Representation of women in relation to Cabin in the Woods

1. What were Jeremy Tunstall's 4 character roles for women and do they apply to The Cabin in the Woods?

• Domestic
• Consumer
• Sexual
• Marital

Jules is the only female character in this film which can easily be placed with a role. The sexual role would definitely be applied to Jules, the way she expresses herself in both her persona and her physical appearance. The scene where she is erotically dancing infront of the fire place is a prime example of this.

2. How is Dana typical of Clover's "final girl" theory?

Dana is the more innocent of the female characters - this innocence is depicted in the film by her virginity. She is also much less feminine than the other females and portrays many masculine features such as short hair and the way she dresses is not at all girly. Throughout the action in the film Dana is mainly successful when fighting the various creatures attacking her is typically shown by a male character.

3. Jules undergoes mental and physical transformations during the film, what are they and how do they cause her to become her horror archetype?   

Jules' transformation occurs before the film begins, it is her changing the colour of her hair to blonde but the audience is told this has happened by the dialogue between the characters. The use of this hair dye is what changes Jules mentally and physically. She can now be represented as the 'slutty/dumb blonde' character which the voyeurs can use. We later find out that the people watching over the teens had contaminated the hair dye with chemicals which made her personality change. Because of this she takes part in things which is not something she would usually do for example kissing a stuffed fox and erotically dancing on the fireplace.

4. Is Mulvey's Male Gaze theory exemplified in this film and if so, how? Consider framing, camera angles and POV (point of view) shots.

Mulvey's theory is definitely evident in this film. The shots used of the females in this film tend to point of view shots. This is usually the women being seen from a males perspective which helps to objectify them. Many action scenes involve the women crawling and are shown from above which makes it appear that the women are less powerful or even powerless to the voyeurs who are males.

5. 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?

The audience mainly act as voyeurs in the sexual scenes of this film. For example when Jules and Curt are fooling around in the woods, we as the voyeurs are watching them without them knowing. This is also the case the Dana is looking at Holden through the secret mirror in the room. From this we get a real representation and perspective of what the characters are like because we see the way they would behave when they're not aware they are being watched.

6. (Briefly) summarize the way women are represented in The Cabin in the Woods. Are they objectified and there to provide satisfaction for heterosexual males and/or do they fulfill another role/purpose?

There are two different representations of women in The Cabin in the Woods. Dana's character show women to be powerful, level headed individuals who don't need a male to look after them. She shows multiple times that she can look after herself and she has a lot of self respect. This is shown when he tells Holden she doesn't want to sleep with him. Jules on the other hand puts across a slutty image of women. She appears in the film as if she is there just to satisfy the male's needs of seeing an 'easy' girl on the screen.