Representation In Films

Gender
Men:

Men within horror films are seen to be the more dominant character. They are strong, powerful and quite fit and healthy. They could either be the protagonist in the film where they save the damsel in distress and kill the murderer, or in contrast they could be the antagonist within horror films which would normally be the killer. 

One example of this would  be Brody from the horror film Jaws. This screen shot shows him to be shooting the killer Jaws. Therefore it shows him to be strong and brave as he facing such a deadly creature, also due to the fact that many people have been killed throughout this film means he is risking his life. Also many men throughout horror films end up falling in love with the main female character to try and protect them from the killer and so on.

Women:
Women are however shown to be the complete opposite to men in horror films. They are normally the first people to get killed or terrorized by the lead serial killer/antagonist in the film. They are seen to be weak and fearful, this is why they are the first on the killers list. This could be because they are more interested in 'a boy' or their own appearance to really take notice of the killer or the dangerous situation that is happening at that time. However in many films, there will be a girl that will accompany the male protagonist almost as a helper. One example of this 

is Evelyn from 'The Mummy' as she and her husband go out to try and destroy the Mummy. On the contrary to girls being weak and being saved by the male character, or being killed. Some movies feature a final girl, this is the female who remains til the end of the film and is the last to confront the killer. One extremely famous final girl is Laurie Strode from Halloween whereby she confronted the serial killer. 


Ethnic Groups:
White people within horror films are seen to be as  the more dominant character and seen to be more intelligent than any other ethnicity. They are normally seen to be the protagonist within the films and tend to be those that kill off the 'bad guy'. However quite a lot of the time they are the actual serial killer in horror films, one example is Hannibal Lecter. 
Those that are seen in horror films quite negatively are black people. Stereo typically they are the least intelligent ethnicity group within the film. In horror films they tend to be the one killed first. One film where this occurs is Deep Blue Sea where Russel (Sameul L Jackson) is the first to be killed by the killer creature. 




Age:
The main age group that are seen to be negative within horror films are teenagers. They tend to be the main victims for the serial killer or antagonist. They normally are shown at the beginning of the horror film and set themselves up for danger, for example they will go camping in a forest just for the excitement and thrill of being a fearful environment. 'Friday the 13th (2009)' is one example where a group of teenagers go camping in an abandoned camp, two of the group explore. As they put themselves in danger, all but one are killed within the first few scenes. 


Adults are not seen regularly as the victims within horror films (although there are some exceptions), they tend to be the antagonists/serial killers. Or they occasionally are the heroes that save the victims. 'The last house on the left' is an example of both of these representations. The antagonists are adults in this horror film and the parents of one of the victims are the ones that finally kill them. 


The final age group that are varied within Horror films are the elderly. The elderly are either seen as extremely weak or are seen to be evil or possessed. One example is the film 'Drag me to hell' which features an old woman that puts a curse on another main character. Another being, 'The Devil Inside' which an slightly older women is shown to be possessed and has to under go and exorcism. 


However, some films are very stereotypical when it comes to the elderly and they are killed off very near to the beginning as they are weak. One example is 'The Stepfather' where an elderly neighbour has suspicions on the serial killer and a conversation the killer over hears leads to her death. However, the police just assume that she had an accident whilst falling down the stairs because of her age.