value of hard work, and for the love, support, and encouragement, through the good and the bad. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 The Mother .................................................................................................... 8 The Final Girl ................................................................................................ 18 Race ............................................................................................................... 23 Genre Conventions ........................................................................................ 24 The Remake ................................................................................................... 31 Star Texts ....................................................................................................... 36 Production ...................................................................................................... 38 Chapters ......................................................................................................... 42 Notes .............................................................................................................. 48 II. RECOVERING THE FAMILY, DOMESTICATING THE MOTHER: THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT .............................................................................. 53 Mari ................................................................................................................ 59 Sadie .............................................................................................................. 64 Mrs. Collingwood .......................................................................................... 70 ‘Junior’/Justin ................................................................................................ 77 Race/Class/Location ...................................................................................... 80 Notes .............................................................................................................. 85 III. SEXUALIZED HEROES, SYMPATHETIC MONSTERS: THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE ..................................................................................... 87 Tropes and Trollops ....................................................................................... 89 Hitchhiker ...................................................................................................... 94 Dis/Figuring the Mother and Child ................................................................ 98 Sex and Sexualization .................................................................................... 104 …And the Money Shall Make You Mainstream ........................................... 113 Notes .............................................................................................................. 116 IV. MOTHERHOOD AND MASCULINITY: FRIDAY THE 13TH ........................ 118 Plot Summaries .............................................................................................. 120 Motherhood .................................................................................................... 125 From Motherhood to Masculinity .................................................................. 136 Race ............................................................................................................... 144 Conclusions .................................................................................................... 149 Notes .............................................................................................................. 150 V. MONEY, MISOGYNY, AND FAILED MOTHERHOOD: HALLOWEEN AND HALLOWEEN II .......................................................................................... 152 Star Text, Capitalism, and Misogyny ............................................................ 156 Motherhood – Absence, Failure, and Recuperation ...................................... 168 viii Chapter Page The Final Girl ................................................................................................ 186 Notes .............................................................................................................. 192 VI. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 194 Scream’s Mommy and Post-Feminist Irony .................................................. 195 Carrie, and the Next Generation ................................................................... 201 I Spit on Your Grave, Singularity of Strength, and Urbanoia ........................ 205 Wrong Turn and the Privileged White Male .................................................. 211 Final Thoughts ............................................................................................... 214 Notes .............................................................................................................. 216 APPENDIX: PRODUCTION AND INCOME DATA ............................................. 218 REFERENCES CITED ............................................................................................. 221 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Two versions of the bad mother in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (2003) – the sickly mother ..................................................... 100 2. Two versions of the bad mother in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (2003) – the obese mother ..................................................... 100 3. Sexualized cinematography and mise-en-scène in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) – Erin’s costuming and top highlighting ... 111 4. Sexualized cinematography and mise-en-scène in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) – Erin’s low-angle