Religion and Gender

The field of genre studies allows one to examine the historical context of themes by examining how conventions are used within a given cycle. Genres provide conventions that produce recognizable pieces of art. Part of the film’s success is its ability to play within the genre, offering surprises to viewers while fulfilling expectations. Thus, genres are changing things that address contemporary tensions and reflect audience’s desires. This chapter will address how the genre of folk horror uses themes of religious horror and familial tensions to address contemporary issues in four recent films ( Men, mother!, Jug Face, The Medium ). It then compares the conventions of folk horror to another genre, animated coming-of-age films, by examining Moana and Turning Red . Like the folk horror films, these films feature female protagonists undergoing a familial crisis. Like folk horror movies, these films use religion as part of narrative and setting but do so in a way that presents religion as a source of positivity, rather than horror. The comparison of these genres, as well as the effect of genre on the representation of religion and gender, will be a concern of the concluding sections of the chapter.