"Gore Zone UK Video: A Mistaken Identity" - more musings by Shannon Lark

As Women in Horror Month (WIH) quickly approaches, there has been some outcry regarding the recently released video entitled “Women in Horror”. The creators of this controversial video, presented by Gore Zone UK Magazine, provided their own interpretation of the value of women in the genre. And therein lies the rub.

For those not in the know, you can read all about the major complaints about the video here, where Fangirltastic’s Heidi Honeycutt and WIH Founder Hannah Nuerotica explain their specific issues with the released video. Along with the obvious concerns, the release of this “WIH tribute” brings up a much more important issue that shows a dark underbelly regarding where women actually stand in this world, how they feel about themselves in relation to a patriarchal society (and how men relate to the women relating to them), and even gives some insight into how they can overcome it.

The idea of celebrating women in horror is a touchy subject. It’s not just Scream Queens who are active in horror anymore; most women are directors, producers, makeup/FX artists, editors, festival directors, critics, and all around innovators. It’s an exciting time to be a woman in horror, yet a confusing one, and frustrating, if videos like GZ UK show chicks with implants practically humping dead bodies as a demonstration of what WIH (www.womeninhorrormonth.com) is.

Currently, my gender is at a serious crossroads of how to act and present themselves, especially when most of the women (young ones, particularly) are used in cinema as simple minded, pulsating holes waiting to be penetrated. In terms of mass media, if you don’t fit into this small category, you can swing the other way and be considered intelligent and witty. It seems as though you can’t have both, and if you do, it’s a constant test of walking that line to make sure you are balanced in a world where women are seen as imbalanced, emotional, and crazy bitches.

I can’t tell you how many women I’ve met who refuse to be called feminists, because of the seemingly negative connotations and their own confusion about what a “feminist” actually is.

A feminist is a person (man or woman) who believes in equality for all genders and who follows through with these ideals with their actions. If you are an artist who is a feminist, it may appear in your work in some way. The tricky part is the varying types of feminism that give the “F” word a bad rap and a confusing one. Fergie can show her ass and say she’s a feminist because she “owns” her sexuality because guys do it all the time. A middle-aged librarian who chooses not to show her body in this over-sexualized era can say she’s a feminist because she too is owning her body and choosing to focus on her brains. It doesn’t surprise me that women are confused about how they should act, how they should dress, and whether they seek validation or not. If women are befuddled, then men must be positively confused on how we, as a gender, want to be perceived.

Throughout this confusion and the 2nd anniversary of WIH Month, the GoreZone Magazine video has been created, by men, to honor their version of women in horror. I watched the video a few times, came back to it, breaking it down to understand what they were trying to do. If anyone knows what GZ is, they would know they tend to focus on the sexuality of a woman’s body to sell their magazine. If you are in doubt, simply go to the magazine rack and see Brittany Murphy with her legs spread wide open on their cover, or any other female dressed in bondage holding phallic objects, demonstrating that women should be sex objects, wrapped up, and punished.

In the GZ video, they hype up the sexuality of woman wherever they can: modern Scream Queens promote themselves, some of them lying down with breasts pumped up, some speaking in pornographic voices. Based on this, the video would simply be a method for prepubescent ejaculation and could be easily passed off. However, GZ sprinkles in some truly smart women, discussing various issues regarding where the female gender is today in relation to the genre.

Unfortunately, the majority of the smart women were shot with a shaky camera from the audience at a convention, while most of the giggly, sexually undulating females were obviously filmed specifically for this video and symbolically hump the viewer with blood-covered boobs to get some attention.

And this is a perfect example of what is happening not only in the horror genre, but with the females themselves. Not just in the movies, but in society as a whole.

I have to give GZ some credit. Perhaps they were attempting to show different perspectives from various females. Just like a premature ejaculation, they aimed for it and unloaded, but missed the mark of what WIH is actually about. Frankly, they created a cluster-fuck by showing what’s wrong with how women portray themselves in relation to men and how men think they want to be portrayed.

Here are two opposing viewpoints from different women on the video:

“as a woman you have to say no to projects or as an actor that are demeaning to women, like the rape, or, I would never want to produce or act in something that is that kind of horror genre...”-Jennifer Friend

“What I love about horror movies is that the women are always beautiful, always very sexual, and the script always finds a reason for them to take their clothes off.”-Dani Thompson

I may not agree entirely with Friend’s words above, because I believe portraying rape scenes in film can help women (and men) overcome their fears about it, become smarter in social situations, and assist them in becoming so bold as to reach out and help others. But the way rape is portrayed in cinema is essential in how the idea comes across. This is exactly what I’m talking about: how women are represented in cinema is up to you and you must make sure you are being respected as an artist. In the GZ video, the viewpoints are meshed together to make a point, albeit badly, with women rubbing their tits together and licking their lips. It seems as though GZ has mistakenly made a social and gender commentary on the state of woman in general. Horror makes salient aspects of situations and characters to tell a story. GZ did hit that mark, and we should all be examining how we can work together to be smarter and more supportive to other women in this world.

This commentary falls into that deep black vaginal hole that misconstrues what the majority of women in horror, or women in the film industry for that matter, are working so hard to attain. Not only does bombard us with a barrage of imagery that reveals the confused feminine underbelly, but it also fails to present the horror genre properly by focusing entirely on the low grade B-Movie Slasher sub-genre, which is not what horror is.

Horror encompasses many different sub-genres to create a masterpiece of intricate situations, characters, and exploitation of our fears. The Slasher sub-genre focuses primarily on the A + B = C formula, featuring one of the simplest storylines in cinema, (apart from romantic comedy): the antagonist (a dominating male character) penetrates his victims (mostly voluptuous women) and goes to war with the protagonist (the final girl), who looks like a boy in dress (and usually boyish body-type). She overcomes the antagonist by taking a phallic weapon and penetrating him. Once that happens, her hair is let down and she is allowed to become “woman.”

It’s obvious that GZ does not understand that there is more to the genre than women being hacked, slashed, and stripped, or in turn the women who hack, slash, strip and gouge in the same fashion as the masked killer. They have fallen for a brand that has permeated the genre since the 1960’s, and has been repeated by the some of the worst low budget filmmakers in history due to its simplicity. These creators have fallen for a stereotype of how men and women should be presented (men in masks and women are always naked), and can’t see anything else that the genre provides, or what women can provide, for that matter.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely enjoy slasher films and feel women have the right to take on the roles they want. If you want to be naked for a role, that’s fine. If your career is based in low grade slasher b-movies, go right ahead. I have been in several myself and I’m sure more slasher films will come my way. I’ve been gutted, stripped, hacked, and decapitated, I’ve used large phallic objects to penetrate, to demonstrate power, and become liberated.

However, women walk a fine line with their sexuality and how it represents the rest of their gender. Please take a moment to think about your actions and if they are being carried out because you need validation from the men who are offering you said opportunities. If so, YOU can make films on your own and find validation in your own work, not in getting approval because you took your top off and they got a hard on. If you want to take your top off for your own movie, go right ahead, but at least you are doing it for you.

With all the opposing viewpoints women have, the unifying question is what the hell is Women in Horror Month actually about and how do we, as a gender, ensure that we represent ourselves and create a world where women are treated equal in pay, jobs, politics, and respect?

I believe Jen Soska (Co-Director of Dead Hooker in a Trunk with her sister, Sylvia Soska) hit the bull’s-eye with this one:

“Your professionalism, your drive, your business sense, your talent, your presence... this is everything that little girls should look up to, saying 'I want to be her'. And that's a really big part of what Women In Horror month is all about.”

WIH is not about sexuality, it’s about drive and passion. It’s not about promoting yourself on a video where girls speak in wanton whispers and show their asses. It’s about inspiring the younger generations of women to refuse stereotypical roles and personalities. This is what our gender has been overcoming in this industry since the mid 1920’s.

I understand that women have a fine line to walk. I have fallen off the tight rope a few times myself, trying to get it right on exactly where I stand and how I should be. However, flagrantly promoting your sexuality as the entirety of your personality is not the way to achieve independence and respect from men or women; it’s a cry for validation from the male gender. If you are going to pick up that phallic object, use it as a symbol of liberation and intelligence.

The final thought. As creative artists, we would be advised to explore the full spectrum of who we are. In so doing, we should be lifting each other up, helping each other be the best, most creative women. And men. There is more than enough room for everyone, and if we support each other in our individual quests, we will only become stronger, more successful, more intelligent, and live fuller, more meaningful lives. Ladies, let’s celebrate WIH month in style in 2011 and the coming years: reach out to the women who inspire you, and validate yourself without talking in porn star tones.

Watch the video: