The film industry repetitively uses violence against women for entertainment purposes in the horror, slasher, and gore genres. It's Not Just A Movie.
Content Warning: This article includes discussions of gender based violence, sexual assault, and rape.
I should preface this article by saying this is a difficult subject; however, I believe it is one of immediate importance. A study published by the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine in 2024 outlines that the pervasiveness of gender-based violence against women is a growing cause for concern, with estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2018 revealing that 1 in 3 women have experienced Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Women’s Aid, a national organisation working to prevent and address the impact of domestic violence and abuse since 1974 states that since 1996, 271 women have died violently in the Republic of Ireland (up to 5th January 2025). Of the women that were killed: 63% were killed in their own homes, 55% were killed by a partner or ex (of the resolved cases) and almost 9 in 10 women knew their killer.
But what should this have to do with movies? They’re just movies, right?
From the inception of Horror movies, our fictional victims are vastly women. An illustrative report by The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 shows that 43% of female protagonists appear in horror movies compared to just 4% of male protagonists. Robert Eggar’s recent release of his reimagined Nosferatu reminds us of one of early cinema’s first horrors; a Gothic tale entailing, of course, the damsel in distress. Conceived in Gothic and Dark Romantic literature, the distressed damsel is two-dimensional in character, hapless in fate and always beautiful and “pure” - a virgin, in case that’s not clear.
Essentially, nothing changes, except that after she endures being hunted, tortured and traumatised, she finally triumphs over the antagonist while all before her failed. But what does she have left now?
What permeates the genre is a hyper-fixation with torturing young women and by the 1970s, it tolerated a distinct trajectory from where our distressed damsel “advanced” into the final girl; a trope that some see as an ill-defined manifestation of “feminism”. Essentially, nothing changes, except that after she endures being hunted, tortured and traumatised, she finally triumphs over the antagonist while all before her failed. But what does she have left now?
Moving on, 1996’s Scream was a huge hit that simultaneously functioned as a critique of the trope itself, featuring a memorable script with comical lines from the movie’s caricature class clown: “You can never have sex!” pointing to the final girl’s survival betting on her virginity. Albeit, it’s hard to say whether or not this movie fully escapes my present critical lens, as ultimately, it’s yet another slasher that sensationalises graphic scenes of violence against women as entertainment.
The horror genre of our century has seen many innovations, particularly in the style of found-footage films. From the Paranormal Activity movies that shook the world to other smaller films like Rec (2007) and Creep (2014), it is a highly stylised form of filmmaking that renders its viewer as a helpless fly on the wall. Full transparency: I love these movies.
One specific found-footage film, however, took the internet by storm in 2020 when a TikTok hashtag received 83 million clicks. Megan Is Missing is a 2011 found-footage horror directed by Michael Goi. Goi based his story on real-life child abduction cases. Nevertheless, what was supposed to showcase a cautionary tale about the dangers of online predators ironically led to countless people online passing around ways to see a 3-minute-long rape scene of a 14-year-old girl. Just a movie, right?
What deeply concerns me is not just the sensationalising of such disturbing content, but the sheer scale of acceptance towards it. What I discovered in these comment sections were too many people relishing in the “spectacle”; calling it “not that bad” or “overrated”. I believe this to be the long-term consequences of how commonplace it is to witness such graphic content that consistently features women and girls as the victims.
When we see this content repeatedly mediated through forms of entertainment like movies, television, videogames etc. - what happens to our collective psyche?
Of course, I do not wish to place the onus on individual viewers. It is essential to call out the filmmaker first and foremost for spotlighting such an extreme act of violence to elicit cheap shock value in his deplorable “movie”.
When we see this content repeatedly mediated through forms of entertainment like movies, television, videogames etc. - what happens to our collective psyche? It has been a very long and complex discourse surrounding the extent to which media influences violence; I would argue that it is less complex in the present context, for I am discussing gendered violence and how often we see it on our television screens.
The argument that we won’t feel the same kind of empathy for male characters as we do female characters is lazy and dated. The issue is that relentlessly, horror and slasher filmmakers are perpetuating this wrongful narrative trope. This not only breeds an ambiguous anticipation for it but a very nebulous acceptance too.
What we see on the news, the stories we hear and the victims who we know personally should provide enough awareness - that shouldn’t have to count on making it “entertaining” for us to take action.
As much as I enjoyed Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the Hour (2024), and believe it speaks to the ongoing discourse spreading awareness of gendered violence, my feelings remain somewhat mixed. While it’s great that Kendrick donated her profits from the sale of the movie to two different charities that support victims of such violence, I would argue that we don’t need movies to do that. What we see on the news, the stories we hear and the victims who we know personally should provide enough awareness - that shouldn’t have to count on making it “entertaining” for us to take action.
If you are affected by anything discussed in this article, you can find help here: Dublin Rape Crisis Centre National 24 Hour Helpline: 1800 778888, Women’s Aid 24 Hour National Freephone Helpline: 1800 341 900, or go to UCD.ie/students/help/