DOTD (2004) Third Image Analysis

 

This image is one of the last shots we see from Dawn Of The Dead (2004). Here we have Ana, the final girl looking back from the boat to the destruction they’ve escaped from. Ana is foreseen to have a tomboy, slightly hardened personality. She is blonde, however has her hair tied back so suggests she is not the stereotypical blonde, hopeless character normally seen in horror films. Ana is a nurse and we clearly see this through her intelligence and caring nature. She is also connoted as a tough character, proven when she recovers well after the gruesome death of her husband at the beginning of the film. She is very focussed on survival and can definitely fend for herself when she confidently uses a gun to shoot Steve. Her intelligence is demonstrated when she is the first to figure out that the bites spread the virus but her kind heart appears when she is compassionate about Frank and the situation. She is an authoritative figure and the voice of reason when she cleverly stands up to Michael, Steve and Kenneth. In comparison to Fran in the original DOTD (1979), Ana is a lot tougher, for example when she is threatened with a gun she exclaims “Get that gun out of my face” whereas Fran would not have had the backbone to defend herself so assuredly.

Since 1979 there has been a big rise in feminism and horror embraces the strength of women by having positive, strong female leading characters, such as Ripley in Alien (1979). The horror genre is very forward-thinking in terms of characterisation, strong women and black heroes would have not have been received so well in the 60’s and 70’s. In 1968 when Night Of The Living Dead was released in drive-in cinemas, the film was often greeted by racial abuse in the southern states of America. This image clearly has patriotic resemblance with the American flag in the foreground, showing that America is very proud of their country and Zack Snyder – the director – also wanted to show the brilliance of the country by placing many not so subtle iconic hints in throughout the film. It also connotes freedom and mainstream action horrors are very pro America. They often reflect the audience they are trying to attract showing the vital importance of historical context. Janet Staiger is a critic who obsessed over this and explains it in her book “Interpreting films” 1992.