Date of Award

Spring 5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Film Studies

First Advisor

Kelli Fuery

Second Advisor

Ian Barnard

Third Advisor

Henry Finch

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to illustrate a distinction between the films of The New French Extreme and Ducournau’s Raw and Titane, in their handling of gender and identity, primarily in regard to how these films handle transformation and self-identification. Ducournau explores themes of cannibalism, the linking of desire and violence, and transformation in order to disrupt hegemonic conceptions of sex and gender binaries. the disruptions to these binaries are initially perceived as monstrous, due to the implementation of genre conventions, they play on perception of the monstrous feminine, to reveal cultural perceptions that these transgressions are dangerous, destructive, and disruptive. Yet through primary identification with the protagonists, as well as the thematic significance of familial and platonic love/connection as resolution or conclusion to the horror, the films refute that these transgressions are monstrous. The cannibalism and transformation displayed in Raw and Titane could be taken as negative in isolation, however, this thesis considers how the films handle the relationships that their protagonists foster, and how these become realized not just despite the monstrous acts that they commit, but primarily through them. While the films of the New French Extreme emphasize the isolating effects of violent patriarchal capitalist societies in which they are set, Raw and Titane focus instead on their protagonists working towards self-realization in spite of their societies.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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