ENGLISH 400: MONSTER THEORY
Lideah Shivley
Research Paper Abstract
"American Xenophobia Post 9/11 Reflected in the Movie Underworld (2003)"
The 2003 movie Underworld reflects a cultural moment where Americans were afraid of anyone that looked different than them. In the movie Underworld, the werewolves were portrayed in a different light than the vampires. Creating a separation and sense of fear between the two species. This paper will further investigate the fear the Underworld monsters have of another monster species different
from them, and why they fear them. I will also analyze the steps the vampires took to “protect” themselves from the werewolves, resulting in more divide between the species. Moreover, I will discuss how the vampires’ fear of the werewolves stems from the vampires not wanting to lose their prepositioned power over the werewolves. Comparatively, I will analyze how Americans also exhibited this behavior with xenophobia after 9/11.
Using a historical lens to consider the context of American fears that pertained to people of different cultures after the 9/11 attacks, I will argue that the vampires in Underworld develop a fear and separation from the werewolves. The vampires develop this fear because the werewolves are different from the vampires. Like the vampires, due to the fear of losing power, the need to be the higher class or rank, and American Exceptionalism, Americans reflected this same behavior of fear and isolation in the early 2000’s towards different cultures. I will argue that the werewolves are seen as monstrous to the vampires in Underworld because of the fear of different people, as well as due to the mindset of needing to be the higher race or species. Scholars such as Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr, Wetmore argue the clash of civlilzations in the movie Underworld is a representation of the war on terrorists in America. By better understanding that the monsters in Underworld (2003) represent the American fear of different cultures after 9/11, we can better understand why these two monsters are created and put in proximity with each other.
What if we watch Underworld (2003) as a take on how human, especially white society, has taken measures such as xenophobia, anti-miscegeneration, and immigration laws to prevent the coming together of different races? Underworld (2003) reflects white privileged behaviors that humans portrayed post 9/11 especially towards different cultures out of fear. As a result, certain groups in America were marginalized as dangerous, different, and were even killed and surveillanced, like the werewolves were in Underworld. This concept of focusing on the fear between the two species, allows us to change the way we understand the movie Underworld. Rather than understanding it as a movie depicting monster hybridity and forbidden love, and instead as a representation of xenophobia in American post 9/11.
Capstone Presentation
"The Red Choker in 'The Bloody Chamber': A connection to sexual oppression and empowerment"
Most readers recognize that the red choker is an important symbol in “The Bloody Chamber” by Angela Carter. But in order to figure out whether it symbolizes the sexual oppression of women’s bodies, or sexual liberation, we need to better understand the cultural context for this 1979 short story. Using second wave feminist debates about pornography and sexual desire, and arguments from scholars such as Michele Grossman, we can see that ruby choker is itself engaging in these heated discussions about female bodies and desire. We will look closely at why the choker is red, why the Marquis forces his wife to wear it, what this foreshadows, and what that means in regards to
assumptions about women’s desire. The choker symbolizes that women can gain empowerment, rather than simply oppression from sexuality. Once we understand this primary symbol it helps us to understand the story is really about how women can regain agency in expressing their own desire.