Happy Death Day (2017)

Happy Death Day (2017), a Blumhouse Productions horror movie, was directed by Christopher Landon and the screenplay was written by Scott Lobdell. It made US$125 million at the worldwide box office, which is noteworthy given that it appears to be a misogynist’s fantasy. Indeed, it is full of violence against women (VAW). Women are shown being killed 12 times (murdered in 10 cases and in two are hit by a bus), a woman commits suicide and a woman dies in her sleep (after being poisoned). Women are chased, stabbed (with knives, broken glass), shot, hit with a baseball bat, poisoned, kicked out a second storey window, one dies in a car explosion, etc. Moreover, the settings for these murders/deaths are varied: these women are killed in their room, at a party, in a fountain, in a hospital and on the highway. Even the suicide is violent and graphic. Unlike in Dr. Strangelove (1964), for example, where a man’s suicide is a gunshot heard behind a closed door, here the protagonist (Jessica Rothe) hangs herself in a bell tower, jumping several storeys to her death before our eyes.

The filmmakers’ inclusion of VAW is not the only indicator of misogyny. Also noteworthy are the language used in reference to women, the sexualization of women and the antagonism between women. The language in particular is telling. Women are called a b*tch eight times, whore or 'ho' three times, slut twice, as well as wench and dumbass. They are likened to cat ladies, and the adjectives used to describe them are far from flattering (e.g. sneaky, crazy, cheap, dumb, clumsy). Language is very revealing about filmmakers. It tells us a lot about how well or poorly they think of women, which is why I take the time to shine a spotlight on the language used in reference to female characters, both women and girls.
  
As for the sexualization of women I will mention just one example: for no good reason the lead female walks through her campus naked. The antagonism between women, too, merits attention. Here Rothe has antagonistic relationships with the other two lead females (her roommate and another sorority sister). The absence of congenial relationships between women—even between sorority sisters—conveys the message that women do not naturally get along. Even though Hollywood has a long history of pitting women against each other it feels particularly regressive now, in 2018. Happy Death Day has next to nothing to offer female viewers, and it stands in a class apart—a class that should not exist. One wonders how Blumhouse Productions can be so successful when its output is so misogynist. I look forward to sharing my findings about the portrayals and treatment of women and girls in mainstream movies of the 20th and 21st centuries in my upcoming film guide for women.

© 2018 Alline Cormier