She is Pregnant! She is Possessed! The Female Abject and Spectatorship in The Medium and Incantation
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Authors
Zhao, Ruizi
Date
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
abject , monstrous-feminine , spectatorship , found footage horror films
Alternative Title
Abstract
This research paper provides an analysis of gendered representation and film spectatorship in two Asian found footage horror films, The Medium (2021, dir. Banjong Pisanthanakun) and Incantation (2022, dir. Kevin Ko). By using these two films as case studies and applying the theoretical framework of the abject, as developed by Julia Kristeva and, later, Barbara Creed, I argue that both of these found footage horror films present female characters as abject figures that horrify the audience because they threaten to challenge the societal conceived boundaries of human and inhuman, clean and unclean, and life and death. Instead of providing the viewer with cinematic visual pleasure, the abject female characters replace the pleasure with punishment. I hope this paper can recognize that women are still portrayed as the Other and the source of fear on screen in Asian horror cinema. However, it is equally important to note that women can deconstruct the power dynamics in the cinematic gaze by returning the gaze.