How does the character of Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) in "The Ring" (2002) subvert or convert to past heroines or heroes in the horror genre?

David Filmer 7072

Med 5 Coursework 16339

How does the character of Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) in “The Ring” (2002) subvert or convert to past heroines or heroes in the horror genre?

In 2002, we saw a new film hit the screens by Dreamworks called “The Ring” directed by Gore Verbinski (“The Mexican” 2000 and “Mousehunt” 1998). The film has a complex plotline in which a mysterious videotape is watched by a pair of teenage girls (a scene reminiscing that of the opening of Scream). After watching the tape the plot takes one of the girls into a mental institution and the other to mysteriously die. The tape eventually makes it into the hands of Rachel Keller, (Naomi Watts) a single mother and her young son, Aidan, who throughout the film has a special bond with to what ends up to be the killer. Rachel is a reporter and begins an investigation to what happened to the two girls (one of the girls happens to be Rachel’s niece). Rachel finds herself slipping down a very slippery slope as she soon discovers that others who had seen the tape had only lived for 7 days after seeing the dark images displayed. The tape turns out to be the summit of a giant mystery that will bring Rachel and the people she cares about to the brink of death. What kind of power is housed within the tape? What are the secrets surrounding the tape? And how can it be stopped?

“The Ring” is a nail biter from the opening frame. It is a roller coaster for the mind that doesn’t let go until every pinpointed detail is revealed. I loved the feeling of this movie as it plays with your mind as the cleverly conceived plot unfolds. The film isn’t afraid to slowly release detail after detail very carefully and methodically. A lot of films these days tend to bash us over the head with a shock ending or gross-fest but this film is too clever for either movie invention.

The film is a remake of a 1998 Japanese horror film called “Ringu” which I have not seen yet and I am sure that this version will the be the first time Western audiences are exposed to this sort of psychological horror. If anything it may help Western audiences to look more closely at Japanese horror, or at least open our eyes to the possibility.

Moving on from this I am going to tackle issues that have arose throughout the film about the character of Rachel Keller and to whether she is a generic convention of a heroine like character in the horror genre. By doing this I will use past films so that a conclusion and decision can be made. Films that I will be including in my textual analysis and evaluation of Rachel are: “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (Dir. Tobe Hooper-1974), “Scream” (Dir. Wes Craven-1996) and “Halloween” (Dir. John Carpenter-1978). All of these will be compared in detail with characters being analysed along without the similarities and differences in the characters of the chosen films. I will also be referring to the Prop’s narrative throughout the essay to aid me with my final conclusion.

We first meet Rachel after the first chapter of the film. These first few scenes are dedicated to two girls who are talking about the tape and they set the plotline for the whole movie by doing this. After one of the girl’s dies (or is attacked not known because of what we see), there is a sharp jump cut along with a high disorientating sound to a young child all-alone with his teacher. The camera then follows a voice down the corridor swearing and cursing at somebody on her phone. This voice belongs to Rachel Keller and this is the first shot we see of her as she uses the word “Shit”. By saying this, along with the fact that she has to pick up the boy (later find out to be her son, Aiden) up later than expected, the audience can tell that this women lives a hard working life, busy in all areas and may get the feeling that she has no love interest because there is no father figure type to help out. This point is enhanced when Rachel and Aiden’s teacher take a minute to discus Aiden at his current stage in life. Aiden’s teacher says “Certainly is very independent isn’t he?” Again this is done deliberately to show that Aiden has to do a lot of things for himself rather than the mother providing for his every need. Now making my first point relating back to the question, the female characters in the three films in which I am going to relate this to, (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “Scream” and “Halloween”), all three of the main characters aren’t so independent as her, they certainly do not have the responsibility level that Rachel seems to have. Again the age is different, Sally, Sidney and Laurie are all roughly around the same age, 18, whereas Rachel seems to be entering her late 20’s. This subverts one of the conventions that we have been accustomed to. Another point, which I consider to be a big factor, is the fact that Rachel is more alone than any of the others. Laurie has some friends in which she socialises with, while Sally and Sidney are popular and in a large group, but with Rachel, we don’t seem to learn much about her personal life away from work, Aiden and then later on Noah. She seems to want to keep herself to herself.

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After the opening scene with the schoolteacher and Rachel, we see a clear defiant gap between Rachel and Aiden. This is shown when Rachel is saying goodnight to her son, but Aiden replies “Good night Rachel”, where as the obvious reply would be “Good night Mum”. So there is a bridge in the relationship of these two characters, it may be that Rachel does not take enough interest in what her son does and doesn’t do. Again may be subversion to typical horror genre female lead women. What I mean by this is that all of the other horror films in which I am comparing this to, the main lead role is played by a popular character, who no one seems to have a large problem with. Comparing this with Rachel, there is a mountable gap from her, as we do not find out about her social life. We do however find out that she has a close friend in the shape of Noah (Martin Henderson). Putting this all together, could this be another subvert?

Moving on from this scene, the next point of the film again show’s Aiden to be the dependant and organised one where as Rachel seems to be all over the place. Aiden is comfortably getting ready to go to his cousin’s funeral (the girl who was the first victim of the tape) while Rachel is struggling to find clothes etc. This however does not fit with the stereotypical women heroine as in “Scream”, “Halloween” and “TCM”, the women characters, how ever close they are to their friends, are very independent and reliant on themselves.

At the funeral scene, we get a closer look at some of Rachel’s family, something that again in a convention in horror films. As before and in the past in films such as “Scream”, we get to meet one or two of the family, in this case Sidney’s father. In “The Ring”, we meet Rachel’s sister, along with brother in law, the parents of Katie, the first victim of the tape. By meeting the sister, we find out more about Rachel as a person, about her job, and so forth. When Rachel goes outside for a cigarette we find out that she is using her job along with social skills to gain information about the recent events. Telen, a male character who is also outside, seems to give information about the tape, which leads Rachel into the rabbit hole. She can’t leave the subject alone, making her more and more involved. This is a subversion with women role characters in the genre, as they want to get away from where the danger lies, Rachel seems intrigued in embedding herself to gain information. Rachel then finds out that Katie had a boyfriend, Josh, who we later find out from Telen, is now dead, dead on the same night as Katie making Rachel seem like she ahs to be the one that solves the mystery! Again a subverted scene to that of conventional horror genres due to the fact that Sidney, Sally and Laurie all want away from the danger as I have mentioned. This backed up with some eerie music, creates and sets the atmosphere for what they just found out.

The next scene shows us the first part that follows the standard “Props Narrative”, the journey. This is not conventional for the main women characters in the horror genre. Sally at the start of “TCM” however travels with her friends before stopping to pick up the estranged hitchhiker. But with “Scream” and “Halloween”, there is no attempt what so ever of a journey by Laurie of Sidney. Pending of which way you look at it, this could or could not be a convention or subversion to the genre. When Rachel reaches her destination and watches the so-called “death tape”, we see the first real strong convention of a female character. Although in “Scream”, “TCM” and “Halloween”, all three females survive, they look edgy throughout where as up to this point, Rachel has given off a positive representation of women until the phone rings. Rachel shakes, looks scared, runs out of the cabin and all thought she has just been told she’s got seven days to live, she follows the convention exactly!

On screen titling is used in the next scene to show the time scale, “Thursday, Day 1” is used to show where about we are in the film. As Aiden is walking to school, he bumps into a strange man in the street; they make eye contact but walk on. We later find out that this man is what I think is the closest person bar Aiden in Rachel’s life, Noah. The shot cuts to Rachel opening the door and here we get the first shot of Noah’s face in a complete portrait. This could relate to Props narrative in which the hero/heroine has a helper, in this case Noah. Noah and Rachel play around with the camera, another detail in which leads to the secret behind the tape. When Noah mentions the tape, we see Rachel again shown in a negative representation of women, shaky, nervous looking, and the clothes and make up she is wearing makes her to look like she is a weary position. But we know what power possesses in the tape at the moment, and Rachel seems to know a fair deal now, and she still lets Noah watch it. She seems to give in and again this does not show a positive representation. But after this we find out a small part of Rachel’s past showing her in what I think, the most positive we see in the whole film. Rachel asks the question of whether she is “gullible, and easily rattled” to which Noah replies “no” to both. Rachel then starts to unravel some more of the story line, in which she wants to find out where the tape came from, and who made it.

So relating back to the question, so far through the duration of the film, I feel that we have quite an even balance to whether the character of Rachel is subverting or converting to the conventional heroine which is quite interesting.

Rachel shows her strong character (subversion again) in the opening of the next scene in which she wants to go deeper into the mystery of the tape. Rachel then goes to Noah for some more aid, a convention for women roles by turning for help, whether it be the police like with Sidney in “Scream”. We then see Rachel smile for the first time in the film, when she tries to adjust the picture on the screen; she hurts herself but laughs at it. This is contrasted when Noah’s flat mate (maybe a love interest to Noah resulting in rivalry) breaks the moulded laugh, which turns into an awkward introduction between Rachel and Beth.

Rachel then goes to see Bekka, the teenage that appeared in the opening scene of the film with the victim Katie. Bekka is in a mental home. This again could be shown as following Props narrative due to the fact that Rachel is asking for assistance. Rachel again persists to find more out about the tape and has left the job issue alone and is now, I think, doing it on her personal behalf. For two solid chapters, it shows Rachel’s true determination into the thorough research in which she completes. Subverted to all other films as none of the female roles tackle the issue face on and want to defeat it. They run from the horror that is after them, but all defeat it in the end but because they are trapped into a situation in which they have to, whereas Rachel chooses to confront the evil.

Aiden, who has been hidden in the past scenes, appears again here and we have a turn in the plotline in which Aiden watches the tape. Rachel is horrifies but like in conventional films, she does not give up and again tackles the issue. This is another subversion of the stereotypical women horror genre heroine.

We can see Rachel’s clear emotion, which actually strengthens the bond between her and Aiden. But she is very vulnerable and freaks out when the phone rings. This is very stereotypical and conventional but I do not think that she could act or be portrayed in any other way. This is also the point in which Noah, tells Rachel that he believes in what may happen to him. We also find out here that Noah is Aidens father, a key moment in the film I feel because there has been no such mention of this before.

The scenes then jump cuts to another convention by using Props narrative as we see a journey taking place once again. This time it is Rachel travelling to the island in which she was researching. So in sense this isn’t in fact converting to a typical women role, but the storyline is. There is also some good uses of images here, where we see the camera panning across following Rachel’s vehicle across a bridge while the images of the destination “Staten Island” and “Anna and Richard Morgan”, people that both appeared on the tape are displayed faintly over the screen. As Rachel is on the boat towards the island, we see her find more and more information out about the tape, and find out that Anna and Richard have a daughter named “Samara”. Again by getting herself more and more involved out of choice, we can take this as subversion to the stereotypical character. But then we see Rachel do the conventional thing and go to where the danger lies, a good example of this is in the film “The Evil Dead” (1981-Dir. Sam Raimi) in which a female character of Cheryl walks into the woods after hearing noises there. Typical stereotypes are now seen in the genre more and more.

This particular quote was taken from a website I found and identifies the way women are portrayed in the media at the present time;

“In today’s ever diversifying society one detrimental problem that remains is that of stereotypes and biases. Do the people in our country need to see more negative portrayals than they already are? Within certain types of media, minorities and women are often times portrayed negatively. Aside from the characters in the television shows, products being advertised will also be evaluated. Often times an advertising company will choose a target audience and present the goods in a specific style, meaning the company will choose different age brackets, background voices, and special effects. Most importantly, the effect these shows have on children will be discussed. Children look at television characters as role models, and this research paper will test these programs to see if integrity and proper moral standards are displayed.”

As Rachel enters the house she finds more and more clues out about the tape and the mysteries that lie behind it. Once she leaves the house, she goes to see to what seems to be an informant. This again relates back to Props narrative. Up to now we have seen no on screen violence but only the thoughts that are playing around in our heads. Richard Morgan, who seems to be the source behind the strange mishaps, hits Rachel as she falls to the ground. We see the women to be the weaker of the two genders here, and the victim shot from above Rachel is also used to show her in the weaker role.

We then see Richard kill himself, Rachel tries to stop him but he overpowers her and does it any way. Again pending from what angle you look at this from, this could be shown as being weaker because Richard won the argument! We then see Noah coming to Rachel’s aid; again by supporting her, this plays on the convention. Using an example, this is much like in “The Evil Dead”, in which Cheryl is always screaming “Ash”, for him to come to her aid.

We then see the plotline return to the “Shelter Mountain Inn”, the place where we have re-visited many times, this seems to be one of the places that the danger lays and yet Rachel seems persistence on not leaving the subject alone. This is extremely different to the past films in the genre, in which the characters have run from the slightest hint of danger, most falling over while running! This is classic in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” in where Sally just cant seem to get away. We don’t see this with Rachel; we don’t see her running from the evil but wanting to break it in order to survive. This is subverted because it is out of choice and she is not made to do it. This represents her and women in a positive way as well by doing this.

We then see Rachel; weak again as she falls down the well but this is where I feel the plotline, as well as Rachel’s character takes a turn to the more positive representation. Rachel confronts and gets inside the evil in what seems to be Samara and faces her face to face and does not freak out like conventional, but talks to her and breaks her down. From this Rachel releases that all Samara wanted was to be loved, and I think that subverts all past characters, and shows Rachel is such a positive representation and light. This portrays Rachel not only as a strong person but as a mother as well, because she can relate to the child’s needs.

We then find ourselves near the end in which Noah is finally killed by Samara and the spirit of the tape. Rachel tries to stop this all happening but is unfortunate and too late. We see that she cannot save her friend from being killed, showing her as slightly weaker once again, may be a subvert? She does not have the strength either to tell Noah’s roommate and lets her find him in his state by herself.

When Rachel returns to her apartment, we see her break down, but also because of the state she is in, finally solve what is the mystery. By copying the tape, you are freeing her more and saving yourself. This again shows Rachel in a positive light and represents her as a strong-minded character.

So in conclusion to my main question of “How does the character of Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) in “The Ring” (2002) subvert or convert to past heroines or heroes in the horror genre, I believe that we have a balance of both sides of the argument in which I have clearly shown above. I feel that conventions are in place because that is what the audience expects and has grown to be accustomed to. If these were completely taken away I feel that the film would not make sense, change the audiences opinions, and that’s not forgetting what the critics would say! So, “Scream”, “Halloween” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, all play with conventions but do not really change them, whereas Rachel Keller, along with “The Ring”, play with the audiences expectations and change them ever so slightly. I mean throughout the film we think Rachel will be killed by the evil in Samara but she doesn’t and not only that she defeats it. I believe that “The Ring” was such a cleaver film, unraveling every single detail at the exact correct moment. “The Ring 2” is current in pre-production development also starring Naomi Watts and is sure to be a blockbuster hit.