Live: GENDERED ARCHETYPES IN FILM 1: The Villain

MON 7 MAR – 19:30 TO 21:30

Lumière Cinema, Bassin 88

Lennart Soberon
PhD-student Department of Communication studies the Ghent University and programmer of KASK.

“The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture”, said Alfred Hitchcock. You only have to glance at today’s Hollywood cinema to see that the master of suspense was right. Iconic figures like Darth Vader, Voldemort and Cruella form an essential part of popular film culture. In genres like action and war film, destroying the enemy is even a systematic cornerstone of the story. And with regard to gender roles, too, villains often symbolise a deviation from the social norm. The violent actions of the hero then ensure that these identities are strictly compartmentalised. But what do these figures tell us about standards of good and evil in our society? Do films teach us to love to hate?