My name is Christi. I am a senior at Miami University in Oxford Ohio. I am currently taking a "Women in Film" class in which I must write a final paper on women and their portrayal in film. I have chosen to write my paper on women in the horror genre, in regards to the Final Girl characteristics. I am currently looking for information on that topic and would appreciate any feedback or information you might have. I have looked at several films and have narrowed it down to possibly using Carrie, Rosemary's Baby, Scream, or I Know What You Did Last Summer. I would love to hear back from you about any ideas you might have on information or which direction I might take my paper. Thank you, Christi

I am not a film expert by any stretch of my imagination, but from my perspective the basic ingredient for horror films (actually for most films) is for women to be victimized and for men to be the victimizer. In other words, for men to be heroic and for women to be "fallen women" or otherwise in need of savior. The women are desperate and deranged-as are the men, but the further disadvantage for women is that they don't have a way out the way men do.

With shows like the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Zena, that seems to be changing-women can now be the ones in charge, but clearly there is still a long way to go. I think there is also something to be said about the fact that horror is a stereotypically male genre of film, whereas drama is for women. So in changing the nature of how individual films are viewed, we also have to change how the entire industry is viewed. For instance, in drama films, we have to see men being dramatic and in horror films, we have to see women equally capable of being heroic in their efforts as the men are-not just being horrific. I hope that helps with your paper-I know it's not much.

—Amy