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Carpenter's Halloween (1978) (Laurie in the closet (how "Final…
Carpenter's
Halloween
(1978)
Clover: "One is deeply reluctant to make progressive claims for a body of cinema as spectacularly nasty toward women as the slasher film is, but the fact is that the slasher does, in its own perverse way and for better or worse, constitute a visible adjustment in the terms of gender representations. That it is an adjustment largely on the male side, appearing at the furthest possible remove from the quarters of theory and showing signs of trickling upward, is of no small interest in the study of popular culture" (64).
slashers are messy and have problems, but what if they are providing an opportunity for men to identify with different genders and paves a way for progressive thinking/representations?
How does this film orient us to patriarchal forms of authority?
medical authority and Dr. Loomis. Starting at 7:30-- "Don't you think we could refer to it as him?" By not using a gendered pronoun, it emasculates Michael? But what if overly masculinizes him, making him BEYOND gender (beast, machine, etc); still dehumanizes though?
uses non-diegetic sound coupled with the "wandering" bodies. The nurse has a problem with their "gibberish"--dehumanizes people with disabilities; sets up neurodivergence as deviance
closer shots to emphasize the small town suburban site. Also suburban sites as "safe" spaces; nothing happens? White suburban heteronormative nuclear family space.
"The Night He Came Home" home as safe, moving the violence to a white, classed space. .
renders cops as not that bright (Annie's dad scene)
Laurie in the closet
how "Final Girl" is Laurie? What is with Dr. Loomis?
Loomis as active, Laurie as more damsel
turns the home into a violent, unsafe space. But this only works if the house isn't always already a violent space? (Legacies of abuse and violence). Amped by less communication and bringing the violence "home". Using domestic items to return the violence
not 3 pt lighting, use of shadows
music sensory overload. Makes us feels
as
Laurie
the space of the closet as an inverse of childhood fears "monster in closet" "boogeyman in closet"
MAKES the genre of the slasher--it's super paradigmatic; but for Clover, that's precisely why we should look at these films because the plots expose cultural norms of gender and sexuality
Lynda's Death Scene
framing Lynda in a slight high angle (with pigtails and giggling) with a close-up, just barely giving us her nipple once, and then a medium on Michael; makes us do size comparison.
the close up shows us vulnerability because we don't see the entire body; suggests there is violence in
viewing
bodies? Also maybe is a strip tease/sexual tension? "See anything you like?"--Lynda's line as meta-film or breaking the 4th wall. Cranky: it ups the objectification. Generous: what are you doing, spectator?
hypsersexual moaning. Laurie misunderstands the aural cues. His heavy breathing. Merges sex and death--seems to be participating in sex negativity? Shows the violences of sexuality? (Is this Clover work)
where is the pleasure/fun in this film?