You can read Part 1 Here!
And, of course, no film can be 100% feminist and all of these films have their own issues that definitely deserve to be addressed.
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My favorite thing about this film is that it features a non-sexualized female villian, a true rarity in film. As a bonus, it also features a sweet and realistic elerly couple, including an older woman who still makes unabashed sexual passes at her husband. It's adorable. The story itself is about a famous author who gets in a car accident and is miraculously saved by his "Number One Fan", a kindly, plump middle-age nurse. The film is subtle and disturbing. The tension builds slowly and the physical violence is minimal but brutal. It's no surprise Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her performance.
Trigger warnings: emotional & physical abuse
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Let's be clear here, this is simply one of the best zombie films ever written. But even better, it has a strong, badass main character who is a woman of color! People of color are often first-to-die characters with little substance, and Selena is none of these tropes. This movie has been seen by almost everyone, so I'm not going to go into more detail other than OMIGAWD IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT SEE IT WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?
Trigger warnings: rape
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A film about a woman driven somewhat mad by her food fetish. It's a little surreal and artsy, but if you don't expect it to make complete sense it it's really visually stunning (the film after all is from the perspective of a madwoman). There is a subtle narrative about the nature of perfection. The main character is a perfect chef and housewife with an obvious attraction to food. She is everything she's ever been told makes a "perfect woman" and yet her husband is still unhappy with her. Even while it makes you uncomfortable it makes you hungry. While the main character is sexualized, she's also self-actualized, and to be honest the food is more sexualized than her.
Trigger warnings: anorexia/bulimia
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Now this one is a bit tricky (but also wonderful) because it technically doesn't have a "female" main character. However, it is a beautiful film about strength, love, sexuality, life, death and the reality of children's lives. It's a vampire love story that's as different from Twilight as you can get. The story is brutal, and the book is much more brutal, but it's ultimately heartwarming and sweet.
There are no serious trigger warnings for the film, but trigger warnings for the book: rape, castration, pedophilia
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Cabin in the Woods was a surprising blockbuster hit due mostly to Joss Whedon's sudden emergence on the "mainstream" cinematic scene with the (totally fun but highly problematic) Avengers. Cabin is a complete and beautiful deconstruction of the horror genre, start to finish, top to bottom. It questions everything about the genre, from the male gaze to the Virgin/Whore dichotomy, eventually asking the viewer why we enjoy watching death and destruction so much. It's a hard film to describe without giving it away, but it's really quite phenomenal.
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You could argue that this isn't really a horror film, but is actually a period piece, or a fantasy, or a war drama. Honestly, it's all of these things. But it's also the story of a little girl with exceptional strength and bravery in the face of trauma. There are many interpretations to the film. The fantasy world may just be how she deals with the horrifying circumstances around her (this film is very graphic and violent and disturbing, don't let the fantastical-ness fool you). Her mother is cast quite simply as the victim, which is unfortunate, but it's still an interesting story of life and coping in times of war.
Trigger warnings: domestic abuse, emotional abuse, images which may trigger PTSD
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Much has been written about the groundbreaking nature of the Scream franchise in terms of feminism. It plays with the genre, and features the first female protagonist in a horror film who has sex and lives. This is important because usually horror films "punish" characters (particularly women) for indulging in "bad" behavior. Scream subverts, entertains and twists tropes through it's whole run.
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Martyrs
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| Pictured: one of the least terrifying & brutal scenes |
Please.
Trigger warnings: too many to count, though there is no rape
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Coming next time: Hard Candy, Monster, Rosemary's Baby, The Descent and more!
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