Scream 1996 Notes

- Blonde - not overly sexual in dress, although attractive
- Doesn't admit to having a boyfriend, sexually active? - Final girl - Carol J. Clover
- Doesn't arm herself with weapon, only calls upon police or boyfriend for help
- "Big, plays football and he will kick the shit out of you" - masculinity determined by size and hero determined by gender
- Final girl theory - testing the girls intelligence, if she answers wrong she dies, dumb blonde, feminist issue
- Picks a letter opener over the knives in kitchen
- Breathing loads, panting almost sexual as can hear over the dramatic soundtrack
- Stabs breast, oedepic stage? Boy, girl
- Doesn't run, keeps pausing - final girl - not as intuitive as final girl, friends who don't notice things die - Carol J. Clover - Final Girl Theory
- Silverman - female voice - over the phone 'voice over' murmurs, etc. back to baby stage
- Final girl - quite innocent, toys, full covered in nightie,
- Virgin-whore dilemma  ideological representation of Woman
- Pg.13 relationship, young innocent girl aspiring to be the Woman from what she sees in the media etc. magazines although not objectified to audience, objectified for male character
- "It takes a 'man"' to do something like that
- Friend dresses scarcely a bit promiscuous
- Sydney not interested in joking about immature things unlike friends - final girl theory
- Male audience shifting to an independent female role as it is sexy
- Although she is the main character the camera focuses on her a lot of the time - male gaze?
- "Big breasted girl that always runs up the stairs when she should go out the front door, it's insulting" - acknowledging stereotypes within the genre
- Brave - final girl
- Intelligent - rings police - Final Girl theory
- Takes comfort from boyfriend, relying on male companion to be okay
- Using sexuality to get what she wants (Gale Weathers), is this empowering or degrading?
- Angles of camera don't focus in on the males as much as the females - male gaze
- Belly top, showing skin, big breasts, pig tails, best friend is the stereotype girl in horror genre
- Dumb blonde, bitch, gender stereotype, ricki lake watching? (Girls in bathroom)
- Very flirtatious friend, not thinking about danger -Final Girl Theory
- Throwing her over the shoulder and carrying her - male gaze - sexual connotations
- Freddy Kruger janitor? Preyed on women in the other film, connotation being that women are easy prey? Passed on between films, janitor called Freddy too
- Final boy? Film geek, analyzes everything, doesn't do the same as his friends, is clued up and not sexually active
- Gale weathers - independent business woman
- Sexual innuendos in the film, unquestioned by anyone, cultural accepting of belittling of men
- Nipples showing, connotating sexual excitement - male gaze
- "Can I be the helpless victim?" - Tatum -  Playing up to stereotype, still not noticing classic signs that the final girl would have done
- Girl hanging from garage door, with really short skirt, male gaze
- Slut shaming her mother
- Traditional ideology of women questioned - housewife having affair and sexually promiscuous, gets killed - mother - slut-shamed by others and passes down to child
- Sydney worries that she might end up being like her mam a 'bad seed', why bad seed, because society has represented women as being 1960 pre-secondwave feminism
- Minute she starts to have sex, she begins to loose the final girl qualities, only during the act as she is no longer aware of what's happening around her, she is just focused on the guy and not for her safety
- Dewey falls on gale and connotes the male gaze through speech, from his perspective he creates a sexual meaning after she asks 'is that what you've been looking for?", answering totally out of context as he his reading the situation with desire
- Scream mask mocking the expression within screaming victims, normally female
- Sydney - male name
- Gale weathers a bad ass!! Gets up and goes straight back to work


The series of Scream films have been noted as a feminist series that have changed the rules of the horror genre. Although this is the case, i have discovered some issues of feminist film theory that relates to the film.

Although the female characters are quite strong independent women (in some cases), there are some stereotypical female horror roles that are acted within Scream. Drew Barrymore opens the film as the first victim. Her famous status showing that even she can be a victim, being killed off in the opening act. You can take points from Carol J. Clovers 'Final Girl' theory to analyse this scene. Firstly, She is blonde, although this is not a major point, the stereotype of 'dumb blonde' could fit in here. She is not overly sexualised as she is dressed casually, although when first called she states that she doesn't have a boyfriend (which she does), which insinuates that she is sexually active, maybe promiscuous, being hopeful to a new love interest even though its an unknown caller. Carol J. Clover mentions in 'Men, Women and Chainsaws', that the 'Final Girl' normally survives because she is sexually inactive, stating that the other female characters in film which are sexually active usually get killed off, in affect 'slut-shaming' the female victims.

Whilst on the phone Drew's character says, "my boyfriend is big, plays football, and he will kick your ass", this shows that she is relying on a male figure to come and save her, not retaliating herself saying ' I will kick your ass" and defending herself. The fact that she also mentions his size and hobby, this means that she suggests only men of a certain size and hobby could help, this could be discrimination of masculinity, or questioning it.

Drew's character also is asked to answer a series of questions, to which she has to answer correctly to live. In the 'Final Girl' theory, the heroine is normally a lot smarter than the rest of her friends/other characters, so this is a good example of this theory within the film as she answers the question wrong and is subsequently killed.

Through the opening scene you can hear her panting quite loudly, so loudly in fact, you can hear her over the dramatic soundtrack in the background. This relates to what i noted down about Lara Croft as she does the same. This connotes sexual meaning, pleasing to the male viewer as it can relate to sexual acts. - Male Gaze?

Drew then tries to escape, but constantly pauses wasting time to get away, just like Carol J. Clover states the 'Final Girl' is more intuitive, noticing clues or always being cautious. The 'Final Girl' would not waste time to pause when running away, as this is eventually what makes the killer catch her. Could this be the 'suture' in the first scene (instead of the suture in the film overall), as because in this scene she almost causes her own death, as their are people pulling up to the house and there was a possibility of escape but when the killer jumps out, you almost sympathise as a viewer as she could arguably be the cause of her own death. Plus with the chance of escape, and the fact she has hold of the phone, this is a twist in the film, partnered with her famous status on the role, it can be said this is the 'hook'(suture), which keeps the audience wanting more.

Sydney (The Final Girl), is seen for the first time in her bedroom. She is first seen to be quite an innocent girl, who's still quite young as she has teddies in her room and has a full length covered nightie, which insinuates that she isn't sexually active and probably has different interests than other girls her age (which is proven later in the film). These all fit with the 'Final Girl' theory by Carol J. Clover, as this is a slasher film after all.

This scene is where Sydney battles with cultural representations of Woman i.e. Virgin - Whore, as her boyfriend sneaks in and complains of the lack of sexual activity. After some clothes on action, she then submits to temptation, whether it is her temptation or his is unconcluded, and says "would you settle for a PG. 13 relationship?" which is followed by her opening nightie to show her breasts. PG. 13 is meaning a topless spread in a magazine, which means that the she is aspiring to be 'Woman'. Woman being the examples of women represented in the media etc. which women aspire too thinking this is the right representation but most of the time Woman is an unreachable aim. (not normal body image, airbrushing, not normal every-day woman). In this scene you can also point out the male gaze, although the gaze isnt for the male audience, she is being objectified for the male character within the film, the 'Other' for his sexual desire.

Sydney's best friend Tatum, is what i think to be as the stereotypical female role within the horror genre, she has blonde/ginger hair, big breasts, she sucks lollipops connoting sexual activities - male gaze - she also wears revealing clothes (short skirts, belly tops). Although this could be argued as individuality and the freedom to express yourself and be who you are, especially in a feminist view, you can also say this character has been placed there for the pleasure of the male viewer and the male characters, as her appearance adds nothing to the plot of the film. She also is picked up and thrown about by her partner, in a joking, playful/slightly sexual way, connotating that she is sexually active (especially with partner) and this could be appealing to the male viewers, considering the male gaze and voyeurism, rough or sexual play can be attractive to male audience.

Within the film, the characters address the stereotypical roles within the horror genre, and what the characters do wrong within the films. For instance, Sydney says "It's always a big breasted girl that always runs up the stairs when she should go out the front door, it's insulting", here you can see her pointing out feminist issues within the horror genre, which was a role reinacted for a long time within the films, although chained after the 60's after second-wave feminism started and male audience now wanted a strong female role.

Sydney expresses a lot of the key characteristics of the 'Final Girl' which Carol J. Clover mentions as she firstly has a name that could either be male or female, she also doesnt share the same interests as other characters (in this case she doesnt joke and laugh about the murders etc), she is also really brave, sporting a strong independent female role, and she is also smart and aware, constantly noticing things others aren't and calling the police etc. and ultimately surviving.

Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) is a very strong independent female role within this film, although she might not be a favourite character, but she plays a role of a successful business woman, who works hard and gets what she wants. She does flirt with the policeman to gain information, although this can be seen as empowering, using her sexuality to get what she wants, or it could be seen as a negative point, almost prostituting herself for info. (although not sleeping with the guy). Apart from this she plays a determined woman, who has obviously turned away the traditional ideology of being a women, as she doesn't have a family or boyfriend, she just lives for the job. After nearly dying at the end, she still turns out to be a heroine by killing the villain, although not the 'final girl', she could fit into that theory though. She then gets back up to go to her job and report what has happened, breaking what the 'ideological state apparatus' promote about representations of gender.

Throughout the film the Sydney's mum is mentioned a lot in the media, in school and in discussions with Sydney and her friends. There are rumours that her mum was promiscuous etc. The town basically slut-shames her mum, to the point where Sydney confesses that she is worried about turning out like her. This shows how society paints women in bad lights if they deviate from the cultures's ideological representation of women. Also the fact that her mum was brutally murdered a year before, is an example of Carol J. Clover's 'Final Girl' Theory, how sexually active women become victims in the horror genre. Traditional ideology of women questioned - housewife having affair and sexually promiscuous, gets killed - mother - slut-shamed by others and passes down to child

Tatum eventually is killed but in this scene she still carries out the points in which Carol J. Clover points out in her theory of the 'Final Girl". Although the killer is right in front of her, she still doesn't realise that he is going to kill her for some time, thinking it is a practical joke, which the 'Final Girl' would have been naturally cautious, suspecting anyone with the costume on. In this scene she actually says "Do you want me to play helpless victim", yet again addressing the stereotypes within the genre. She eventually dies trying to escape from a cat flap in the garage door which is turned on and dies in the contraption, it is here where you can say Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze comes into play as her revealing clothes, in this case a short skirt, makes the angle and the way she dies pleasurable for the male viewer, as the angle in which it is filmed, you can nearly see up her skirt.

Towards the end of the Film, Sydney ends up loosing her virginity to her boyfriend (who is also one of the killers). In this moment, she looses part of her "Final Girl' traits whilst in the act. Not fully, but you can argue that whilst she looses her virginity, she looses focus on what is happening around her, the rest of the party downstairs disperses from the property, her best friend Tatum has been killed and she's not aware, all because she has decided to be Sexually active, which is one of the reasons a lot of the female victims end up being killed.

Overall. the film is definitely one of the most feminist friendly horror films within the genre, and somewhat did change the genre slightly, but analysing the film using feminist theories, you can still see the issues throughout the film.