tropes

READY OR NOT & The Bloody Remains Of The Final Girl Trope
READY OR NOT & The Bloody Remains Of The Final Girl Trope

Final girls no longer owe us their heartbreak – we take a look at the trend in horror of the final victims becoming final survivors.

Monstrous & Missing Mothers: Horror Prefers Villainous, Dead Or Exceptional Women
Monstrous & Missing Mothers: Horror Prefers Its Women Villainous, Dead Or Exceptional

When contrasted against the special designation conferred upon Final Girls, it seems apparent that the horror genre permits its mothers limited options.

Final Girls Do It Better: From Elm Street To A Vet School In France, How The Final Girl Trope Has Evolved
How The Final Girl Trope Has Evolved: From Elm Street To A Vet School In France

Maria Lattila examines how generic slashers actually hide a hugely empowering element, the Final Girls of horror fulfilling and enabling feminine power and potential.

The "Tiny Guy, Huge Girl" Trope Over the Years
The “Tiny Guy, Huge Girl” Trope Over the Years

Sometimes used to satirize social deviance or anxiety over women’s emergent political power, the Tiny Guy, Huge Girl trope can tell us a lot about the sexual politics of the era.

"F*ck Superheroes": Trope Maintenance Vs. Trope Subversion in DEADPOOL 2
“F*ck Superheroes”: Trope Maintenance Vs. Trope Subversion In DEADPOOL 2

Deadpool 2 is the most recent, and to some minds, most egregious, example of a mainstream film figuring out that it can benefit from appearing subversive, without needing to put in the creative work of fulfilling this promise.

Autonomy Of Androids: The Male Gaze In Science Fiction
Autonomy Of Androids: The Male Gaze In Science Fiction

Attitudes about the male gaze have been present in science fiction cinema for years, especially relating to the identity of female robots. This includes the objectification of these characters and the loss of their autonomy, which reflects real life attitudes towards women. Many films have been made to show the dangers of viewing women as objects, yet we still see the male gaze in motion pictures every day.

A Look Back At THE CABIN IN THE WOODS: Overturning Horror Plot Devices
A Look Back At THE CABIN IN THE WOODS: Overturning Horror Plot Devices

 “The horror genre gets (us) in touch with our primal instincts as a people more than any other genre I can think of. It gives (us) this chance to … reflect on who we are and look at the … uglier side that we don’t always look at, and have fun with that very thing.” —Drew Goddard (IMDb) I may be a little late to the party (by about four or five years) but for those of you who have not yet seen Drew Goddard (writer and director) and Joss Whedon’s (writer and producer) The Cabin In The Woods be forewarned, this article contains spoilers.

Ex Machina A.I.
The Film Tropes of Artificial Intelligence

Robots have been present in films for years, but the more specific element of these mechanized beings that is often highlighted in these films is what makes them tick (so to speak), or what makes them think. This, more often than not, is artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence, or A.