Stereotypes/ Political Agendas

In Drew Goddard's film Cabin in the Woods, he successfully draws all aspects of different horror films into one movie. His desire is to make this "horror" movie into a sort of comedy. It is making fun of the all of horror films that our society has been exposed to. He has the stereotypical zombie, the stereotypical ghost, and every stereotypical nightmare creature ever to have been thought of. He also has the stereotypical group of teens that fall prey to this nightmarish cabin...the blonde, the virgin, the pothead, the athlete, and the scholar. They of course all spend a night of hell in this cabin being chased by these creatures. Drew Goddard combines the horror genre and the comedy genre to make a perfect combination of a movie. Honestly, when I first watched this film, I thought that it was a stereotypical horror film that would be incredibly predicable and that it was not a very well made film. I was completely wrong however because there is such a deeper message to the movie. The whole film is so witty in its humor and in the way that it pokes fun at different genres of movies. Another aspect of the film that I found incredibly witty and clever was the political viewpoint. The people in the control room who are trying to control the teens represent the government. They hold such a tight grip on those teens, and they try to force them into making decisions that they want them to make. Although this "government" seems successful at first, it becomes very apparent by the end of the film that this leads to nothing but chaos. All of the creatures get out of their cages and end up eating and killing all of the people of this "government". Maybe Drew Goddard is trying make a point about our governments control over society. Sometimes it seems like they have such a tight grip on us as individuals, which according to the movie, will eventually end in total chaos and in the government's ruin. Throughout the movie, there is a revolutionary element in it that makes this film very unique. I enjoyed this film, and all of its witty and clever undertones.

No Lights

In the movie Shortbus,  there is a lot of sex and a lot of very uncomfortable moments for the viewers.
 I found myself cringing in my seat thinking of how inappropriate the scenes that I
was watching were. However, there is a deeper message to the movie...a message that is deeper
 than seeing a lot of naked people running around having sex. This movie is all about being open
to new ideas and different groups of people, and it uses sex and sexual identity as a means
 to convey this message. Throughout the movie, the electricity in the city keeps going off and on.
It is constantly flickering and not offering enough light to live in. This "electricity problem"
coincides and is parallel with Sophie's , as well as James' and Jamie's, search for freedom and liberation in their sex life. It is not until the end of the movie, when all three of them come to the realization
 that it is okay to experiment and try new things sexually in order to fulfill their happiness, that all of the electricity comes back on. Sophie, James, and Jamie are finally able to see the light. In other words, people are going to be blind in life by limiting the world around them and limiting other people. They will not be able to truly "see" unless they are open  and not judgmental towards the world around them. People should find freedom in the world that they live in, and they should not be limited by judgments. Once Sophie, James, and Jamie realize this,  it is only then that the electricity turns back on and illuminates the life around them. 

Feminism and Violence

   In the movie Lady Vengeance, there is an element of feminism that is seen and portrayed
throughout the movie. Even though this movie's theme is primarily violence, there is a subtle message that is being conveyed throughout the movie concerning the power of women. Lady Vengeance in this movie portrays at first the submissive and objectified woman. She seems so gentle on the surface and feeds into male's sexual lusts by offering her body to them. However, by the end of the movie, Lady Vengeance breaks the "submissive woman" mold. She goes to the man that ruined her, and shoots him in the feet and brings others to slay him. She no longer is seen as this submissive, gentle angel, but she is seen as someone with spirit and an independent spirit. This movie explores not only the issue of violence, but women committing the violence. It is uncommon, and Lady Vengeance is breaking the stereotype of a woman. She is clever and has a brain, and even though the males in this film believe that they have  power over her, she proves them all wrong in the end. In this movie, she is triumphant over males, and she can be a representation of female potential in society. The feminism in this movie can be clearly seen through the character Lady Vengeance.