Look pretty and do nothing. How not to be a scientist.

Today I'm going to write about scientists. Not just any scientists. Female scientists. Not just any female scientists. Fictional female scientists. Of course science and movies have a bit of a chequered history. While things are starting to improve for the most part and filmmakers often bring in scientific consultants on films in the interest …

A response to the backlash.

This blog post contains spoilers for The Last Jedi. I'm sure a lot of you have seen the news regarding Kelly Marie Tran, and how she has been pushed away from Instagram and Twitter by sexist and racist abuse. The same thing happened to Leslie Jones following the release of Ghostbusters. This abuse stands as …

The Girl, The Body & The Devil in the 1960s & 70s Horror Film – Part 3

The Woman as a Vessel “Where Satan is, in the world of horror, female genitals are likely to be nearby. The word vulva itself is related to valve, gate or entry to the body.”1 Women are universally seen as ‘carriers’, and thematically they are usually the vessels for possession by demons in film and fiction. …

The Girl, The Body & The Devil in the 1960s & 70s Horror Film – Part 2

... The Uncanny Another theory, which can be applied to these films are Freud’s writings on “The Uncanny”. This term refers to something that is familiar and yet foreign at the same time, for example when people experience déjà vu. The word canny itself means “knowing” and so Uncanny means to be “unknowing”. This of …

The Girl, The Body & The Devil in the 1960s & 70s Horror Film – Part 1

What follows is an edited version of my dissertation that I wrote around 10 years ago aged 21. It's a reflection of my thoughts at the time... though I've edited out some parts which are heavily conjectured! Truth be told I haven't changed much. Please comment with your thoughts 🙂 “Film, even from it’s silent …