I don't have my book on me...I'll have to look for it...it's an essay, I
believe by Barbara Creed (Eric, help!), where she examines slasher
flicks and notice it's *always* the case of the last or final girl.
Ripley is the only one who keeps her cool while the Nostromo is going to
hell in a handbasket around her, Nancy in _A Nightmare on Elm Street_ is
the only one who takes the threat of Freddy seriously, Jamie Lee
Curtis's character (blanking on name - Chris, I think) in _Halloween_ is
the only one able to take on Michael Myers.
Creed (or whoever the essay author is) makes the argument that the only
way these ladies become the "final girl" is by stripping themselves of
femininity and building up their masculinity. With that, and a
subsequent feminizing of the alien, Freddy, Michael, et. al., the women
are seen as merely taking up the standard of masculinity and maleness...
Basically. :)
- Geoffrey
-- "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." - Ford Prefect
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:07:32 PDT