***Humongous, Ginormous Trigger Warning***
Recently there has been a Feministing thread, started by Jessica, about the new movie "Deadgirl", a horror film making its way through the festival circuit currently and possibly slated for some sort of theatrical release in the future. As is the case in many of these instances the original poster was working off of secondhand knowledge (plot synopses, reviews, marketing campaigns, etc.) in order to try to understand the film, and came to a rather negative conclusion about the film. A lot of people don't have the time, volition, or ability to watch a film like "Deadgirl" because it's only on the festival circuit and because even if one got a copy it's a really tough movie to sit through.
I did watch "Deadgirl", though, and this is the most feminist movie I've seen this year. That's no small statement, either. I review movies for my college paper, and on average see at least one new movie a week, but usually two or three. I sit through everything. It's part of the perils of being an entertainment writer, albeit a volunteer one, and occasionally you get a big surprise when a movie you expect to be one thing turns out to be something else entirely. I expected "Deadgirl" to be like other schlock horror I sit through all the time. Not so. The film is the most nuanced, and most horrifying, look at manhood in a misogynistic culture I've ever seen. It's scary precisely because it pulls no punches.
Why is this?
***Spoilers Below***
"Deadgirl" is the story of two 17 year old males in a non-descript American town. Ricky and J.T. are both outsiders, born on the wrong side of the tracks and poor as heck, but while J.T. has long since abandoned all hope Ricky pines for Joann, a once-kinda-girlfriend who has since moved on to the school's upper-crust social structure. They cut school together one day and stumble upon the body of a woman tied to a table in an old mental hospital. Ricky initially flees, while J.T. proceeds to abuse the woman and comes to find that she can't be killed. What happens after this is a descent into the darkest heart of contemporary masculinity. What happens when boys who have been taught to commodify women stumble upon a woman they can treat like a commodity with seemingly no ramifications?
That's where the monster(s) come in. "Deadgirl" is a horror movie, a monster movie, but the monster in this film is not the deadgirl. It's every male character. Each man or boy in this movie is reprehensible in his own way, because each one happens to buy into a culture in which women are something less than people.
Ricky is not the hero here. In fact, he's used as the perfect example of the male gaze. He stares at Joann throughout the film, not simply longing after her, but viewing her almost entirely as a sexual creature. This culminates in the sex fantasy he has on his bed inter-splicing Joann and the deadgirl. Ricky searches for a way to "be a man", but his role models downright suck. There's Clint, his mom's alcoholic boyfriend who advises him to fight and get with girls and have fun. There's J.T., his best friend who pressures him into looking at the deadgirl as some sort of sex slave. There's the other friend, Wheeler, who succumbs to J.T.'s pressure and wants Ricky to join in as well. There's Johnny and Dwyer, two jocks who treat women (Joann in particular) in the same way, only their social acumen allows them to attract actual women. And there's his teacher, a guy who can't be bothered to notice when Ricky is beat up and clearly in a world of trouble. No man is exempt in this film. Not one male character does a single good or noble deed. Only Joann manages this film's single good act, picking up the inhaler of a kid who's being picked on.
Now, a few of these guys get truly monstrous in how they treat the deadgirl. J.T. is the first to abuse her. He rapes her, and admits to killing her several times prior to Ricky returning to the basement. He admits that he starts hitting her initially and keeps doing it, harder and harder, because he comes to enjoy it. The deadgirl may be a zombie, but J.T. (and later Wheeler) clearly sexualize her, to the point of a perverse attraction. It's technically necrophilia, but all they see is a nude female body. And the directors go out of their way to show this body in a semi-rotting state. There's nothing alluring about her, but these boys are titillated by nothing more than complete control over a female body.
This is rape, and the films calls it that, but only once, and to drive the point home. The scene is semi-ridiculous, almost a parody of contemporary culture. Wheeler and Ricky are forced by Johnny and Dwyer (through physical violence, of course) to take them to the deadgirl. There's J.T., sitting on a lounging chair he's somehow gotten into the basement, wearing a dirty bathrobe and surrounded by empty beer cans and bags of open chips and snack foods. He's sort of a deranged Hugh Hefner, or at least that's what he's trying to emulate, but it's so vile as to be almost laughable. J.T. treats the deadgirl as a sort of prostitute, and asks Johnny and Dwyer to partake of their terrible fare.
In true "Deadgirl" fashion these boys ask few questions about the fact that this girl is chained up and clearly beaten. J.T. and Ricky pressure them into having sex with her. Johnny states that he already has p***y (referring to Joann as what he really considers her to be), to which the up-to-this-point timid Ricky says, "How about her mouth?" Ricky assumes the role he has learned from J.T. so as to try to hurt another boy, and that sure does happen. After some genital mutilation by a zombie Johnny and Dwyer threaten to go to the cops, and that's when the R-word comes out. J.T. states explicitly that they can't go to the police and say that they were raping a girl in a basement and something bad happened.
After Johnny's bite causes him to zombie-out J.T. and Wheeler begin to consider the possibility of making new deadgirls, eventually kidnapping Joann. Ricky, who has never been with the deadgirl, ends up fighting with these men, but in a way clearly influenced by his culture. He only attacks Wheeler when Wheeler dares to touch Joann, and he never actually hits J.T. There's a long conversation between Ricky and J.T., with J.T. spouting off all the worst possible things we might think of. "Here in the basement," he says, "we're in control. This is the best we can get... I did this for you, Ricky." J.T. is explaining all the desires that a rape culture seeks to inculcate in men.
Well, Ricky tries to "save" Joann, but fails when she is stabbed by J.T. However, the now zombifying J.T. offers to "help" Ricky. How about a deadgirl of his very own, and of Joann?
The final scene is of Ricky, all spruced up and cheery looking, walking along on what appears to be the pre-cursor to a date. And then we cut to the mental hospital, and Joann, tied to a table, as his, and only his, deadgirl. The guy who, while not a hero up until this point, has at least not acted on his horrible desires is the new J.T. Oh, the trimmings are different to be sure, and the basement has been spruced up, but the effect is the same. Every male under the age of 18 is now either dead or has succumbed to the allure of the commoditization of a woman.
Horrifying? Absolutely. But the deadgirl ain't the monster of this film. "Deadgirl" shows, to great effect, how boys seeking to "grow up" or "man up" can become monsters in they buy into contemporary culture, and how even the most noble-seeming guys can be doing this "noble" stuff for the entirely wrong reasons. The male who we think is the protagonist never looks at Joann as a person, but merely a girl, something to own and protect. These boys have learned, from adults and from each other, a value system that, when presented with the case of a deadgirl, something that is far more terrible than a mere zombie attack. The monsters are the boys here. Zombies may not be real, but rape culture and boys learning it are.
And that's what makes "Deadgirl" so gosh-darn scary.
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So its feminist to portray every male as a rapist?
But it doesn't do that. It portrays rape culture, and a limited slice of society.
Not every man in this film is a rapist. Ricky never explicitly partakes, Clint does not rape, nor does Ricky's teacher.
However, "Deadgirl" does show how a culture that looks at women as objects to be controlled affects people trying to find their place in the culture. The boys in this film are coming of age, and that means partaking in the culture.
Every male under the age of 18 is now either dead or has succumbed to the allure of the commoditization of a woman.
That seems to me that at least every male under 18 explicitly or implicit raped a corpse. Ricky is cheerfully going to a 'date' with his deadgirl so I don't think he is expemted.
CLint, the alcoholic who tells Ricky to fight and just sleep with girls... safe to chalk him up for an implicit rapist? And the teacher would probably just stand by if he saw the assault.
Also, you wrote No man is exempt in this film. Not one male character does a single good or noble deed. Only Joann manages this film's single good act, picking up the inhaler of a kid who's being picked on.
Is that the feminist part? No males do good deeds, but females do? What kind of feminism is that (I think we both know)?
Ricky may be implicitly a rapist in the film, but it's subject to debate.
As for Clint, no, he's not necessarily an implicit rapist. He's simply a cultural pusher.
As for the no man is exempt thing, it's true. In "Deadgirl" no male character has a really redeemable quality. But in a film with one act of good in its entirety that isn't a statement on the world in general. It's a 97 minute film, and a horror film at that. The boys under the age of 18 in this movie are the monsters, and it explores how and why that happens.
The movie does not say that men do no good deeds and women do. It's a small cross-section of a certain cultural issue in a small slice of the population.
So, if there was a certain movie that pejoratively portrayed all the women in it as wanton sluts or as being emotionally and physically abusive abusive your first thought would be to say It's a small cross-section of a certain cultural issue in a small slice of the population?
Or would you think it indicates a wider world view towards women in general?
If the movie was a study of how culture can contribute to women being, as you call it, wanton then no, I wouldn't think it reflected a broader world view.
The movie "Thirteen" by Catherine Hardwicke comes to mind, and I'm sure there are others. It's also an issue that gets criticized in the "Twilight" book series, though not about wantonness, but rather chastity.
A piece of art doesn't have to be about everyone or each individual case to make a point or achieve something. "Deadgirl" certainly doesn't say that every man is a rapist, but it takes the commoditization of women in culture to an extreme in order to make a point.
I'm not condemning this movie because I've never seen it, and if I did, I'd be willing to bet I'd arrive at differing conclusions then you did.
What I find strange is that you apparently think a cast of "males with no redeemable qualities" makes this a feminist film. Now, that doesn't make it a bad film, or a prejudiced film. Perhaps you're right in that the filmmakers were attempting to make a point. But it also doesn't make it feminist, guy.
Furthermore, I enjoy movies like this, horror movies with a twist, an inverted cliche, or something along those lines. Those I will say it's interesting that said movies get praised to high heaven, yet other slasher films like Halloween are derided as misogynist and worthless.
Hey, I guess the Friday the 13th movies are portraying a "small cross-section of a certain cultural issue in a small slice of the population".
"I'm not condemning this movie because I've never seen it, and if I did, I'd be willing to bet I'd arrive at differing conclusions then you did."
So do it. Because the conclusions you're arriving at are based on second-hand knowledge. In the context of the film as allegory the representation of characters works. This isn't Friday the Thirteenth. The directors attempt to tell a story and send a message.
What makes this film a feminist film is the subject matter it explores (contemporary masculinity and rape culture). How many horror movies do that?
I'm just saying, if there's nothing wrong with portraying a group of people in a wholly negative light, "for the sake of the movie", I don't know why slashers get torn apart.
But the point is that it's not representing a whole group in a negative light. Certainly every male character in the film is heavily flawed, but that does not necessarily mean it's trying to apply itself to every single person in real life.
Why would a movie about the influence of the commoditization of women, and a horror movie at that, portray its male characters in a positive light?
The guys in this movie aren't glossed over. They don't twirl their curlicue mustaches and tie damsels to railroad tracks. They're just realistic to a point to serve the purpose of an allegory.
Actually, you know, I really don't have any problem with what you're saying now. The way you worded it in the OP made it seem as though you felt the movie was feminist because it portrayed how all boys "really grow up" or some bullshit like that.
It's also an issue that gets criticized in the "Twilight" book series, though not about wantonness, but rather chastity.
By the way, Twilight gets slammed on here constantly for being "problematic" and indicative of the passive female protagonist, worthless without a strong man. What's the difference?
Cank,
Rape culture is an extremely important problem to examine. It's real, and affects real men and women, all over the world, every day. The OP's original words were a little loose, but you have to understand that she's responding to a film which has a description that horrified many women here because it seemed to condone or eroticize the very real act of rape, and in doing so, is expressing rape culture. She is trying to explain that in her viewpoint, no- it does not eroticize or condone the acts of the rapists and is not anti-woman. Please understand that many women are the victims of sexual violence, and while it is not the experience of ALL men and women- that there are male victims and female perpetrators and people who are aren't assaulted and never assault- the experience of a male assault on a a female is both common and has a larger culture that backs it, a culture which affects everyone and which certainly warrants the full attention of a 97 minute movie.
I don't understand what you're saying. I've already said there's nothing wrong with focusing on the rape culture.
What does this have to do with the post you responded to?
Oops, I was responding to your other posts as well as Steven's. Sorry.
You-
"What I find strange is that you apparently think a cast of "males with no redeemable qualities" makes this a feminist film"
Steven-
"So its feminist to portray every male as a rapist?"
"Is that the feminist part? No males do good deeds, but females do? What kind of feminism is that (I think we both know)?"
Anyway, unless Steven comes back, it seems pretty resolved. Sorry for the confusion!
Sounds more like misandry than feminism!
Out of curiosity, havingwhat did the filmmakers intend for us to take from this movie? Does anyone know?
Sorry, fingers got too clicky before I could finish!!
Out of curiosity, having read all these different interpretations (the people who DID see it in the original thread seem sorta split) what did the filmmakers intend for us to take from this movie? Does anyone know?
I think it's at times difficult to say exactly what an artist's intent is, or if that even necessarily matters. Art has a way of taking on a life of its own outside of the artist's interpretation of their own work.
You have to look at the piece as it stands. This is a movie about growing up. It's, in its own way, a very twisted bildungsroman. That growing up is defined by something so monstrous in the eyes of these characters, and that it turns them into monsters (both in the literal sense and in the moral sense), is the scary part of this film. So that's the statement that I think a lot of people will take away from this film.
I'm sure some folks will get their jollies purely from the gore and necrophilia, but that's an individual's issue. There's a lot to "Deadgirl" to examine.
The only way to judge a work of art, though, is to see it for yourself. There's just no other way to really get the message.
http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/deadgirlinterview-with-gadi-harel
This is a really long interview with the filmmaker. There's some interesting stuff about the role of the deadgirl in the story, as well as misogyny and objectification.
Thanks for this interview! My favorite part was this little quote:
"The way in which he objectifies his girlfriend JoAnn is really no better than what the other boys are doing to the dead girl. Rickie does not really know JoAnn. He just thinks she’s the best thing ever. She’s as much a girl in a magazine to him as when JT says the dead girl looks “like a girl out of magazine.” They’re doing the same thing to a degree. It’s interesting that a lot of people don’t see that, which is something Sophie Mayer brought up. Sophie wrote that what Rickie is doing to JoAnn is shades of the same sort of thing JT is doing to the dead girl."
It's really cool when your interpretation of the movie syncs up well with the people who made it, because it's so rare when it happens.
From what I've read now it definitely seems like the cast, crew, and director get it, and that this wasn't just some big accident.
I actually want to see this movie now, to dertermine for myself if its really a feminist movie or not
Thank you.
I saw this movie a few months ago and wanted to write an article about it.
To be clear, absolutely nothing in this film is glamourized. Nothing. The characters. The tagline "You'll never have anything better," let me explore that. It is a line from the film. It is said in a manner indicating, not that this is the best way to ever have sex, but that these boys will never get a better opportunity.
As Davenj said, the film is about the forces that allow for a rape culture to come about.
The three primary boys in the film have no power in the film, prior to coming in contact with the Dead Girl. They are subjected to beatings, harassment, bullying, etc. They have home lives that are none-existent. They then encounter a situation where they can gain power over another. They want what they don't have, power.
Does all that excuse rape? Absolutely not, but it does give the view of the film a peek into a form rape culture's origins and the way that society allow it to happen in a passive manner. They engage in an activity that stems from passivity.
I've been looking for some more decent horror movies and this looks/sounds awesome.
It'll be interesting to see if I interpret this as feminist or not. IMHO 9.5/10 horror movies are the polar opposite of feminist, so if this can do that, I will be SO happy :)
lol, ok, Aileen Wuornos.
Awesome review, davenj, thanks
Good review.
I think it's a good practice to interpret films from a feminist viewpoint, even with they clearly, are not feminist films.
Good work and I am happy to see other feminists delving into realms that seem unruly, despicable, and horrific. I am a horror-movie buff. But I am also disgusted with the caliber of film that has come out in the past 20 years. Let's put pressure on filmmakers to create movies that can horrify without sexploitation, or can do so in a way that shocks us into thinking in new and complex ways.
And what's your take on how this is "clearly not feminist," if you are referring to this one in particular, in light of favorable comments about Deadgirl?