Breaking Out and Fighting Back: Female Resistance in the Trump-Era Horror Film

Gulam, Joshua (2019) Breaking Out and Fighting Back: Female Resistance in the Trump-Era Horror Film. In: Make America Hate Again: Trump-Era Horror and the Politics of Fear. The Cultural Politics of Media and Popular Culture . Routledge, London, pp. 57-66. ISBN 9781138498280

Text Joshua Gulam (2019), 'Breaking out and fighting back - Female resistance in the Trump-era horror film'.docx Download (70kB)

Abstract

Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election appeared to mark a significant setback for the advancement of female participation in US politics. However, one of the most striking features of Trump’s election is the degree to which it has inspired an upsurge in female-led political protests. From high-profile events such as the January 2017 Women’s March, to the record numbers of female candidates in the 2018 midterm elections, women across the country are choosing to fight back. Parallels to these protests can be found in a recent cycle of horror films that show women fighting back against violent and sadistic men. With their narratives of female survival and resilience, commercial and critical hits such as 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), Hush (2016) and Don’t Breathe (2016), tap into a growing sense of anger at the patriarchal structures that dominate US society. This chapter explores the relationship between this cycle of films and recent political shifts. Specifically, it considers the role that contemporary horror cinema has to play in representing and mobilising resistance to the anti-woman agenda of Trump.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information and Comments:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in "Make America Hate Again: Trump-Era Horror and the Politics of Fear" on 21 June 2019, available online: https://www.routledge.com/Make-America-Hate-Again-Trump-Era-Horror-and-the-Politics-of-Fear/McCollum/p/book/9781138498280
Keywords:	Horror; US cinema; Trump; Final girl; US politics; Don't Breathe; Hush; 10 Cloverfield Lane
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Creative Arts & Humanities > School of Creative and Performing Arts
Depositing User:	Joshua Gulam
Date Deposited:	05 Dec 2019 16:23
Last Modified:	09 Dec 2019 12:50
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/2959

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