Halloween (1978)
Gothic tradition/pasts
Catherine and Laurie are avergey, virgins, Laurie seems separate from sexual subjectivity, "think about things like that"
questions about seeing horror: expecting Gothic tropes in the Abbey; Laurie thinking she's seeing Michael
Gothic spaces: the Abbey and the Meyers house: sets up connections between characters and space; can't "make it a home"
Music: musics set up expectations
non-diegetic motif is frustrating?
minimalistic, minor, it doesn't progress, the use of dissonance, aggressive time
plot and repetition: the same thing over
the soundscape of Michael's breathing
builds subjectivity
playing and perverting on the idea of safe suburbs
DEATH SCENES
Judith Meyers--what's the difference between sex and death? Features her bloody breasts (from PoV shot); no gorey open wounds (allows audiences to feel not too violated)
playing with ideas of "normal" families
Mental illness/able-mindedness/neurodiversity and sexual deviancy? (ableism)
mental illness AS explanation
sexual repression? Sexual perversion?
Othering people with disabilities: gibbersih, raving, etc
Dr. Loomis using "it" rather than "him" or Michael--dehumanizes him (makes him a monster); Clover's point about lacking masculinity (non gendered pronoun)
staking out of sexual normalcies
Laurie's paranoia, Laurie's sexuality
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a middle class/upper class white neighborhood--whiteness isn't safe
violence as product of the suburbs returning home; violence can come from anywhere; affects middle class audiences who "see" themselves/their homes
renders Haddonfield (suburbs) as The Terrible Place
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Ending identifications: are we rooting for Laurie or Michael?
For Clover, male audience-oriented, but the Final Girl promotes cross-gender identifications.
Laurie's mistakes frustrate easy identifications
Dr. Loomis' interventions
questions of judgement about action v. inaction