Amelia Matczak
Professor Banas
Rosemary’s Baby
DUE 10.5.2017
The Devil’s Feminist Agenda
If you were to ask a horror film junkie, an atheist and a clinical psychologist what the true meaning of Rosemary’s Baby is, you are destined to get three very different answers. Largely, these different interpretations vary based on their belief in the reality or imagination of Satan during the film. Furthermore, if Rosemary’s child is truly the son of Satan, an allegory for human existence, or a representation of Rosemary’s dissent into postpartum depression. To me, Rosemary’s Baby is most certainly a film in the horror genre, but the scenes containing this so-called horrific material really cumulate at the very beginning and end of the film itself. This …show more content…
In Rosemary’s Baby, we not only see Rosemary being diminished by the men around her, but the entire world. The sci-fi and horror genres have been somewhat obsessed with human invasion weather is be with some new deadly virus, like in 28 Days Later, or with the invasion of an unwelcome spirit like the horror classic The Exorcist. The difference between these movies and Rosemary’s Baby is that while the characters in these other films had their fate chosen at random, Rosemary was hand selected by her husband and a satanic cult to be the host for the devil’s child. In this sense, it is as though Rosemary, or women as a whole, are selected by society to have their bodies owned by public …show more content…
Not only is her obstetrician fired against Rosemary’s wished, but her new doctor and husband completely ignore her wishes to take medication for the apparent uterine pain the pregnancy is causing her. Further, they refuse to agree that she is having pain during her pregnancy at all and, in fact, any time Rosemary makes attempts to see her cult-favoring doctor, Guy actually gets angry with her for claiming to have any pain at all. As a viewer, we know that pain is not only common during pregnancy, but the fact that the story uses a devil child allows the viewer to extrapolate how much pain she could possibly be in, and in this sense, the devil’s presence in the film facilitates the story’s allegory as we see Rosemary’s personal experiences being diminished by other characters in the film who could not possibly understand the physical pain she is going through, yet believe that they have the right to tell her how to
Professor Banas
Rosemary’s Baby
DUE 10.5.2017
The Devil’s Feminist Agenda
If you were to ask a horror film junkie, an atheist and a clinical psychologist what the true meaning of Rosemary’s Baby is, you are destined to get three very different answers. Largely, these different interpretations vary based on their belief in the reality or imagination of Satan during the film. Furthermore, if Rosemary’s child is truly the son of Satan, an allegory for human existence, or a representation of Rosemary’s dissent into postpartum depression. To me, Rosemary’s Baby is most certainly a film in the horror genre, but the scenes containing this so-called horrific material really cumulate at the very beginning and end of the film itself. This …show more content…
In Rosemary’s Baby, we not only see Rosemary being diminished by the men around her, but the entire world. The sci-fi and horror genres have been somewhat obsessed with human invasion weather is be with some new deadly virus, like in 28 Days Later, or with the invasion of an unwelcome spirit like the horror classic The Exorcist. The difference between these movies and Rosemary’s Baby is that while the characters in these other films had their fate chosen at random, Rosemary was hand selected by her husband and a satanic cult to be the host for the devil’s child. In this sense, it is as though Rosemary, or women as a whole, are selected by society to have their bodies owned by public …show more content…
Not only is her obstetrician fired against Rosemary’s wished, but her new doctor and husband completely ignore her wishes to take medication for the apparent uterine pain the pregnancy is causing her. Further, they refuse to agree that she is having pain during her pregnancy at all and, in fact, any time Rosemary makes attempts to see her cult-favoring doctor, Guy actually gets angry with her for claiming to have any pain at all. As a viewer, we know that pain is not only common during pregnancy, but the fact that the story uses a devil child allows the viewer to extrapolate how much pain she could possibly be in, and in this sense, the devil’s presence in the film facilitates the story’s allegory as we see Rosemary’s personal experiences being diminished by other characters in the film who could not possibly understand the physical pain she is going through, yet believe that they have the right to tell her how to