The Cabin in the Woods, Directed by Drew Goddard. (2012)

THE REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN RELATION TO THE 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?
The 4 character roles for women are domestic, sexual, consumer and marital. The first character role that is portrayed in one of the characters is the Domestic role. We see traits of this role in Dana's character, this is because she is caring towards her friends and is concerned about their well being. We see this when Jules is drunk in the cabin and Dana suggests that she lays down and is clearly worried about her. One of the coordinators, Hadley, even says that he is worried about Dana because of how caring she is. Another one of theses roles we see in the movie is the sexual role, which is portrayed through Jules. Jules is clearly shown as the 'eye candy' throughout the film, we see her being shown in a very provocative way, which is shown when she 'makes-out' with the wolves head and dances in front of the others. She is also the only character to engage in sexual activity in the actual plot time. The other 2 roles are not portrayed in this movie.  

2. How is Dana typical of Clover's 'Final Girl' theory? Please mention: the ending, Dana’s appearance and her actions during the film.
Dana has many traits which make her a typical 'Final Girl' one of the key things is the fact that Dana survives until the end, although we can interpret that she may die after the plot time ends we never see her die in the film. Dana is portrayed as being very academic and aware, she is the one who puts the pieces together and connects what Marty has been saying with what she read in the diary that she found in the basement, such as discovering that the whole thing is a set-up. Dana is also shown as a strong characters, we know this because she attempts to fight back when she gets attacked by one of the zombies, we see this when she stabs one of them repeatedly and pushes the other into the lake, thinking she has defeated him. Dana is also portrayed as slightly androgynous through her appearance and name. The way in which she dresses is quite prudish, especially when compared to Jules', at the start we see Dana in 'granny pants' which reinforces her androgyny. Her name is also not conventionally female, and can be used for both genders. 

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

The physical change that Jules undergoes in the story duration, but we don't see during the plot duration is her dyeing her hair blonde. This therefore makes Jules your stereotypical damsel in distress and the 'dumb blonde.' Throughout the film we learn that all of the characters are at 'college' implying that they are all very smart and we also learn that the hair dye contained chemicals which has affected Jules' cognitive ability, making her more open to suggestion. These chemicals cause her to become 'the whore.' She is labelled this because of the provocative way in which she acts throughout the film, like when she 'makes out' with the wolf head for a dare and when she is dancing provocatively infront of her friends and boyfriend. She is also the only character in the film, alongside her boyfriend Curt that partakes in any sexual activities.

4. Is Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory exemplified in the film and if so, how? Think about framing, camera angles and POV shots.
We see Mulvey's Male Gaze at may points throughout the film. We sexual and provocative character (Jules) dancing infront of the fireplace sexually, 'making out' with a wolfs head and having sex with her boyfriend on the ground of the woods, The shot of Jules dancing in front of the fire starts by horizontally panning up her body, starting from the bottom of her legs and the slowly up to her bum and then her face. This is the Male Gaze because it is a representation of what a male would do, the scanning up of her body, and can be seen in many films. When Jules is dared to 'make out' with the wolf head, which is displayed on the wall. Without any hesitation Jules walks over to the wolf in a 'model like way' and as she does the camera tracks up her body. This scene, especially the walk has been hypersexualised for the purpose of the male voyeurs. As the 'make out' scene begins a POV shot is used, from the wolfs perspective as Jules flirts with the wolf like it is a human being. After this scene we see Curt and Jules go into the woods to have sex. In this scene we see Jules' boobs, which once again has been done to appeal to the male audience. While Curt and Jules are having sex we see that all of the male staff are watching them, reinforcing that this scene is for the purpose of attracting the male audience. Before Jules takes off her top we hear one of them say "show us the goods" which is extremely objectifying, making Jules an object who is there just to 'show the goods' to 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
A voyeur is somebody who gets gratification from watching somebody who is unaware that they are being watched. We see a representation of this towards the beginning of the film, with a one way mirror. This mirror is found by Holden when he first goes into his room and sees a horrific image, due to him finding it bizarre he removes the canvas, revealing the mirror. The mirror shows Dana checking her 'makeup' in the mirror in her room, which is what Holden is seeing. Unaware the Holden can see her Dana begins to get changed right in the view of the mirror, stereotypically we would expect Holden to continue watching and not tell anybody about the mirror. It is at this point we are made to be voyeurs, as we see all of this from Holden's perspective, and we feel involved in his internal debate about whether he should make Dana and the others aware of the mirror or keep it to himself. However, it comes as a shock to the audience when Holden bangs on the wall and tells Dana that he can see her. All of the characters are then surrounded the mirror and Holden offers to swap rooms with Dana, portraying him as a gentleman who doesn't experience enjoyment from being a voyeur. Dana and Holden swap rooms but then the tables are turned and Holden begins to get changed and Dana is the one who is watching him. Her obvious shock, and the fact that she quickly covers up the mirror reinforces her as the 'final girl.' 

One other thing that places us in the position of voyeurs is the fact that these coordinators and everybody they work with are watching the teenagers, and they are all completely unaware. These coordinators can see everything that the teens are doing, including when they are getting changed, and we technically see the whole film from this perspective, putting us in their position of voyeurs.

      6. Summarise 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?

In Cabin in the Woods the women are objectified for the purpose of satisfaction but they also have other purposes. The film briefly shows the women in a conservative and traditional way, showing traits of domestic and sexual roles, shown to us in the 'Final Girl' theory by Carol Clover. But most of the film shows the two female characters in a progressive way. The differences between Jules and Dana are extremely obvious, Jules in confident and sexy around boys while Dana is not. Jules is portrayed in an objectified and sexual way, while Dana is very conservative and almost prudish, obvious elements of her being the 'final girl.' The Cabin in the Woods contradicts the 2:1 ratio of men and women on screen, as Dana is a FEMALE PROTAGONIST and the whole film centers around her surviving, when conventionally a male would be the protagonist and the 'hero' type character. Also Dana does not fit perfectly into any of Jeremy Tunstall's 4 character roles. This shows that a woman's role in horror films are becoming stronger and they are taking the lead roles. The conventional female character is still present in Jules, although the film does not focus on her as a lead character like it does Dana.