The Shining And Scream Analysis

The 1960s-80s saw the introduction of 2nd wave feminism - focusing largely on gender inequality within sexuality, family life and the workplace. It was quickly established that mainstream media was playing a large role in the production and reinforcement of the patriarchy, and so began an influx in the analysis of representations of women within the media; or lack thereof. Paralleling the popularisation of 2nd wave feminism, the 60s, 70s and 80s saw a prevalence of horror films within mainstream media; rendering the genre a target for scrutiny. In this essay I will discuss representations of gender in Stanley Kubrick's psychological horror, 'The Shining' (1980) and Wes Craven’s thriller, ‘Scream’ (1996).

Both The Shining and Scream are deemed
Males commonly portray the antagonist within the horror genre, whilst females act as the “prey” and are often found to be weak, dumb and helpless. Elements of this can be found in Scream, where the antagonists and the town’s deputy sheriff are all male. In contrast, the female characters of Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) and Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) are both murdered after a relatively effortless struggle. The Shining, however, is not quite as simple. Whilst it can be agreed that Jack is a strong, masculine character who descends into madness, Shelley Duvall’s character Wendy Torrance has been quite the cause of debate. In an interview with the BBC, Stephen King - the author of the book on which The Shining was based - criticised Duvall’s character, stating that she was “one of the most misogynistic characters ever put on film” who was “basically just put there to scream and be stupid” despite him having written the character as a brave, smart woman. Yet from a feminist perspective, Wendy Torrance can be seen as a progressive character. When faced with her enraged husband, rather than crumbling or becoming another female horror victim, Wendy hits Jack over the head and drags his unconscious body into a locked room before arming herself with a knife, collecting her son and ensuring he escapes before she does. Wendy Torrance could be considered a
Simply the fact that both films contain a star is unusual for the horror genre, which often uses unknown actors and actresses for the sake of realism. In The Shining, Jack Nicholson plays the role of the main character. This not only attracts an audience through the use of star power, but also enables Nicholson to showcase his exceptional talent for acting. In Scream, the star used is Drew Barrymore. In an iconic opening scene, Barrymore plays the first victim of ‘Ghostface’. However, this is Barrymore’s only scene in the whole film. This suggests that Barrymore was used merely to attract an audience, without making her the main character or giving her more than 10 minutes of