The Cabin in the Woods (Goddard, 2012)
1. What were Jeremy Tunstall's 4 character types for woman and do they apply to The cabin in the woods?
The four character types that Tunstall pointed out are: Domestic, Sexual, Consumer and Marital. The majority of these categories cannot really be applied to The cabin in the woods. Jules fits into the 'sexual' category because of her activities with Curt. Her dancing in the cabin is also very sexually orientated as is the entire scene when she is dared to kiss the wolf. Other than Jules, none of the other female characters can really be categorised into any of the four above titles.
2. How is Dana typical of Clover's 'final girl' theory? please mention: The ending; her appearance and her actions during the film.
Dana is typical of Clover's 'final girl' theory as she meets all of the vital criteria: she is fairly androgynous both in the way she dresses, and the way her voice sounds. She is also virginal, innocent, and concerned with her education. An early scene shows us this by how she packs her school books with the intention of studying when she is away. Dana was also a female character that fought for her life;something Jules did not do. Dana also is quite reserved in everything she does, she is never particularly loud, and she is always seen to be dressed 'appropriately' apart from when she is seen in her underwear at the beginning of the film. The underwear that she has on are even plain and simplistic. When she notices that she isn't wearing any trousers in front of Curt, she is clearly embarrassed and tries her best to cover herself. Towards the end of the film, after being informed about why her friends have been killed, she seems willing to kill Marty by pointing the gun at him to save the rest of the world. This could be seen as a masculine thing to do however, she does not kill him as they decide to let the different species or "gods" take the world as they decide that humans aren't doing a good enough job. This is a huge decision for her to make as it will in turn cause the world to end, however she makes the choice which shows she is strong; yet another important thing to create the role of the 'final girl'.
3. Jules undergoes mental and physical transformations during the film, what are they and how do they cause her to become a horror archetype?
At the beginning of the film, we find out that Jules has died her hair blonde. she also makes it abundantly clear that she is sexually active and a few pieces of dialog also make it clear that she has a flippant attitude towards sex. This straight away sets her up to be the stereotypical 'dumb-blonde' that dies first. This is the physical transformation that she undergoes during the film. The mental transformation is when they are in the cabin, a chemical is strayed in through vents which make her into her more stereotypical role of a 'slut' causing her to grab Curt and go into the forest together for sex.
4.Is Mulvey's Male Gaze theory exemplified in the film and if so, how? Think about framing, camera angles and POV shots.
When Jules is dancing in front of the fireplace, the camera is roughly where the two male characters eye-level would be as they are sitting. the tilts angle also makes her body the centre of attention, concentrating on her bottom which is only emphasised by her extremely short denim shorts. Because of this angle, the audience is forced to watch her dance in an almost sexually-orientated manner. The male gaze theory is also shown in the scene where Curt and Jules head to the forest to have sex. The male gaze is in the form of the 'directors' who are in the control room. When Curt lays her down on the floor, she complains it is too dark, the directors then turn up the lighting and also makes the temperature a little warmer as she complains of it being "chilly". They do this until she eventually takes her clothes off. This is a prime example of the male gaze theory with The cabin in the woods as the audience is put into the perspective of the male characters.
5. In the film we, as an audience, are made to be voyeurs; when does this happen and why is it important in regards to representation of character?
As mentioned previously, the audience is forced into being voyeurs at times as Curt, her boyfriend cheers, smiles and gives praise whilst she is doing the provocative dance that the audience sees her bum in the centre of the shot for. We, as the audience also become voyeurs when Holden takes a photo off the wall to find a two-way mirror, he stands and watches for a few seconds as Dana is beginning to get undressed. For this few seconds we are put into his eye-line view. He stops Dana undressing as he begins to feel uncomfortable with what he is doing. The audience are voyeurs for that few seconds and Dana does not know she is being watched.
6. (Briefly) summarise the way women are represented in The Cabin in the Woods. Are they objectified and there to provide satisfaction for heterosexual males and/or do they fulfill another role/purpose?
Woman cannot really have a generalised representation within the film as there are only really 3 females that are on screen for any length of time and they are all very different. It does appear that Jules is mainly there to provide satisfaction for the heterosexual males and show that sexualised people always die first in horror films, but Dana is seen to be resourceful and intelligent throughout the film, hence she is final girl.
3. Jules undergoes mental and physical transformations during the film, what are they and how do they cause her to become a horror archetype?
At the beginning of the film, we find out that Jules has died her hair blonde. she also makes it abundantly clear that she is sexually active and a few pieces of dialog also make it clear that she has a flippant attitude towards sex. This straight away sets her up to be the stereotypical 'dumb-blonde' that dies first. This is the physical transformation that she undergoes during the film. The mental transformation is when they are in the cabin, a chemical is strayed in through vents which make her into her more stereotypical role of a 'slut' causing her to grab Curt and go into the forest together for sex.
4.Is Mulvey's Male Gaze theory exemplified in the film and if so, how? Think about framing, camera angles and POV shots.
When Jules is dancing in front of the fireplace, the camera is roughly where the two male characters eye-level would be as they are sitting. the tilts angle also makes her body the centre of attention, concentrating on her bottom which is only emphasised by her extremely short denim shorts. Because of this angle, the audience is forced to watch her dance in an almost sexually-orientated manner. The male gaze theory is also shown in the scene where Curt and Jules head to the forest to have sex. The male gaze is in the form of the 'directors' who are in the control room. When Curt lays her down on the floor, she complains it is too dark, the directors then turn up the lighting and also makes the temperature a little warmer as she complains of it being "chilly". They do this until she eventually takes her clothes off. This is a prime example of the male gaze theory with The cabin in the woods as the audience is put into the perspective of the male characters.
5. In the film we, as an audience, are made to be voyeurs; when does this happen and why is it important in regards to representation of character?
As mentioned previously, the audience is forced into being voyeurs at times as Curt, her boyfriend cheers, smiles and gives praise whilst she is doing the provocative dance that the audience sees her bum in the centre of the shot for. We, as the audience also become voyeurs when Holden takes a photo off the wall to find a two-way mirror, he stands and watches for a few seconds as Dana is beginning to get undressed. For this few seconds we are put into his eye-line view. He stops Dana undressing as he begins to feel uncomfortable with what he is doing. The audience are voyeurs for that few seconds and Dana does not know she is being watched.
6. (Briefly) summarise the way women are represented in The Cabin in the Woods. Are they objectified and there to provide satisfaction for heterosexual males and/or do they fulfill another role/purpose?
Woman cannot really have a generalised representation within the film as there are only really 3 females that are on screen for any length of time and they are all very different. It does appear that Jules is mainly there to provide satisfaction for the heterosexual males and show that sexualised people always die first in horror films, but Dana is seen to be resourceful and intelligent throughout the film, hence she is final girl.
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