Essay Excitement

The first essay of the year is upon us and I am actually really excited to be writing it, probably because the topic/text I have chosen is super interesting and relative to me (I think). Out of the many texts I chose ‘Carrie and the boys’ which talks about gender in horror cinema, especially in the 1970s classic ‘Carrie’. Without exposing the entire essay, I have written thus far, I will share with you the introduction which sets up the essay and explains in more detail what and who I’m looking into.

“This essay will be an exploration of gender performativity within horror cinema. To better understand this theme, we will look past modern horror cinema and explore 1930s horror when gender performativity took deeper root with the introduction of sound into movies. We will also explore various themes within gender performance, such as; the role of the audience, the final girl, cinematic gaze, sexuality between genders and most importantly the female scream. We will be looking into the works of Von Arnold Steig and Rachel MacLean and how their works translate this theme into their art. This essay will allow us to explore gender performance in more depth through theoretical findings and opinions. It’s also something that is quite relevant in today’s society and so can be seen through the works of the aforementioned artists.”

 

The books I used for this essay were all quite similar, sharing similar theories and thoughts. The two I am using more predominantly are ‘Men, Women and Chainsaw’s’ by Carol Clover and ‘Attack of the leading ladies’ by Rhona Berenstein. Both are extremely interesting and thought provoking, would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to indulge in some feminist cinema theory.

The artists I chose for this piece, one being extremely well known and the other very hard to find any information on. Rachel MacLean has been one of my favourites for a while now, my love for her work grew when seeing her piece ‘Spite your face’. The piece was shown in an old church in Venice on a very large projected screen, sitting in the pews of the church with the atmospheric darkness of a cinema, something about the piece really struck me, whether it was the strong content of the piece or the place In which it was installed, I’m not quite sure but I have been in love wit MacLean’s work ever since and her latest piece ‘Make me Up’ really worked well with the theme of my essay on the classic traits of gender performativity. The piece tells a different story of women, their beauty exaggerated in makeup and fancy clothing, on a game-show where they complete games and tasks that judge their ability to fulfil their gender specific roles of a mother, intellect and beauty. The prize is mysterious, hinting at the right to be objectified as a perfect woman.  

'Make me Up'

The second artist and piece of work I chose is really interesting but really hard to find information on, I only came across him as it was mentioned in the book ‘attack of the leading ladies’ which I mentioned before. The work of Von Arnold Steig entitled ‘The Horror boys of Hollywood’ can be found in a publication of Vanity Fair 1935. The piece is described as a family portrait of sorts, a tableau that depicts horror as male terrain, and positions women as tortured, unconscious, or dead. It’s a physical and visual representation of cinematic gender performance in the horror genre. We see through the depiction of male villains preying on the women, who can be seen with beautiful long hair, seductive eyes gazing at her killer while she wears a tight dress showing off her feminine features.

'Horror boys of Hollywood'

Writing this essay has been really exciting for me and has made me think quite a bit about my practice, I’m having a bit of a break right now from creating to work more on my written work for the course and also because I was having a bit of artist block, as I like to call it, but now I’m having lots of ideas about where I want to go and I’m excited to get back into the studio/workshops soon!