Carol J. Clover first introduced her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film back in 1992, followed by a second edition in 2015. During the 23 years that have passed between these publications, the landscape of horror films have undergone significant changes which complicated and thoroughly reworked her famous concept of the “final girl”. As new horror films emerge and older ones are revived through sequels, prequels, and remakes, the meaning of this trope continues to evolve and reflects both cultural shifts and the commercial reworking of the genre. And so, I decided to make my keyword “deconstruct” which was found and discussed in Rob Pope’s work Creativity: Theory, History, Practice.
Ironically enough, the deconstruction of Clover’s arguments reflect the approach I am taking in my own thesis. Iconic horror films from the late 1970s, such as Alien (1979) and Halloween (1978), have seen a resurgence in popularity, particularly through their modern reboots and continuations. These recent adaptations reveal how filmmakers are “deconstructing” the narratives of the past as well as reflecting changes in gender dynamics, audience expectations, and genre conventions. Even more, classic films like Beetlejuice (1988), which originally sat outside the traditional horror category, have also been transformed. They have gained renewed attention, not just through film but through other mediums such as the Beetlejuice musical, which has gained popularity through social media.
The trajectory of horror (trajectory is one of the words I was thinking of using), from its fear-inducing roots to its current re-workings and revivals suggests an ongoing negotiation between nostalgia and innovation. This shift illuminates how cultural plasticity, an idea found in Pope’s Creativity: Theory, History, Practice-is at play, particularly within capitalist consumerism, where familiar narratives are rehashed and adapted for new audiences. “Here, by ‘deconstruction’ Bordo means that not only can we remove, replace or add on parts (as in a machine), we can also transform and develop the material itself (as in an organism). This new materiality she calls ‘cultural plasticity’; and the capacity – or claim – to mould it she attributes to ‘an ideology fuelled by fantasies of rearranging, transforming, and correcting, an ideology of limitless improvement and change, defying the historicity, the mortality, and indeed the very materiality of the body’ (p. 142). This ideology, as the rest of the essay makes explicit, is based on an economics of capitalist consumerism and is articulated through a notionally democratic politics of individual freedom.” (Pope, 48). Through their cyclical remakes and revisions, horror films offer a clear lens to explore how older ideologies are reworked to fit modern sensibilities, especially when it comes to the “final girl” and her symbolic resonance across generations.
Works Cited
Pope, Rob. Creativity: Theory, History, Practice. Routledge, 2005.
This is such a cool idea! When I think of the idea of “cultural plasticity” as you explained, I think of how the Marvel movies, or superhero movies at large, are constantly being remade to fit as you accurately put it, changing “audience expectations”. I think this topic would be great for a thesis because of its relevancy to modern entertainment and changes that have shaped how we view media. I would like to hear more about this idea of “the final girl”, though. This seems really intriguing and something that could create a lens of how women have been affected in this change of entertainment and how gender roles in film has evolved.