Planning- Representation

     Initially, when brainstorming ideas for my brief, I didn't think much about any social issue or representation that it would have. So I decided to search up some common topics that horror films in my subgenre address. 

Gender Roles & Representation

    One common social issue is gender roles. This is basically the stereotypes revolving around men and women in relation to what's "normal". Films might incorporate some of these gender norms into their films, but also tend to challenge them. The "final girl" trope challenges the stereotype of girls being the weaker gender. The Final Girl is the female character who manages to outsmart the killer and survives. This role gives power and bravery to the female character instead of the male.

Mental Illnesses

    Mental Illnesses are easily one of the most common traits of a killer in psychological films. Pretty much every killer has some kind of mental illness, even if it isn't clearly stated. Even if they're not the killer specifically, it's common to see people who are in psych wards screaming, scratching on the walls, or doing something extremely out of the ordinary. 

    I might be interested in using something like this, but instead of my killer having the mental illness, I would like my protagonist to be the one with the diagnosis. I don't exactly know how I would do that yet, but I'm thinking of making it center around my character having sciztophrania.

    On a side note, I found that there is actually a lot of controversy regarding the representation of mental illnesses in horror films. Critics tend to say that horror films wrongly portray diagnosed people as violent when that's not the case. Barry Katz, a forensic and clinical psychologist at the West Essex Psychology Center, says, "In the movies, people with mental illness are literally seen as monsters and dehumanized.”

Family Dynamics

    Psychological slasher and horror films also often use family dynamics and trauma to make the story feel deeper and scarier because the way a family works can shape a character’s fears and reactions. In many of these movies, families aren’t shown as safe and loving; instead, they might have conflict, secrets, or unresolved pain that becomes part of the horror. 

    For example, characters who grew up with neglect, abuse, or loss might act in extreme ways or be more vulnerable to the frightening events around them, and those troubled relationships often drive the plot forward and motivate violent or scary behavior. 

Wide shot from Hereditary

    In films like Hereditary, hidden family secrets literally explode into supernatural terror, showing how unresolved grief and trauma can tear a family apart and make the horror feel personal and intense for the viewer. These kinds of family themes make the horror more relatable to the viewer because the idea of family conflict is something that many people understand or have seen in real life, and horror filmmakers use that to create both emotional tension and fear onscreen. 

Conclusion

To conclude, I think that I may use a mix of gender roles and family dynamics. Even though I can't specifically use the "Final Girl" trope because I'm only making a film opening, I think I might make the teen girl have an unsafe relationship with the father or older brother. 

Sources:

https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2908&context=jiws&utm_

https://reelmind.ai/blog/horror-movie-slashers-icons-of-terror

https://creepycatalog.com/scary-movies-about-insane-asylums/