The Representation of Women in Relation to The Cabin in the Woods (Goddard, 2012)

What were Jeremy Tunstall’s four character roles for women and do they apply in ‘The Cabin in The Woods’?

Jeremy Tunstall’s four character roles for women are domestic, sexual, consumer and marital. In The Cabin in The Woods the role of sexual is certainly used by the character Jules. She is very flirtatious with the male characters in the film and could be seen as a sex object because of the clothes such as short shirts and crop tops that she wears. Elements of both the domestic and marital role is shown in Dana’s character. She is seen as domestic when pouring are delivering drinks to the other characters and marital because of the sense of innocence you get from her because of her virginal dress sense.   

How is Dana typical of Clover’s ‘Final Girl’ theory?

Despite not being a virgin, Dana is seen as the ‘virginal’ character of the film. As a character from the lab says ‘we work with what we have’. Dana wants to bring books on the holiday. This tells the audience that she is academic and intelligent. This comes in handy when as she is aware of her surroundings she is able to link what she has read in the book in the cellar to something Marty has told her. At the beginning of the film she is seen as scared and innocent for reasons such as not feeling comfortable playing truth or date and is shocked when Jules shows her the swimming costume she wants her to wear. However, at the end of the film she is willing to kill one of her best friends to defend herself.

                                            

Jules undergoes metal and physical transformation during the film, what are they and how do they cause her to become a horror archetype?           

At the beginning of the film Jules shows off her newly dyed blonde hair. The lab has used the hair dye to turn her in to a stereotypical ‘dumb blonde’. So, she is able to fit the Horror film stereotype. All these characters are university educated, so none of them are ‘dumb’. They have just all been forces to fit into the character roles of an adolescent group in a horror film. The binary opposite of dumb and smart has been used with the two female characters (Jules and Dana).

Is Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory exemplified in the film and if so, how?        

In the truth or dare scene, Joules is dared to make out with the wolf head which has been hung up on the wall. As she seductively walks towards the wolf head, the camera tracks up her body showing close ups of her legs, bum and mouth. In the scene where Curt and Joules have sex in the forest, a point of view shot is used to put the audience in the eyes of Curt. This has been done to appeal to a heterosexual male audience. In this scene Curt is still clothes as it is presumed the audience wouldn’t want to see him undressed. A low angle shot is used when showing Joules dancing in front of the fire place. This shot type is used to show off her legs.

In the film we as an audience, are made to be voyeurs; when does this happen and why is it important in regards to representation of character?    

As an audience we are put into the eyes of Holden when he finds out that the mirror in Dana’s room is linked to his room meaning that he can see into her room and view her undressing as we are shown in one scene of the film. As an audience we are made to be voyeurs and so is Holden. However, after hesitating and watching Dana start to undress; Holden stops her and offers to switch rooms proving that he is a genuine nice person. Dana saying yes to switching rooms may be a hint that she is self-conscious. Once the two characters have switched rooms; Dana reflects Holden’s actions by watching him and making the audience voyeurs before covering up the mirror.

(Briefly) summarise the way women are represented in The Cabin in the Woods.

In many ways Joules is objectified and seen as a sex object for satisfaction of the heterosexual male audience when she is shown wearing a small amount of clothing and dancing seductively. Even the film itself hint at the ‘Male Gaze’ theory when all the people in the lab stop working and are standing around waiting for Joules to undress when having sex with Curt in the forest. This is also an example of the men being voyeurs.

Dana is represented in a very different way to Joules, she is typical of the ‘Final Girl’ theory. Despite not being a virgin, she has a very virginal manner. Unlike, her friend Joules. She isn’t interested in having sex. She is very academic and instead is interested in learning. This is shown when Dana wants to bring books rather than a seductive outfit on the holiday.