Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Celluloid Subversion: A Queer Reading Of 1980s Teen Slasher Cinema, Yates Diaz

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“Celluloid Subversion” examines the slasher film genre, specifically how it came to prominence in the early 1980s at the dawn of Ronald Reagan and the New Right’s takeover of American political and social life. With its violence against women and individuals who engage in allegedly immoral acts, the genre is commonly perceived as a cinematic representation of patriarchal values writ large on screen. However, its propensity for challenging gender norms and its adherence to tropes such as that of the Final Girl – where a woman survives the killer’s carnage before defeating him – imbue it with subversively queer qualities …