Horror do gênero no gênero de horror : análises sobre o limiar vítima-monstro no cinema de horror estadunidense do século XXI

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate the representation of women as victims and monsters in American horror cinema during the second decade of the 21st century. To achieve this goal, we analyze female characters in films of the genre, comparing works with women in key technical roles to those with mostly male teams, exploring how different experiences influence the portrayal of characters within the narrative. We consider this disparity essential for analyzing female characters, as we live in a society that prioritizes narratives from a male perspective, valuing the hero's journey while its obstacles appear morphologically female. Recognizing that horror cinema often centers female figures in its plots, we examine the condition of these protagonists within what we named as the "victim-monster threshold." This threshold is characterized as a space easily transpassed by women, who shift between victim and monster as they struggle to break free from roles imposed by a patriarchal society. In our quest to understand the female paradox, we analyze the films The First Omen (Arkasha Stevenson, 2024) and Immaculate (Michael Mohan, 2024) to comprehend the role of women in similar narratives with distinct perspectives, the former being directed and written by a woman and the latter by a man. This thesis interweaves images from the films with the primary emotions associated with the horror genre (fear, anger, and disgust) and their role in relation to the threshold. Ultimately, this study conceptualizes the threshold as a morally ambiguous space where we encounter the figure of the witch — a woman who, in her refusal to conform to societal and moral definitions of what is appropriate and expected for women, is perceived as monstrous while simultaneously being victimized by a patriarchal society and the state that enforces these stereotyped and predefined standards. We analyze this figure through the films The Witch (Robert Eggers, 2016) and The Love Witch (Anna Biller, 2016), drawing comparisons between the two representations of the witch, one in a film directed by a man and the other by a woman, both released in the same year. Through these analyses, we find that the victim-monster threshold offers female characters a moral flexibility rarely granted to nonmasculine characters, especially when these characters are created and directed by someone who shares their perspective. While male-created productions seek justification for female monstrosity, characters created and directed by women develop an understanding that the monstrous can occur despite their victimization by an oppressive society, rather than solely because of it.