Men, Women and Chainsaws

What does Clover mean by 'female victim-hero'?

Within the reading, Clover mentions a character type called the female victim-hero. In Men Women and Chainsaws, the character type is described as a monstrosity meaning that they are victimised by other people, which in turn makes the character act out heroically to battle those people who would have caused monstrous acts towards the character. However, in retaliation, she becomes the monster herself which makes her the victim-hero. Clover’s example of this is ‘Carrie’, Carrie is a girl who is victimised by her classmates who bully her, which in turn, causes her to act out in a monstrous way towards those who have hurt her making her the victim as well as the hero.

Why does Clover say that males relate to the females in horror films, in particular, the 'final girl'?

Within the book, Carol Clover states that “Pulling gym shorts down and thumb-rubbing glasses are things boys do to each other, not, by and large, things that girls do to each other or that boys do to girls”. What clover meant from this is that males share similar aspects to the final girl as they can relate to being victimised just like the final girl experiences. Due to being able to relate to the final girls experiences, this means that males tend to not relate to the antagonist of the film as they are the ones who conventionally humiliate the final girl whereas males tend to be on the receiving end.

Why does Clover suggest that horror research is problematic?

Clover suggests that Horror research is problematic due to the amount of analysis compared to the audience of TV. This is mainly because most of horror films produced are independent which means they are made less on the basis of audience statistics. However, research that has been carried out shows that the most common horror audience is young males (either in groups or their selves). As well as young males we also get some middle aged – middle class males and females who like to watch horror.

Who does Clover suggest makes-up the typical horror audience?

As clover has already stated, young males either within groups or by their selves make up the bulk of the horror audience. However, Clover states that there are a few groups who fill in the gaps of the audience such as adolescent girls/boys and middle aged women. Another influence that attracts audience is the sub-genre of the horror film which means the more mainstream the film is, the more normal the audience tends to be.

Was there parity between horror audiences in regards to those who watched horror films at the cinema and those who watched them at home through rentals?

As Clover researched horror audiences, she saw a correlation between who watched horrors at home through rentals and who watched them on the big screen. The same as before, young males take up the bulk of the main audience within both of the situations as well as middle aged men and nearly all of both sexes were under the age of 25. Clover also states that the renter of said horror film is not necessarily the only watcher or even the actual watcher.

What are the two ways identified by Clover in which audiences identify with characters?

Within the book, Carol clover states that there are two possible ways that the audience are able to identify with the characters on screen. This can be done either with Primary Identification (which is the use of camera techniques) or secondary identification (with the character of empathic choice). Clover states that the identification can be personally constructed from the viewer’s psyche (e.g. the sadistic monster and masochistic victim). Carol proposes that primary identification carries more weight out of the two as it is significant in the way it connects characters. One theory that can back this is Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ Theory.