Redefining Horror

Kendall Eslinger

The desire of Redefining Horror is to positively bring in under-represented individuals into the horror film industry. Redefining Horror is a display of posters and a short video that depicts and reinvents horror movie character tropes.

I created my own character trope titled “The Baddie” to feature bimbo culture and powerful LGBTQ+ identities into the world of horror character tropes. People of color, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community do not have nearly as many impactful forms of representation as they deserve.

Most people don’t realize how little diversity there is in horror films due to few people being fans of horror. But that is why this issue needs to be brought to light. Horror films mainly focus on people in the film who are strong and capable, but if someone doesn’t see themselves represented in a horror film, or incorrectly represented, then it makes them less likely to watch other horror films. Diversity needs to be brought into horror films more often, and I believe altering (and creating) character tropes is a great place to start.

Watch Redefining Horror here!