Advice for teenage girls from someone whose name means 'Princess'

I attended a midnight screening of The Hunger Games and I must say I was disappointed with the turnout. I could get a ticket just hours before the screening. The cinema wasn’t even full. And I couldn’t help thinking that if it had been a Twilight screening it would have been sold out months ago. This makes me feel sick.

I think the Twilight franchise is evil and needs to be wiped out. Every print of every film, every DVD and Blu-Ray copy and especially every single copy of every single print of every book piled on a massive bonfire with an effigy of Bella Swan to set it all up in flames. I’m also fully aware this sounds hypocritical considering I’ve read all the books and watched all of the films so far. I’m contributing to its continued success. But I feel as a film lover it’s my duty to sacrifice my beliefs and watch/read these awful examples of feminine oppression at its most insidious in order to warn people. Often, people criticising a film or book have never even read or seen it and if so, how can they critically analyse the material and make an informed judgement about it? But yes, I did get sucked into the books and I did think the first film was not so bad. I mean, c’mon: directed by Catherine Hardwicke and it has Anna Kendricks in it. It wasn’t all bad.

But Twilight is bad. It’s the worst kind of message for teenage girls, because the ideology is so insidious that it was women participating in this idea that it’s beautiful and romantic to do nothing else with your life other than be a wife. And as a feminist I firmly believe women in the Women’s Liberation movement worked damn hard so that women could choose what they wanted to do with their own lives and bodies and if they wanted to be a wife and mother, well, heck, as long as that was their own choice then get on it. What makes me really angry about this series is that this choice doesn’t feel like a woman’s own choice. Bella Swan is supposed to be smart; she’s in an advanced Chemistry class when she meets Edward and she clearly loves classic literature. She’s also initially wary of marriage, because her parents split up when she was young. But after Edward won’t sleep with her unless she marries him, she somehow decides she wants to throw all of her hopes and dreams away (although, does she really have any?) so that she can be Edward’s wife for eternity. You can go to college AND get married now, ladies.

And the men she has the choice of are both horrible examples of mankind. One is moody, controlling, withholding, and threatens violence when Bella gets too close to him, or threatens suicide if she were to leave him. That’s a domestic abuse case, not a love story. Jacob, meanwhile, becomes almost a sexual predator, refusing to leave Bella alone despite her insistence that she is uninterested. Not only that, he too threatens violence when he disagrees with her choice to first marry Edward, then to want to sleep with him. He also threatens to kill Edward continually. When she is pregnant (How?!?!?) and sick, the two men plan Bella’s future without even consulting her. Why on Earth would any right-thinking woman choose men like that in their life? Yet these books and films encourage us to choose between them. Hmm, let’s see; an abuser or a sexual predator? Oh, I can totally understand Bella’s predicament now!
There are maybe three decent men in the whole series and none of them are really rewarded for this effort. Sure, one of them is Bella’s own father, but this is surely the one time when it’s ok to want to marry someone more like your father. But even then, in the books when Bella moves in with her father she starts taking care of him and he stops looking after himself, leaving it all to her.

The message of this book, thinly-veiled behind these mystical elements of vampires and werewolves (the tamest you will ever see), is that the most beautiful thing a woman can be is a wife and mother. Yes, those are admirable if that’s what you’re into, but you shouldn’t be telling women that’s all they are capable of. Bull. Fucking. Shit. What really makes me sick is that this series is written by a woman. And it’s been read, discussed and loved by women. I’ve overheard middle-aged women discussing whether they are Team Edward or Team Jacob.

The other thing that really upsets me is the way in which the books draw you into relating to Bella. The first-person narration is always an effective device for empathising and connecting with a character. But when the character is average all over, it’s easy to see how girls will feel like Bella’s story is their story. She’s also the most passive protagonist in modern literature. In the fourth book she hardly even moves. No wonder the film was doomed to be the most boring piece of shit in history when you have that to work with, and even if Kristen Stewart was the world’s greatest actress (FYI: she’s not), how would such a strongly-opinionated young women ever be able to understand this character, let alone inject any sympathy or even life into her.

This brings me back to The Hunger Games. There are some ever so slightly similar themes at work in Suzanne Collins’ novel. It’s the story of a young woman told in first-person narration and the most important thing to her is protecting her family. She also becomes involved in a love triangle. But here is where the similarities end. Thank fuck. Because Katniss Everdeen is nothing like Bella Swan. She is strong and she is active. From the first page of The Hunger Games, Katniss is actively keeping her family together. Not only that, but she is willing to fight dirty to do this. And her love triangle involves her with two boys who are smart and cunning themselves. Her childhood friend Gale is a skilled hunter like Katniss and openly criticises the Capital. Peeta too is talented and strong and he knows how to manipulate people in order to survive. He’s honest about his feelings for Katniss and tells her so, but not without affecting her personal safety. Instead, he uses it to help save her life.

But perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself. For those unfamiliar with the books or film adaptation released in Australia today, the story is this. In a futuristic wasteland we can only assume is the former United States of America, the Capital city of Panem rules the remainder of the country, now divided into 12 districts. After years of war, rebellions, uprising and the annihilation of District 13, the Capital now keeps the rest of the country in line in several brutal ways. The most brutal is the annual televised known as The Hunger Games. On the Reaping Day each year, a girl and boy aged 12-18 is picked at random to compete. For wealthy districts it’s an honour they train for their whole lives. For poorer districts it is a death sentence. It’s not just your run-of-the-mill athletic competition. They wish. The Hunger Games is a televised battle royale in which 24 young boys and girls must kill one another to win. Only one will come out. It’s both punishment and a sign of good faith, according to the Capital. Punishment for the Rebellion and a sign of the Capital’s continued generosity in letting at least one kid live every year. The sickest part is that much like the film Series 7: The Contenders, it’s a reality television series and every move the contestants or Tributes make is broadcast to the entire country. Bets are placed on Tributes, and people recount their favourite moments and talk about where they were when a particular Tribute was killed.

Now in its 74th year, Katniss and her sister Primrose are both potential tributes, Prim having just turned 12. Katniss is not worried about Prim as she knows her name is only in the ballot once. In exchange for rations, families can choose to put their child’s name in the ballot multiple times and Gale’s name is in there 43 times. Katniss herself has multiple entries. But, because this is a drama and things have to happen, y’all, the unthinkable does happen and Katniss hears the name Primrose Everdeen called as the girl Tribute for District 12. To save her sister she does what no poor district ever does; she volunteers as a Tribute in her sister’s place. The rules now seem to have changed and Katniss is viewed as a credible contestant. When baker’s son Peeta Mellark is chosen as the male tribute, it seems that District 12 may actually have a chance.

Already there is more excitement and more serious political themes at play here than in Twilight. Having only read the first book in the series, the second being Catching Fire and the third, Mockingjay, I think this book and subsequent film gives teenage girls a much better role model to aspire to. Katniss is almost always in control of her own destiny. She is at first disbelieving that she has a chance, but the thought of her sister being alone spurs her on. She knows she’s excellent with a bow and arrow and proves herself. She’s also unwilling to change her personality until it becomes crucial to her survival. When Peeta uses his crush on her as a survival tactic for the two of them, she plays along. There are no discussions in which Peeta and Gale decide which one should have Katniss; she chooses. In the first book and film, she is unsure she wants either of them.

One girl dressed up as Katniss at the screening and though it’s probably a little lame, I really hope that more girls dress up as Katniss in the future.

Better the Devil you know

The House of the Devil (2009)

Directed by: Ti West
Written by: Ti West
Starring: Jocelin Donahue, Greta Gerwig, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov

Warning: Spoilers
Second warning: Spoilers won’t make you less scared if you watch the film after reading this.

As the film’s opening titles suggest, the 1980s were filled with ‘Satanic panic,’ regarding demonic possession and the idea of the Devil’s presence in the real world. According to the film, the events that transpire in the next 98 minutes are based on actual events.

But don’t be fooled: these credits, rather than a warning of a chilling recreation of history, are merely the start of an expertly handled period horror film. More than a pastiche, parody, homage, or satire, The House of the Devil is a film that may as well have been buried in someone’s garage until three years ago. According to West himself, the film is set in 1983, but the real feat is that it looks like it was made in 1983.

The plot is this: college sophomore Samantha (Donahue) needs money to pay rent for her new apartment. She takes on a babysitting job in an isolated part of town on the night of a full lunar eclipse. When she arrives at the house accompanied by her best friend Megan (Gerwig), her employer Mr Ulman reveals that it’s not a babysitting job at all but actually involves looking after his elderly mother.-in-law. After demanding a higher wage, Samantha agrees to stay. Megan leaves with a promise to return later to pick her up. And that’s when shit gets cray.

The film was shot using 16mm film, a popular film stock used in the 1980s and uses filming techniques used in 1980s horror films, zooming on actors and using freeze-frames and 1970s/1980s opening credits and end credits. The set design and costume is spot-on, down to the Coke cups at the pizzeria to Samantha’s Sony Walkman (purchased on Ebay). The themes too are in keeping with horror films of the time, utilising mystical elements seen in slashers like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the Full Moon) and themes of demonic possession and evil houses, seen in films like The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror.

West is meticulous in creating a film that perfectly reflects what may be considered the Golden Age of horror, but what is also admirable is the contemporary flair given to the story and a Generation-Y understanding that while these films are classic blueprints for the films that would follow, they don’t necessarily still deliver the chills they once did.

Rather than going straight for gore and horror, West instead sets up a story filled with a growing sense of unease, creating a film that goes for a sustained sense of terror. While it's a classic Hitchcockian move, it seems a relatively recent trend in horror.

The initial story is one many audience goers would easily sympathise with. Samantha’s college dorm-mate is a nightmare and she needs to get out. When she finds a nice apartment, she realises she will struggle financially to remain there. That this leads her to the basement of a family of Satan-worshipping psychos feels more realistic and more organic than other horror films and especially ones made in the 1970s and 1980s. We don’t want her to stay but some of us will understand why. Megan, who has a rich father, cannot understand why Samantha chooses to stay and so is upset with her. But what she doesn’t understand is that desperation for money, one that is not about being able to afford a designer dress, but one that is about keeping a roof above your head. Not only that, but Samantha is more sensitive than Megan, and feels pity for Mr Ulman and his predicament. He’s a sympathetic character despite giving nothing away and giving Samantha no real assurance that he is trustworthy.

This idea is also explored in Fincher’s version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. When serial killer Martin Vanger traps journalist Mikael Blomkvist in his basement he explains that the reason he is there is not because Vanger overpowered him but because he stayed in the house despite his better judgement so as not to offend Vanger or put him offside, remarking that this is how he lured his other victims. So too in The House of the Devil does Samantha stay despite her better judgement. The idea of leaving and feeling safe is not nearly as satisfying as taking $400 home with her after one night’s work.

That the most horrifying events happen so late in the film makes it more shocking as well, particularly as you’ve come to identify with the characters and actually want them to survive, an element often absent from slasher films of the 1980s. When Megan’s head is blown away by a stranger who turns out to be the son of the crazy Ulmans, it’s shocking not only because of the suddenness of the murder but because we’ve gotten to know her. Where thrillers often set up likeable characters to create tension when they are threatened, often horror films rely merely on the shock of a character being suddenly and violently murdered and here West strikes a balance between shocking violence and character development.

The concept of an evil house, or killer’s lair being found in the basement or attic of a house is definitely not new and that’s the point; in the 1970s and 1980s, when the rules were still being written, heroines frequently stayed in a creepy house too long, or ventured down to a dank basement to find her worst nightmares realised. That the house itself is not particularly frightening adds to the horror later, when Samantha discovers the people she is working for are not the real owners of the house. But before that discovery is an extended period in which Samantha explores the home alone.

Knowing that her friend has been brutally murdered, the audience watches her with a rising sense of unease, waiting for a hand to grab her, or an unlocked door to lead to the horrors that we are now convinced await her from somewhere within. That this does not happen until the end of the film makes it all the more disturbing. The film’s final sequence in which Samantha is impregnated with the spawn of Satan is made all the more horrific for the initial building of tension; the façade of domestic drama or subtle thriller falls away to reveal the real film underneath. This is what everyone was afraid was going on in basements around the US in the 1980s: Satanic cults abusing young women in some psychotic belief that they were bringing about Hell on Earth and the return of their master. Samantha’s attack symbolises that the rules have now changed.

With Samantha’s escape comes more violence, more gore and more blood. That she systematically annihilates her attackers feels cheap, almost too easy. She hasn’t really proven her worth as a strong heroine. But it’s not until the film’s final moments that you realise it has been pointless. The terror initially brought about from wondering how she will survive is now a feeling of terror precisely because she survives, as the final scene reveals she is pregnant with the spawn of Satan. The psychotic Ulmans have won after all. This recalls the final chilling moments of Rosemary’s Baby. We're hopeful that she will survive and the child will be destroyed. But instead, we see Rosemary’s maternal instincts kick in and we know it is too late for her. The film's final shot of Samantha recovering from her self-inflicted gunshot wound to head, having just heard that she and her unborn child are safe, is just as chilling.

Ti West’s thorough knowledge of the horror genre and its historical development means that he has not only created a brilliantly realised reflexive genre piece but also a chilling horror film that perfectly recreates the terror those iconic horror films would have produced in their heyday.