Representation of women

Representation of Women (Cabin in the woods)

1. Domestic             Consumer           Sexual                   Martial
   The woman are definitely represented sexually as Jules dancing in front of the fireplace with an interesting point of view shot tilting upwards, which is showing that she is trying to impress the males in the film and is used as an object for sex and heavily represents it. Domestic representation is used with the character Dana who stays in the cabin for most of the film and only leaves when it is necessary, whilst she is in the house nobody dies, but as soon as she leaves people are then put in danger. I think that Jules is a consumer because she uses Curt for protection but does not get it when they are both put in a vulnerable position.
2. Dana does represent the final girl theory in Cabin in the woods as she gets thrown about on the docks and becomes helpless until someone comes to rescue her. She is usually with another man and is in the house the majority of the time. She shows her motherly instincts as she tries to keep everyone inside the house and in the same room so everyone can be protected, and as soon as they leave her presence they are put in danger.
3. Jules goes under physical and mental trauma because of the link between her and sex, she physically represent and mentally represents a young adventurous female who looks for the protection under men and is not independent. Due to Curt not being able to help Jules she is then killed as she does not have the protection her character requires to survive.
4. Mulvey’s male gaze theory is used in the film in the fireplace scene where the camera angles are low and long shots are used to see the whole of her body from also a males point on view which seems to enhance parts of the body such as the legs. In the scene you also see the fire behind her as she dances around her legs, emphasising them.
5. We are made to be voyeurs, this is shown when Curt and Jules go off into the forest, and they are being watched by the zombies which are approaching them out of view of Curt and Jules, the Voyeurs in this are the lab workers as they are watching through the cameras they are told to get back to work and they all groan. Another scene is where Holden views Dana through the one way screen, he enjoys it for a second and stops himself and tells Dana showing that he is caring for her privacy.
6. Only one of the characters is used for satisfaction which is Jules where as the main girl has a purpose of keeping everyone safe and figuring out what’s going on and how to get out. The representation of women overall is that the more sexually promiscuous girls get killed off as they are unaware of the situation. The more masculine and intelligent girl is used as a relation to the male audience, as the more masculine girl may be bullied and tormented which males can relate to as they have been bullied too.