Dear Asian Horror Movie Makers

[intertribal]

Here is a thing that needs to stop:

1. Girl violates some group norm (usually liking/going after/not repudiating a guy who is "off limits," but this varies).
2. Group organizes revenge/punitive attack on girl that almost always involves rape.
3. Girl commits suicide for multiple reasons (shame, hurt, desire for revenge).
4. Girl becomes horrible, terrifying, evil ghost that picks off group members one by one.*

For one, it perpetuates and universalizes a single narrative/understanding of rape and its consequences - namely, that it is the most horrible thing that can ever be done to a woman, so much so that it actually drives her to kill herself and become a vengeful spirit in order to kill everyone involved in wronging her, like a Lifetime movie on paranormal crack basically - and for two, it is really lazy writing.  I immediately lose interest in any new plot that involves this storyline, although I do retain a reluctant soft spot for Shutter, probably just because it was the first I saw of this type. 

I understand that most Asian horror stories make revenge the driving force, and I understand that most Asian horror stories involve female evil spirits, and that this leads, "obviously," to rape-and-revenge.  It's not unlike the recurring theme in American gaming/comics/fantasy/sci-fi where the strong action heroine has only become strong because she was once raped.  But really: if you must have revenge, and you must have a female evil spirit, there are other paths to take.  Look at the entire Whispering Corridors series, which at least has girls committing suicide and becoming wraiths for other reasons, because of different wrongs.  I would say don't look at all the performance-oriented movies where the big wrong is "you scarred my face!" or "you took my spot as the lead in our girl band!" but at this point, I would rather sit through that kind of a movie than another rape-and-revenge.

* Similar, but distinct: the group kills the girl during or in the immediate aftermath of the attack (c.f. The Maid).  Similar because rape-and-revenge is still an overtone, but distinct because she doesn't actually get any chance to respond to the rape particularly, and she doesn't commit suicide.

Comments

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

I agree that rape-and-revenge is far less interesting than straight up revenge, for example. At the moment, I'm watching Mondo Macabro's re-release of Queen of Black Magic, in which the moral seems to be: "Don't throw over a girl, then accuse her of being a witch and have people burn down her house with her mother inside it, because...she'll train, become a witch, and come back and kill you using the same black magic you originally yet inaccurately thought she was using." (That being said, nothing thus far has explained who actually did bewitch the asshole fiance's wife-to-be, in the first place. Maybe the guy who later teaches our heroine black magic?)

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

LOL that reminds me of the Simpsons Halloween episode where the townspeople (seemingly unfairly) accuse Marge of being a witch by throwing her off a cliff, and then she ascends on her broomstick and is like, "Okay, okay, you were right!"

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

And they throw her over a cliff here, too! Right into Black Magic Tutor's arms. People are dumb.

[intertribal.livejournal.com]

Like.