My topic for the
research paper is based on the myth of the final girl. I think this applies
very well to the main female character of the political thriller film "V
for Vendetta" named Evey Hammond. Evey is shown in many scenes of the
movie with the characteristics of the final girl seen in horror films. She
doesn't die in the film despite the fact that her connections with the
"countries worst enemy" were threatening her very existence.
Her character progresses throughout the film with more
confidence and bravery through her sufferings. She is weak, scared, and
ambiguous at first but through her experiences, she is able to pick herself up
and think of that as a positive thing. There is a scene in the movie in which
she was tortured and left and locked in a cell with a black bag over her head.
This was due to her connections with V, the main character who is against the
country's political system, and she was tortured to tell his whereabouts to the
corrupted government. She was at first very scared but she doesn't give in.
According to Holly
Devor's Gender Blending, Evey is seen as very masculine here which is a huge
characteristic of the final girl. Devor suggests that masculinity is more
concerned with egoistic dominance and femininity as striving for cooperation or
communion. In Evey's situation, she forced herself to not give in to the
corrupted government because it would affect the lives of others. The
government would kill those that oppose them. Instead of giving up and letting
the government control her through use of torture, Evey gains confidence in her
decision to stand against them when she reads a letter from Valarie, a prisoner
from the adjoining cell. Valarie was an aspiring actress that died in a tragic
death because she was condemned for being a lesbian. This encouraged Evey to
stop supporting the evil government due to being terrified of them and
terrified of death. She can no longer be threatened by death. She can’t be
manipulated by the government anymore.
The setting of this film is set in the United Kingdom
under the fascist regime of the Norsefire party. Homosexuals, political
offenders, and other undesirables were imprisoned in concentration camps and
tortured there. Valerie's letter inspired Evey to overcome her fear and
out-right oppose the corrupted government. She is seen masculating herself this
way throughout the entire film. She loses her girlish characteristics (also
shown in the scene of her head being shaved) and survives to the end. Evey is
strong and doesn't portray the typical stereotypes of females. In Men, Women
and Chainsaws by Holly Devor, the final girl is described as she either
survives throughout the entire film or is the last to die. I’m going to use the
entire book and even the Final Girl chapter in order to persuade the readers
about the similar characteristics that both Evey and the Final Girl portray.
