Essay

How does a comparison of these two 'slasher' texts demonstrate how genre changes over time? Why is this so and what other media issues and debates do they raise?

The first text is an extract from the movie Psycho (1960), ‘the granddaddy of the slasher genre’. Its function is to create horror for the audience as a woman is being killed. The second text is the ending of the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and its function is to create suspense for the audience as it is making us as the audience think whether the girl will escape from the killer.

Both texts make use of phallic weapons (Sigmund Freud), however, Texas Chainsaw Massacre uses a wider range of these as there are a number of killers using different weapons, one of the main weapons is the chainsaw itself which can obviously be seen as a phallic weapon due to its shape. This weapon would horrify the audience as it can be clearly seen how much blood and gore can be shed with the use of this weapon before it is even used. On the other hand, in Psycho, only the knife is used by the killer which can also be seen as a phallic weapon. This shows how both of these films use weapons to clearly outline that it is a slasher movie and after seeing such weapons being used for brutal murders, we immediately know that the movie is aimed at older teenagers over the age of 18 and adults.

In the film psycho, the director Alfred Hitchcock decided to make it black and white even though the option of the movie being colour was available. This had been done in order to enhance its authenticity and to make it look more original. Furthermore, the fact that the movie was black and white makes the violence less horrific as the blood can not clearly be seen as its thick red colour. However, in Texas Chainsaw Massacre the option of black and white is available as well as colour but the movie was created in colour. Due to this, a lot more violent scenes appear more horrific to the target audience as they can clearly see the blood as the victim is killed, for example, close ups are used to show the killing scenes at certain points, whilst the victim is being killed close ups are shown of there body in order to scare the audience as they can clearly see in colour how much blood is coming out of the victims body, whereas if this scene was to be shown in psycho, due to the black and white effect, the audience would not be horrified as much as they would be for Texas Chainsaw Massacre due to the lack of colour.

In the extract of Texas Chainsaw massacre, long shots are used to show her being chased by two men, this is done in order to show the audience that she is outnumbered, and in the past, women were always seen inferior to men, therefore the audience clearly would think that the woman will not be able to escape and men are too powerful and superior. However, this is not the case in psycho, as the extract shows that there is only one villain, and that the woman is killed when she is most vulnerable – when she is naked. This is a typical slasher convention which is used when a victim is being killed and adds to the theme of the movie being a slasher film due to the violence in the scene. This shows how the slasher movie psycho follows typical conventions of the slasher genre. Another typical convention is the final girl which is used in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The idea of the final girl shows how Texas Chainsaw Massacre also follows conventions of the slasher genre. This idea is not used in psycho as the girl is killed in the middle of the film.

Another typical convention which is used in Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the fact that the villain is wearing a mask, this is done so that the villains face is not shown either because it’s a mystery, or their face has been burnt of or ruined. The use of a mask creates enigma as the audience would want to know why the killer is wearing a mask and who the killer really is. This further shows the film as a slasher movie. However, in Psycho a mask is not worn by the killer as he is not openly killing victims, therefore no enigma is created in psycho in terms of wearing a mask. A wig is worn by the killer in Psycho which is the closest the movie comes in terms of the killer hiding their identity.

In conclusion, due to the fact that one of the movies is in black and white and the other is in colour, shows how the expectations of the audience has changed over time as the audience now want to see more violent scenes full of blood and gore therefore most movies are made in colour in order to show detail and therefore further horrifying the audience. The two texts clearly show how the audience’s expectations are changing over time as it now takes more then a knife to shock the audience.

Cover Work

Form - Ending of the movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Function - To create suspense as it makes the audience think whether she will escape from the killer or not.

M - long shots are used to show her being chased by 2 men, how she is out numbered. Close ups of her face full of blood, shows audience what she has been through, feel sympathy for her.
I - idea of the final girl
G - Slasher / Horror
R - challenges typical representation of weak women as a man is killed first therefore further representing the final girl as strong.
A - Teenagers over 18/ Adults
I - Vortex
N - Linear, no use of flash backs.

Other related texts - psycho

S - Womens image is changing in society - man is killed first
H - challenges history of women

Issues and Debates - Rise of women - Feminism, women no longer weak
- Audience desensitized to violence.

Similarities

- both movies make use of phallic weapons - knife and chainsaw
- both consist of serial killing - killings occur one after another
- full of violence
- engage the audience

Differences

- the idea of the final girl
- women are represented differently in each film
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre has more violence
- One film is in colour where as the other is in black and white
- mask is used in one film to hide identity
- wig is used in other
- Women is killed earlier in psycho, shows how they were represented in the past.

Cover Work

Form: Extract from the movie Psycho
Function: To scare the audience as the women is being killed

M - Going towards the shower in her bath robe, naked women - sexy. use of knifes as a weapon to attack victim, screams to show how the women is scared of the killer.
I - Portrayed as a sex object as she is naked - shown as the femme fatale. patriarchy
G - Slasher/Horror
R - represents the women as weak as she is killed in the middle of the film - shows how she is not very important to the narrative due to her early exit. represents her as weak as she is killed by the man who is shown strong as he is the killer.
A - Older teenagers, adults.
I - Art House, Paramount Pictures
N - Linear, no use of flashbacks.

Relates to Texas Chainsaw Massacre

S - shows womens reputation is society and how men are seen as powerful
H - Use of black and white effect when the option of colour is available
Shows how women have changed throughout time

Issues and Debates - Womens power in society, why are men always seen as stronger. Feminists would argue the oppression of women.

Relevant Theories - Strauss - Binary oppositions male vs female / hero vs villain
- Laura Mulvey - The male gaze

Self Evaluation

Attainment- 2 - I think that my attainment is of a very good level as i try to stay focussed in lessons and get all of the work completed but i think that there is alot of space for improvement to keep at this level as well as improve.

Effort-2- I think i put in alot of effort into my work and i try to contribute in class when i believe that i have something important to say

Punctuality-3- I am usually on time but there are some times when i arrive late to my lessons

Submission and quality of homework-2- My homework is usually of a good quality as i try to complete it to an acceptable level.

Ability to work independently-2- i think that my ability to work on my own has been improving as i stay focussed on task and do not get distracted by others.

Quality of writing-3- I think that my quality of writing is average and it is one of the main factors which i need to improve on.

Organisation of Media folder - 2 - my media folder is well organised.

Oral contributions in class-3- I contribute in class but i think that i can contribute alot more as there are i number of times where i feel that i have something to say but i do not say it.

Contribution to the debate team-3- Contribution to debate team has been good as i have been researching about the topic regularly..

Standard of Module 5 blog- 2- My module 5 blog is up to date with alot of useful research on it which is really helping me as i fix up my independant study.

Standard of Module 6 blog-3- All tasks are completed but i think that i could still be posting up work regardless of whether a task is set.

"In this county, 33% of black males between 18 and 24 get arrested, You are 80% more likely to go to prison than college"
To what extent are the typical representations of black people challenged in coach carter.

The media has always had a different view on black people, some may see positive factors, whereas others see the opposite. This is all due to the stereotypical representations of black people; black males in particular as seen as criminals, drug dealers and are always accused when a deviant act is carried out in society. Similarly, Coach Carter focuses on a true story in 1999 where a basketball coach benched his first team due to poor academic results. This controversial decision attracted a lot of negative attention from the media, People magazine argued how the coach demanded "both extra effort and team solidarity", whereas CNN were describing the team as "stumbling in the classroom", therefore beginning to introduce a stereotype of the young males.

http://www.coachcarter.com/cnn-news.htm
http://www.coachcarter.com/peoplemag.htm

First Paragraph

To what extent is the stereotypical representation of black people challenged with particular reference to Coach Carter (2005)

The media has always had a genuine view on black people, some may see positive factors, whereas others see the opposite. Similarly, Coach Carter focuses on a true story in 1999 where a basketball coach benched his first team due to poor academic results. This controversial decision attracted a lot of negative attention from the media, and, the working class society of Richmond, California. The societies reputation itself was not very surprising; the high school dropout rate was 50 percent, and residents were more likely to go to prison than college. Therefore teenagers, in particular black teenagers, were looked down upon and were expected to fail in school and end up in prison. As a result, the contemporary society was overcome by a moral panic of the status of the future of their children.

Essay Plan

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3Ly9xbf_g6sBEskEJigk1oCBvAE01qA2Oz27HuyIHwaNqu0qNeFNWWIxg8GwUJWaYuWC7DD0V-7891PkKOsSAPxWYJYYnZGo2AwwaDRICty9lR7bFLLZT2Ti7O4O7Ks-NaQWOI_b0EE/s1600-h/bubblus_Coach_Carter.jpg

Historical Texts

Shaft is a 1971 Academy Award winning film directed by Gordon Parks. An action film that has elements of film noir, it tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob in order to find the missing daughter of a black mobster.

The movie is widely considered a prime example of the blaxploitation genre. Blaxploitation is a film genre that emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban black audience; the word itself is a mix of the words “black” and “exploitation.” The movie Shaft (1971) which I am relating to my text is known to have started off the blaxploitation genre. Blaxploitation films tend to take place in the ghetto, dealing with pimps, drug dealers, and hit men. The genre makes frequent use of drugs, the Afro hairstyle, “pimpmobiles," ethnic slurs against whites (e.g. "honky"), and negative white characters like corrupt cops and politicians and easily fooled crime members.

Coach Carter is shown to be set in the ghetto, the teenagers in the movie are dealing drugs and shown as behaving in an anti-social manner and committing a number of crimes. Coach Carter could be shown in the blaxploitation genre as there is a frequent use of drugs and afro hairstyles etc. The opening scene of Shaft clearly shows the blaxploitation genre immediately. Throughout the opening, Shaft is walking down the streets of New York (which is known to be a rough area) and through his actions we can see how the setting can be seen as ghetto to further emphasize the genre of blaxploitation. Furthermore, there is a clip where a black man approaches Shaft to offer him to buy a watch, and once Shaft shows badge the guy runs off, this shows what the setting is like in the movie.

Opening Scene of Shaft (1971)