Reflexivity

Reflexivity in film is the relationship between the text and the viewer when watching a film. Whatever happens on the screen is created by a question of what we see. However it is not just about what watching the film it is also about what you think about it.

Referring to our film we may be sympathetic towards the woman. The actual meaning of a film is different for each viewer they will decided what is happening, what is good, what is right and what is wrong. Freddy Krueger and Kill Bill are good examples of this. In an essay from Jeffrey Sconce called the Spectacles of Death: Identification, Reflexivity, and Contemporary Horror a piece from a columnist in Premiere magazine explains two girls discussing which movie monster they would prefer to be killed by, Jason of Friday the 13^th, Michael of Halloween or Freddy of Nightmare on Elm Street one of them make a case against Freddy: One said “Freddy makes you a nervous wreck and then kills you and then turns you into a face sticking out of his chest!”

The other explains that she finds the character amusing, but the other girl makes a very interesting point: “Only because you’re watching the movie, if you were in it and he was chasing you, you wouldn’t be thinking ‘what a funny guy’ you’d be screaming and yelling and trying to get away, just like the kids in the movie”. The point I am trying to make is that people watch Horror films to get the thrill without actually being there. There is a lack of character development, the more the character is developed the more they will sympathise with them.