Target Audience & Representation in Horror

     Before I can elaborate further on my film opening, I went ahead and did some more research on the horror genre so I could understand more about this type of film. I had a general idea about who horrors were directed at, but to be honest, I  had no clue about anything related to representation in the horror film industry.

Target Audience

    Horror films are aimed at an audience between the ages of 15 to 30. Going lower than that would go into the range of kids who are still to young to enjoy this type of film because they are too busy crying or covering their eyes due to the violence and villain, making them terrified. On the other hand, going towards an audience that is not young adults would lead into territory where they were not desensitized to blood and violence when they were little because they did not grow up with technology. As a result, they would view the gory special effects as too much and would not be able to handle it. As people get older, they tend to gravitate more towards drama or romantic films, topics that many young kids and teens typically view as boring. This is why the range of 15 to 30 is a good target audience for a horror; teens and young adults within this group are into thrills, as it is excites a younger audience more than it would an older one.

    Furthermore, people in this target audience like to get that rush of adrenaline while watching a movie. The extra blood pumping into their veins and faster heart rate is something young people love to experience when watching a quick chase sequence. Meanwhile, the same cannot be said for older people, as an adrenaline rush is likely to put stress on their heart and have other health implications. 

Representation

    Representation in horror movies has often been subject to criticism by everyone. Women in the film are usually shown as being the damsel in the distress who needs the help of a strong, male character (The Nice Guy). Also, many women who are attacked in a horror movie have often committed some sort of sinful act, as if being murdered is some sort of sick punishment for them. Horror movies would portray women as the victims unless they were shown to have masculine traits or characteristics, while men were the heroes or the killers. However, over the years, this has become less of a problem, as more horror movies are giving women the star role and are able to figure out how to beat the villain without help from their knight in shining armor.

    Something horror movies are heavily criticized for is racism and lack of representation of minorities. Many films have a pre-dominantly white cast and focus on developing only them, leaving the minorities to have little development throughout the film. They would only have a minor role to play, so nothing much is ever really expanded on them. For example, black male characters in a horror are mostly known for either being the best friend of the main character or for the presumed trope that they are likely to die first at the hands of the villain.