The Cabin In The Woods

The representation of women in relation to the cabin in the woods

Jeremy Tunstall’s argued that overall the existing research found that representation of women in the media emphasized women’s; domestic, sexual, consumer and marital activities to the exclusion of all else. The film The Cabin in the woods particularly focused on the sexualisation of women, especially in the character of Jules, as she displays a flirtatious mood throughout the film. This representation is reinforced through the clothes she is wearing, such as her short hot pants. This is to appeal to the heterosexual male audience. She’s also viewed as a sex object when we see her and her boyfriend in the woods, and through the camera shots, such as the tilt shot focusing on certain parts of her body such as her legs.

Clovers final girl theory suggest that the the final girl is typically virginal, androgynous and fights back against evil. There are some typical aspects from this theory portrayed through the character of Dana who is the final girl in the film. Through out the film we find out that Dana isn't a in fact a virgin as there were hints of her sleeping with her professor however we know that she is sexually unavailable throughout the film and is quite the opposite to Jules. We learn this through the scene where Dana and Holden are kissing and she expresses her feelings about not wanting to take it any further. Furthermore the clothes she wears portrays this representation as she is very covered up compared to Jules, wearing jeans and a blouse. Dana is also always aware of the danger and is prepared to fight back against evil.

At the start of the film we learn that jules has died her hair from brown to blonde, this is to portray the sterotype of the ‘slutty, dumb blonde’ that she represents in the film. This also meakes the auidence presume she wont be aware of any danger, and in the film this is concluded with her getting killed whilst having sex, with her boyfriend in the woods.

In this film the male gaze theory is mainly applied to Juels as dana is the main protaganist and the final girl, however there are some elements of this theory applying to dana, such as the mirror scene where the audience is watching from Holdens point of view, and Dana is getting changed. This theory can be reversed when the audience then get the perspective of Danas point of view watching Holden getting changed from the other side of the mirror.

But the main focus of the male gaze theory in the Cabin in the Woods is Jules. The scene when she is dancing in front of the fire place seductively is a prime example of the theory.it uses many close up shots and tilts the camera towards her to fulfill the male gaze theory. The camera focuses a lot on her legs as well as full body shots, to represent the male gaze. Also the scene when Jules is having sex with her boyfriend in the woods, there is a long shot to get her full body in the shot, which is used to portray her as a sex object.

When the film begins there's a pan shot that pans into Dana’s room from the street, when she is getting changed whilst talking to Jules about her change of hair colour. This automatically places the audience into the voyeurs perspective, this is continued throughout the film but is particularity highlighted in certain scenes. The main voyeurs position is mainly seen through the perspective of the scientists who continue to watch the group of teen throughout the film, until the final scenes when the teens escape the ‘game’ and appears in the lab. Another main scene where we get a voyeurs view is the mirror scene when Dana is getting changed in her newly established room in the cabin, when is appears that Holden is able to see her through the mirror when she is unaware, instead of watching her get changed, he finally goes into her room and lets her know whats happening and offers to changes rooms so she feels comfortable, this shows the audience that Holdens character is a more modest character and doesn’t take advantage, where as if it was Curt in his position we can assume that, due to the knowledge we ave of him as a character, he wouldn’t have been so gentlemanly and would have watched her.

In various scenes throughout the film both woman, at times are objectified and portrayed as sexual objects, although this mostly applies to Jules who’s primary role as a character is to be seen as the ‘slutty one’, whereas Dana is portrayed as the intelligent ‘final girl’, which allows her to survive making her a more androgynous character. In the film there are 5 roles that need to be sacrificed in order to save the world and both Jules and Dana fit into two of the categories, Dana being the virgin and Jules being the whore, which are both sexual nurtured roles, whereas the sacrifice for the males are the ‘jock’ and the ‘scholar’ which backs up the idea of woman having a sexual purpose in the film.

In the film although Dana is the ‘final girl’ who does fight back evil and tries to overcome the fears she faces, it is evident that she may not have made it as far as she did without the help of Marty, which exhibits the idea that she, as a woman, needed a man to save her life and couldn’t have done it on her own. Later on in the film we also see Dana  get an instruction to kill Marty, despite knowing the consequences of not doing it, that being the whole world being destroyed she still didn’t proceed to do so, this portrays the idea that woman are too sensitive and caring, as she couldn’t even kill her friend, despite saving the world. This goes against the traditional traits of the hero as usually they sacrifice something for the greater good.