I just watched this film, and I had to come to the message boards specifically to find out how people felt about its treatment of homosexuality. I am surprised and disappointed that so few people have a problem with it.
Marie's secret, same-sex crush on Alexia was intriguing. At first it promised a complex, deep, and fresh take on the old horror trope, the virginal "survivor girl/last girl." I could go on and on about how the first half of this movie does a great job of building internal sexual tension and fleshing out its characters through dialogue and plot, even using its sexuality to contrast and segue into disturbing, shocking, and gory violence. However, I am left uneasy with the film's overall treatment of a lesbian character.
SPOILER'S AHEAD!!!!
The overall message this movie left me was 'this psychotic lesbian is dangerous.' Granted, any person with any sexual identity and any sexual preferences should be treated equal with respect to potential for mental illness and violence. However, if the slasher was the only heterosexual black man in the movie or the only portrayed homosexual in the movie is a murderer motivated by her sexual frustration, lines get blurred, and people can easily get offended.
Furthermore, the scene with Alexia's father's initial measuring, judging stares and probing questions about how they met on vacation in Spain subtly own a tone of suspicion. In retrospect, Marie's major psychotic episode apparently started due to masturbation. Finally, I dislike the parallel assumed between a lesbian's sexual desires and the desires of a psychotic, male, red-neck slasher.
For me, the film makes too strong a rationalization and causal link between a psycho killer's behavior and her homosexual identity. I agree with Cochran, and I consider this movie subtly homophobic, whether it was intentional or not.
(And if it was made where the only black character that was the killer, I would consider it racist, whether intentional or not.)
Unfortunately, social, economic, or political minority group characters and their stories must be written a bit more carefully than their majority group counterparts, since their vilification is naturally amplified.
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RavenRyy
13 years ago
Sorry mate, but all I can say after reading what you wrote is that you are overthinking this.
Marie is insane. That is the key element of her character. I honestly don't think this film was homophobic.
The difference between a debate and an argument is one is noble and one is idiotic. Chose wisely.
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raze893
12 years ago
Ok, a couple of things here right off the bat....you have a problem identifying a lesbian with a serial killer due to her desires, but you have no problem at all with the fact that a "red-neck" is commonly used as a slasher character. Do you not understand that the term redneck in itself is offensive?
Second, I think that the reason for the writers to use a lesbian character for their protagonist and antagonist was specifically because no one would suspect her to be the killer therefore allowing most of the audience to remain in the dark until the ending. Simply the fact that she was the last person that you are expected to suspect makes me believe that the directors aren't homophobic, but simply trying to put a new spin on an old story:TCM, Last House on the Left, I Spit on Your Grave, etc.
Third, going back to the original post, I know plenty of male serial killer movies where a man's lust drives him to murder...in fact the genre is filled with them....Norman Bates is a prime example. And, your argument that she was not insane, but only driven insane by her lesbian lust breaks down when we look at how the murders are committed....SHE HAS A SPLIT PERSONALITY. So, obviously her lust may have been the pressure to push her over the edge, but not the sole factor here.
Anyway, bottom line her is that this is a gritty, suspenseful piece of cinema that reuses an old, worn out story line and our expectations that go along with that story to make something fresh and entertaining. It gets a thumbs up in my book....homophobic or not lol
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fatpie42
10 years ago
The only reason I'm not that concerned about the homophobia, is that I don't think the twist makes sense whatever the sexuality. It is rather concerning that they decided that it made sense in a lesbian context, but I'm going to accept Hanlon's Razor here. ("Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.") I'm prepared to accept that they could have done this with a heterosexual couple. I think the problem is mainly that the twist is stupid.
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