Forty years later: Laurie Strode and the survival of the Final Girl

Morgan Podraza

doi:10.1386/host_00033_1

Forty years later: Laurie Strode and the survival of the Final Girl

Horror Studies ◽

10.1386/host_00033_1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 133-147 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Morgan Podraza

Keyword(s):

Original Film ◽

Popular Discourse ◽

Horror Genre ◽

The Moment ◽

Violent Events

The Final Girl trope is well established in horror, and the Final Girl’s actions leading up to and including the moment of her ‘triumph’ over the monstrous threat have generated a rich vein of scholarly and popular discourse. However, the life and experiences of the Final Girl beyond the violent events that initially defined her have largely remained unexplored despite the repetitive appearance of characters like Laurie Strode across horror franchises. By pairing John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween and David Gordon Green’s 2018 Halloween – positioned as a direct sequel to the original film – the life of the Final Girl beyond her confrontation with the monstrous threat is made visible, and the experiences and effects of trauma are centred. An analysis of the visual and narrative manifestations of Laurie Strode’s experience of trauma makes clear the limits of the traditionally constructed trope by asking what it means to survive within horror franchises. Acknowledging the Final Girl as a survivor of trauma fosters new possibilities for how the Final Girl trope is discussed and calls attention to the ways that representations of trauma within the horror genre can reflect and reify the experiences of survivors in positive and productive ways.

Download Full-text

A New World of Blood and Monsters: Creepshow, Gore and Violence

Creepshow ◽

10.3828/liverpool/9781911325918.003.0006 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 71-80

Author(s):

Simon Brown

Keyword(s):

New World ◽

Horror Films ◽

Breaking Point ◽

Horror Genre ◽

George Romero ◽

The Dead ◽

The Moment ◽

Creative Team

This chapter evaluates Creepshow's use of gore and horror make-up effects (HFX) as developed and practiced by Tom Savini and George A. Romero. It locates the film within the context of the cinematic horror genre in the early 1980s. EC's horror comics did not shy away from the frank illustration of bodily mutilation and oozing, decaying corpses, but what they did tend to shun was explicit blood-letting and the detailed depiction of the moment of death. If the tradition of EC in representing the moment of death and the process of mutilation tended towards restraint, then Creepshow appeared at a time in cinema when the opposite was happening, and the boundaries of what both could and should be seen in horror films were being pushed to breaking point. What makes Creepshow particularly relevant in relation to this movement is that two thirds of its main creative team, director George Romero and make-up effects supervisor Tom Savini, had previously played a major role in opening the floodgates of what was acceptable in terms of the detailed depiction of explicit horror with Dawn of the Dead (1978).

Download Full-text

The High Resolution Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100051591 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 32 ◽

pp. 316-317

Author(s):

A. V. Crewe

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscope ◽

High Resolution ◽

High Vacuum ◽

Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope ◽

Ultra High Vacuum ◽

Resolving Power ◽

Imaging Characteristics ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

Scanning Transmission ◽

The Moment

The high resolution STEM is now a fact of life. I think that we have, in the last few years, demonstrated that this instrument is capable of the same resolving power as a CEM but is sufficiently different in its imaging characteristics to offer some real advantages.It seems possible to prove in a quite general way that only a field emission source can give adequate intensity for the highest resolution^ and at the moment this means operating at ultra high vacuum levels. Our experience, however, is that neither the source nor the vacuum are difficult to manage and indeed are simpler than many other systems and substantially trouble-free.

Download Full-text

Pinocytotic-Like Forms of Mitochondria From Rat Anterior Pituitary

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100100470 ◽

1968 ◽

Vol 26 ◽

pp. 146-147

Author(s):

Burton B. Silver

Keyword(s):

Electron Micrographs ◽

Conformational Changes ◽

Anterior Pituitary ◽

Dynamic State ◽

Surrounding Cell ◽

The Matrix ◽

The Moment ◽

Cell Medium ◽

Sectioned Tissue ◽

State Of Activity

Sectioned tissue rarely indicates evidence of what is probably a highly dynamic state of activity in mitochondria which have been reported to undergo a variety of movements such as streaming, divisions and coalescence. Recently, mitochondria from the rat anterior pituitary have been fixed in a variety of configurations which suggest that conformational changes were occurring at the moment of fixation. Pinocytotic-like vacuoles which may be taking in or expelling materials from the surrounding cell medium, appear to be forming in some of the mitochondria. In some cases, pores extend into the matrix of the mitochondria. In other forms, the remains of what seems to be pinched off vacuoles are evident in the mitochondrial interior. Dense materials, resembling secretory droplets, appear at the junction of the pores and the cytoplasm. The droplets are similar to the secretory materials commonly identified in electron micrographs of the anterior pituitary.

Download Full-text

Advances in Stem Instrumentation for Biology

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100180562 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 362-363

Author(s):

J. S. Wall

Keyword(s):

Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope ◽

Carbon Films ◽

Specimen Preparation ◽

Material Deposition ◽

Active User ◽

Percent Improvement ◽

Scanning Transmission ◽

The Moment ◽

Film Substrate ◽

High Level

The forte of the Scanning transmission Electron Microscope (STEM) is high resolution imaging with high contrast on thin specimens, as demonstrated by visualization of single heavy atoms. of equal importance for biology is the efficient utilization of all available signals, permitting low dose imaging of unstained single molecules such as DNA.Our work at Brookhaven has concentrated on: 1) design and construction of instruments optimized for a narrow range of biological applications and 2) use of such instruments in a very active user/collaborator program. Therefore our program is highly interactive with a strong emphasis on producing results which are interpretable with a high level of confidence.The major challenge we face at the moment is specimen preparation. The resolution of the STEM is better than 2.5 A, but measurements of resolution vs. dose level off at a resolution of 20 A at a dose of 10 el/A2 on a well-behaved biological specimen such as TMV (tobacco mosaic virus). To track down this problem we are examining all aspects of specimen preparation: purification of biological material, deposition on the thin film substrate, washing, fast freezing and freeze drying. As we attempt to improve our equipment/technique, we use image analysis of TMV internal controls included in all STEM samples as a monitor sensitive enough to detect even a few percent improvement. For delicate specimens, carbon films can be very harsh-leading to disruption of the sample. Therefore we are developing conducting polymer films as alternative substrates, as described elsewhere in these Proceedings. For specimen preparation studies, we have identified (from our user/collaborator program ) a variety of “canary” specimens, each uniquely sensitive to one particular aspect of sample preparation, so we can attempt to separate the variables involved.

Download Full-text

Traumatic Brain Injury: A Trauma Surgeon's Perspective

Perspectives on Neurophysiology and Neurogenic Speech and Language Disorders ◽

10.1044/nnsld22.3.82 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 82-89

Author(s):

Oscar D. Guillamondegui

Keyword(s):

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Multidisciplinary Approach ◽

Trauma Team ◽

The United States ◽

Long Term Outcomes ◽

Term Care ◽

Injured Brain ◽

The Moment

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious epidemic in the United States. It affects patients of all ages, race, and socioeconomic status (SES). The current care of these patients typically manifests after sequelae have been identified after discharge from the hospital, long after the inciting event. The purpose of this article is to introduce the concept of identification and management of the TBI patient from the moment of injury through long-term care as a multidisciplinary approach. By promoting an awareness of the issues that develop around the acutely injured brain and linking them to long-term outcomes, the trauma team can initiate care early to alter the effect on the patient, family, and community. Hopefully, by describing the care afforded at a trauma center and by a multidisciplinary team, we can bring a better understanding to the armamentarium of methods utilized to treat the difficult population of TBI patients.

Download Full-text