Author: ResearchGate

Abstract: »The index to the 2018 VideoHound Guide to Films suggests that under the broad heading of “revenge” there have been something in excess of 1000 films. This appears to be the largest category in this comprehensive guide and suggests that this is, indeed, a theme which permeates the most infuential sector of popular culture. These films range from infuential and lauded films with major directors and stars like John Ford (The Searchers (1956) and Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant (2015)) to “straight to video” gorefests with little artistic merit and a specifc target audience (The Hills Have Eyes (1977)). There is, as the Film Guide numbers suggest much in between like Straw Dogs (1972) and Outrage (1993). The making and re-making of “revenge” films continues with contributions in 2018 from such major stars as Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 2 and Brue Willis in Death Wish. Within this body of flm is a roster of films which allow us to speculate on the nature of the legal system and what individual and to a lesser extent community responses are likely where there appears to be a defcit of justice. One of the sub-groups within the revenge roster is a set of films which focus on revenge by the victim for rape which are discussed for their rather diferent approach to the issue of justice. Most unusually, the award winning film Elle (2016) has been described as a “rape revenge comedy”. Given the thriving nature of the overall sub-genre this causes pause for thought and justifes a closer look at what seems unlikely in an era of enhanced awareness of the trauma and damage of this kind of brutal criminality. This essay seeks to examine this flm and locate it within the wider world of revenge films, notions of justice and assess it in context.« (Source: International Journal of Semiotic Law)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. 69)
	1 Revenge, Justice and the Law (p. 70)
		1. Revenge and the Individual (p. 72)
			a. The Essence of Individual Revenge—the Vigilante (p. 73)
			b. The Creation of “Legality” and the “Collectivist Vigilante” (p. 74)
			c. The Modern Vigilante Revenge Film Assessed (p. 74)
			d. The Revenge Dilemma in the Vigilante Film (p. 76)
		2. Rape Revenge Films (p. 78)
			a. Changing the Tone? (p. 81)
			b. Rape-revenge Comedy (p. 82)
			c. Reading a Film with Muted Emotions and Reactions to Rape (p. 83)
			d. Assessing the Film in the Light of Its Literary Inspiration (p. 84)
			e. Literary Perspectives (p. 86)
	2 Conclusion (p. 87)

Wikipedia: History of the Americas: History of the United States | Film: Rape and revenge | Law: Sex and the law: Rape / Rape in the United States | Vigilantism / Revenge