Satan-baby film: Difference between revisions

From Feminist SF Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(stub)
(more)
Line 2: Line 2:


They involve numerous gender-specific tropes, many of which are explicitly or implicitly sexist, including:
They involve numerous gender-specific tropes, many of which are explicitly or implicitly sexist, including:
* womankind bringing about the fall of humankind
* womankind bringing about the fall of humanity
* women as a vessel for evil
* women as a vessel for evil
* women as passive, acted upon
* women as passive, acted upon
Line 9: Line 9:
* women as deluded by their hormones
* women as deluded by their hormones
* women as pawns who need to be protected, rescued, manipulated, have decisions made for them
* women as pawns who need to be protected, rescued, manipulated, have decisions made for them
* women who can only act through self-sacrifice often in childbirth


Note that some films in the genre occasionally tweak some of these tropes, suggesting or partially instantiating a feminist perspective.  
Note that some films in the genre occasionally tweak some of these tropes, suggesting or partially instantiating a feminist perspective.  
Line 17: Line 18:
* "[[End of Days (1999 film)|End of Days]]"
* "[[End of Days (1999 film)|End of Days]]"
* "[[Terms of Endearment]]" (X-Files episode with a twist)
* "[[Terms of Endearment]]" (X-Files episode with a twist)
* "[[The Omen]]" (story about the child more than the mother)
* "[[La Setta]]" (aka "The Sect", "The Devil's Daughter"; a 1991 film directed by Michele Soavi (aka Michael Soavi), and co-written & produced by Dario Argento
* Xena episode with Gabrielle as mother
Related thematically:
* "[[The Seventh Sign]]" (1998 film written by Clifford Green and [[Ellen Green]]; directed by Carl Schultz; starring Demi Moore) - Demi Moore is a pregnant woman whose baby may be the first of a slew of unsouled babies heralding the end of the world. wtf?


[[Category:Films]]
[[Category:Films]]

Revision as of 07:29, 24 July 2007

Satan-baby films are films which are premised on late 20th century Christian mythology and eschatology: the idea that evil incarnates in a demonic being, who seeks to bring about the end of the world by fathering a child on a human woman. See also alien impregnation.

They involve numerous gender-specific tropes, many of which are explicitly or implicitly sexist, including:

  • womankind bringing about the fall of humanity
  • women as a vessel for evil
  • women as passive, acted upon
  • women's agency as directed through their fertility and reproductiveness, particularly through giving birth to male heirs
  • abortion as a "sin" is often an implicit view
  • women as deluded by their hormones
  • women as pawns who need to be protected, rescued, manipulated, have decisions made for them
  • women who can only act through self-sacrifice often in childbirth

Note that some films in the genre occasionally tweak some of these tropes, suggesting or partially instantiating a feminist perspective.

Films (and occasional other works) in this genre include:

Related thematically:

  • "The Seventh Sign" (1998 film written by Clifford Green and Ellen Green; directed by Carl Schultz; starring Demi Moore) - Demi Moore is a pregnant woman whose baby may be the first of a slew of unsouled babies heralding the end of the world. wtf?