While I might prefer to fill my Netflix queue with lighthearted sitcoms and keep my nights free from any ghostly encounters, I can't help but appreciate how horror effectively pierces through our social masks, revealing the truths we often shield behind our rationales.
Pregnancy horror cuts to the heart of how women's bodies become public property where intimate medical choices are hijacked by lawmakers, religious groups, and social movements. When viewers watch a pregnant protagonist grow terror in her body, which becomes a battleground for control by others, many women recognize their own stories of feeling powerless, unheard and invaded.
In “Rosemary’s Baby,” Mia Farrow’s Rosemary is betrayed by the people who are supposed to be looking out for her. Her growing suspicions are met with condescending dismissal and gas-lighting from her doctors and husband. This scenario resonates with many women whose medical concerns have been overlooked or trivialized. The horror isn’t in the supernatural elements but in how easily a woman’s autonomy can be taken away by those in power.
"Apartment 7A" can be considered the spiritual prequel of "Rosemary's Baby," or vice versa, as they explore different elements of the pregnancy. Given the satanic determination Rosemary was subjected to, as soon as she saw an equipped doctor, she was in a moral awareness of the horror of evil. The notion of pregnancy as an act of authoritarianism expands the scope of discussion about reproductive rights across generations.
(A still from the Roe vs Wade protests)
This narrative feels relevant in light of the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. The 1973 Supreme Court decision that affirmed a woman's fundamental right to choose an abortion during her first trimester was reversed on June 24, 2022, by the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling. What was once a constitutional right now serves as a stark reminder that women's bodies remain contested ground, with others asserting their power to dictate their most intimate choices.
(A still from Prevenge)
Written and directed by Alice Lowe during her own pregnancy, the film's protagonist, Ruth, is compelled by her unborn daughter to commit murder. A mirror sequence where Ruth's unborn child speaks in different voices from innocent to sinister shows how pregnancy can break a woman's sense of self. Ruth’s violent journey, led by her unborn child, is provoked by casual assaults like unwelcome touches, patronising advice and workplace discrimination.
Here policy and cinema, both are thus in sync on the page that the personal experience of pregnancy is co-opted as a means of patronising, reducing women to the status of subjects who must grapple with the question of freedom and security.
Society forces horror into our burning eyes, makes it scream in our faces and then we express the fear back to them by turning that into flesh. Hence, if we observe the patterns, unsolicited surveillance is turning into a key theme for films that make pregnancy a horror show.
When a miraculous pregnancy occurs, the woman's body becomes a contested political territory. The humanity within and around a woman who is pregnant is dissolved in acid downpour of policy and skewed forms of doctrine. I believe that "Morality" is abused as a weapon against our fundamental right to choice.
Within the context of commerce, it is also important to talk about why certain subjects have been simultaneously portrayed through a lens that screams subjugation, why the autonomy of a woman’s body is more or less sold for power by the structures based on societal biases. The film industry's marketing strategies can either amplify or absolutely mute a film's social commentary, depending on its perceived commercial viability. Films that touch on reproductive rights might be marketed purely as horror or thriller pieces which downplay their political intentions to avoid controversy and maximize audience reach. And as we observe, this commercial calculation (or rather, the capitalisation of art and cause) can blur the impact of their social commentary.
This intersection of personal sovereignty and external control reflects a broader societal pattern which is that women’s bodies are constantly legislated, monitored and policed by institutions predominantly dominated by men. Horror in cinema both captures and evokes our terror while the question persists as to where the terror lies. Pregnancy horror taps into a tension that runs deeper than mere fright; it highlights the haunting paradox that a woman's body is both her most intimate possession and society's moral battleground.
The true monster isn't within their bodies, but in a system that seeks to claim ownership over them.
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