. FINAL GIRL THEORY

The "final girl" theory consists of a `plucky' female protagonist who fights all the way to the end of the narrative. The theory derived from  Carol J. Clover’s 1987 essay 'Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film,'-  later included by Clover in her hugely influential book"Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film" where final girls are named as the survivors of slasher/horror/sci-fi films. Also, the book looks at how the male gaze effects the final girl theory as well as contemplating on how subversion of this theory is rare in the film industry. The key point made is that male viewers who make up the majority of those who view slasher films cheer on both the victimisation of women and their triumphant kill the final stages of the narrative. The final girl theory therefore shows that both women can empathise with the heroin due to identification and men can both lust over through "male gaze"/voyeurism and admire the final girl for the protective and heroic "male like qualities" that she possess.