#ispitonyourgrave — Public Fediverse posts

Lastly, I want to look at the ending of the film.

After killing the last two rapists, Jennifer rides in the motorboat she stole from them into some unseen distance and the credits roll. This evokes the "riding off into the horizon" motif that so often follows a hero at the end of a movie. This conclusion declares she is a hero, like punctuation on a sentence.

But it is interesting that we aren't watching her from a distance as she disappears into the horizon. Instead, our gaze is fixed on her face. Her expression is ambiguous, but does suggest resolution and closure for her. One might also read some sense in which she had been changed and a loss of innocence, as she is no longer carrying what was once a carefree smile from the beginning of the film.

We are also literally being asked to look the survivor, and figuratively what she has been through, in the eyes. Much of this film demands a confrontation with the horrors of sexual violence and the recovery of survivors. And this does that too, not letting us being able to let it go and sail into the distance.

I think it also says something about the shape of her journey. She begins the film as a pretty, young woman, unmarked and unblemished. Following the sexual assault, she is injured, bloody, and covered in mud. During her recovery, we see her visually recovering too, with scars that take weeks to heal. But in this final scene, she is restored to wholeness and herself.

There is something ableist one can critique in this regarding what scarring and appearance is used to imply in cinema, but it does provide a certain visual symmetry: whole and independent --> injured, scarred, and having had her agency stripped from her --> once more whole and independent.

Her victory over these men is healing and restorative. And we as an audience who has followed the camera's demand to identify with her ride out on that boat too from this harrowing journey, powerful and restored.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

Lastly, I want to look at the ending of the film.

After killing the last two rapists, Jennifer rides in the motorboat she stole from them into some unseen distance and the credits roll. This evokes the "riding off into the horizon" motif that so often follows a hero at the end of a movie. This conclusion declares she is a hero, like punctuation on a sentence.

But it is interesting that we aren't watching her from a distance as she disappears into the horizon. Instead, our gaze is fixed on her face. Her expression is ambiguous, but does suggest resolution and closure for her. One might also read some sense in which she had been changed and a loss of innocence, as she is no longer carrying what was once a carefree smile from the beginning of the film.

We are also literally being asked to look the survivor, and figuratively what she has been through, in the eyes. Much of this film demands a confrontation with the horrors of sexual violence and the recovery of survivors. And this does that too, not letting us being able to let it go and sail into the distance.

I think it also says something about the shape of her journey. She begins the film as a pretty, young woman, unmarked and unblemished. Following the sexual assault, she is injured, bloody, and covered in mud. During her recovery, we see her visually recovering too, with scars that take weeks to heal. But in this final scene, she is restored to wholeness and herself.

There is something ableist one can critique in this regarding what scarring and appearance is used to imply in cinema, but it does provide a certain visual symmetry: whole and independent --> injured, scarred, and having had her agency stripped from her --> once more whole and independent.

Her victory over these men is healing and restorative. And we as an audience who has followed the camera's demand to identify with her ride out on that boat too from this harrowing journey, powerful and restored.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

Another aspect of this film that I find fascinating is the gaze that is employed by the camera. Many of the most famous horror movies of the 70s and 80s, as pointed out in "Men, Women, and Chainsaws," start with a male gaze (often that of a man who is a killer) and switch somewhere in middle to a female gaze (the final girl fighting to survive).

Think of "Halloween" (1978). In many parts of the first half of the movie, we find ourselves looking from the perspective of Michael Myers as he stalks his victims. Then we switch to being almost solely in the perspective of Laurie Strode as she is hunted and fights to survive his violence.

In "I Spit on Your Grave" (1978 - same year!), things are different. The camera is often looking at these perpetrators from Jennifer's perspective from the beginning. Before the SA, we first meet one of the men when he drops off a grocery order at the cabin for Jennifer. We see him from her perspective, leaning in just a bit too close at times, creating a sense of unease and discomfort. I think some people misinterpret these shots as being bad cinematography, but it honestly works really well for me. It visually represents to me the experience of being a woman with a man who is obliviously leaning in way too close and talking in ways that make me uncomfortable (the problematic aspect that it is the intellectually disabled character aside).

And many of the shots of Jennifer that take on a male gaze, like when the two men in the motorboat pass by and leer at her in a bikini, are actually contextualized in a way that I think makes it an indirect male gaze. Sometimes, she is looking at them first, and then we see how she might be seeing their gaze upon her. Or the shot of her from the male gaze is immediately followed by her looking at the man, almost like she suddenly realized how they might be seeing her. This is a technique that is not used often enough when dealing with the male gaze in film, and did not immediately occur to me until reflection on this film.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

Another aspect of this film that I find fascinating is the gaze that is employed by the camera. Many of the most famous horror movies of the 70s and 80s, as pointed out in "Men, Women, and Chainsaws," start with a male gaze (often that of a man who is a killer) and switch somewhere in middle to a female gaze (the final girl fighting to survive).

Think of "Halloween" (1978). In many parts of the first half of the movie, we find ourselves looking from the perspective of Michael Myers as he stalks his victims. Then we switch to being almost solely in the perspective of Laurie Strode as she is hunted and fights to survive his violence.

In "I Spit on Your Grave" (1978 - same year!), things are different. The camera is often looking at these perpetrators from Jennifer's perspective from the beginning. Before the SA, we first meet one of the men when he drops off a grocery order at the cabin for Jennifer. We see him from her perspective, leaning in just a bit too close at times, creating a sense of unease and discomfort. I think some people misinterpret these shots as being bad cinematography, but it honestly works really well for me. It visually represents to me the experience of being a woman with a man who is obliviously leaning in way too close and talking in ways that make me uncomfortable (the problematic aspect that it is the intellectually disabled character aside).

And many of the shots of Jennifer that take on a male gaze, like when the two men in the motorboat pass by and leer at her in a bikini, are actually contextualized in a way that I think makes it an indirect male gaze. Sometimes, she is looking at them first, and then we see how she might be seeing their gaze upon her. Or the shot of her from the male gaze is immediately followed by her looking at the man, almost like she suddenly realized how they might be seeing her. This is a technique that is not used often enough when dealing with the male gaze in film, and did not immediately occur to me until reflection on this film.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

By playing into the rape culture and misogyny of these perpetrators to kill them, the poetic justice of it all is even more pronounced. Their fatal flaw - their toxic masculinity and rape culture way of thinking - is what she uses to kill them.

It's worth noting that there is also an interesting difference here in this film versus many other women survivors in horror films. Often, the final girl or survivor takes their power and fights back by using a phallic symbol - a knife, a gun, a chainsaw, etc. Jennifer doesn't really. Heck, her tools are almost yonic (vulva-like).

Her first kill is done using a noose and hanging the perpetrator. A noose is literally a yonic shaped hole that she sticks the man's head through...very on point. 😅

The second man, while technically killed by a knife, is literally emasculated in a bathtub (which is yonic shaped) and bleeds out from his groin...almost a simile to bleeding during menstruation.

The last two kills...okay, those are more phallic, as she uses an axe and a motorboat. But by then, she has already claimed her own power.

So she reclaims her autonomy and power by exploiting the rape culture that oppresses her and destroying these rapists with dangerous vulvas and emasculation. There is something sadistically and viscerally satisfying in this extreme and almost campy form of poetic justice.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

By playing into the rape culture and misogyny of these perpetrators to kill them, the poetic justice of it all is even more pronounced. Their fatal flaw - their toxic masculinity and rape culture way of thinking - is what she uses to kill them.

It's worth noting that there is also an interesting difference here in this film versus many other women survivors in horror films. Often, the final girl or survivor takes their power and fights back by using a phallic symbol - a knife, a gun, a chainsaw, etc. Jennifer doesn't really. Heck, her tools are almost yonic (vulva-like).

Her first kill is done using a noose and hanging the perpetrator. A noose is literally a yonic shaped hole that she sticks the man's head through...very on point. 😅

The second man, while technically killed by a knife, is literally emasculated in a bathtub (which is yonic shaped) and bleeds out from his groin...almost a simile to bleeding during menstruation.

The last two kills...okay, those are more phallic, as she uses an axe and a motorboat. But by then, she has already claimed her own power.

So she reclaims her autonomy and power by exploiting the rape culture that oppresses her and destroying these rapists with dangerous vulvas and emasculation. There is something sadistically and viscerally satisfying in this extreme and almost campy form of poetic justice.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

Moving forward from all that, I want to talk about how Jennifer gets her revenge.

Often one of the most lasting impacts of sexual assault is that is an act that violates one's agency and autonomy over their own body and life. For those that support survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, one of our biggest guiding principles is supporting the survivor in their own agency. Restoring that sense of agency and autonomy over oneself is vital.

Additionally, in most countries, the criminal justice system and legal authorities do not serve survivors in seeking justice, accountability, or security. In fact, police and government officials are often rapists themselves, or have been complicit in enabling it and protecting perpetrators. So for survivors, we often have to go outside legal authorities and systems to restore our sense of agency and security in our lives. Murderous, vigilante vengeance is, more or less, the logical extreme of that.

It probably goes without saying, but for many women, and just anyone who is not a cis man right now, we are currently enduring an active assault by those in power upon our bodily autonomy, personal agency, and sense of security. As a trans woman, it's especially terrifying to have many of the most publicly frothing transphobes actively criminalizing our lives and bodies. So a genre like Rape-Revenge stories can be a deeply cathartic metaphor making this experience more immediately concrete and visceral, supporting us in our own sense of power and agency again.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

Moving forward from all that, I want to talk about how Jennifer gets her revenge.

Often one of the most lasting impacts of sexual assault is that is an act that violates one's agency and autonomy over their own body and life. For those that support survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, one of our biggest guiding principles is supporting the survivor in their own agency. Restoring that sense of agency and autonomy over oneself is vital.

Additionally, in most countries, the criminal justice system and legal authorities do not serve survivors in seeking justice, accountability, or security. In fact, police and government officials are often rapists themselves, or have been complicit in enabling it and protecting perpetrators. So for survivors, we often have to go outside legal authorities and systems to restore our sense of agency and security in our lives. Murderous, vigilante vengeance is, more or less, the logical extreme of that.

It probably goes without saying, but for many women, and just anyone who is not a cis man right now, we are currently enduring an active assault by those in power upon our bodily autonomy, personal agency, and sense of security. As a trans woman, it's especially terrifying to have many of the most publicly frothing transphobes actively criminalizing our lives and bodies. So a genre like Rape-Revenge stories can be a deeply cathartic metaphor making this experience more immediately concrete and visceral, supporting us in our own sense of power and agency again.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

Now, for probably the two most problematic aspects of how the perpetrators are depicted:

1) One of the perpetrators is an intellectually disabled man who is often bullied by the others using slurs, and is bullied into participating in the sexual assault. I have really conflicting feelings about this, as it reinforces a lot of tropes where disabled and neurodiverse people are depicted as dangerous and violent threats in horror cinema. Not to mention, it's not really an accurate portrayal, in my eyes, of any particular disability and I'm assuming there were no intellectually disabled people involved in portraying this character.

I honestly think the plot would be better served by having someone who is not intellectually disabled be bullied into and eventually participating in the violence. That is the role the character serves, showing how some men might not necessarily be wanting to engage in sexual assault themselves, but are all too easily able to become complicit in it.

2) There is a clear dichotomy of rural, working class people as dangerous and urban, educated, middle-class people as vulnerable innocents. This is a trope in horror cinema broadly (e.g. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, etc.). There is a certain verisimilitude to this depiction, as there really are creeps like this in the world, but this dichotomy is problematic as heck. Working class people are often more likely to victimized by violence and crime, as our criminal justice system is largely built to serve middle-class people, but it is far less common to see the reverse of this.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

Now, for probably the two most problematic aspects of how the perpetrators are depicted:

1) One of the perpetrators is an intellectually disabled man who is often bullied by the others using slurs, and is bullied into participating in the sexual assault. I have really conflicting feelings about this, as it reinforces a lot of tropes where disabled and neurodiverse people are depicted as dangerous and violent threats in horror cinema. Not to mention, it's not really an accurate portrayal, in my eyes, of any particular disability and I'm assuming there were no intellectually disabled people involved in portraying this character.

I honestly think the plot would be better served by having someone who is not intellectually disabled be bullied into and eventually participating in the violence. That is the role the character serves, showing how some men might not necessarily be wanting to engage in sexual assault themselves, but are all too easily able to become complicit in it.

2) There is a clear dichotomy of rural, working class people as dangerous and urban, educated, middle-class people as vulnerable innocents. This is a trope in horror cinema broadly (e.g. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, etc.). There is a certain verisimilitude to this depiction, as there really are creeps like this in the world, but this dichotomy is problematic as heck. Working class people are often more likely to victimized by violence and crime, as our criminal justice system is largely built to serve middle-class people, but it is far less common to see the reverse of this.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

I also want to discuss the way the rapists are depicted, because there are things that I both appreciate and think are extremely problematic about it.

A lot of times, rapists in movies and TV are depicted as basically total strangers. This feeds the copaganda narrative of those inherently evil and dangerous men, usually Black men or men of color, who women need other men to protect them from. This depiction is extremely misleading of what the real risks and who often are the real perpetrators of sexual assault.

The majority of sexual assaults are done by someone the victim knows. And A LOT of them are committed by white men and men that are believed by others to be "protectors" and "providers."

This is where the writing of the movie really works for me. The leader of the group of men is a small business owner and veteran who is married and has children. All four of them are white men. And Jennifer has met these men multiple times before the assault, one of whom she even calls a friend. This is far more realistic in who perpetrators of SA often are. These are the kinds of men I actually fear.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

I also want to discuss the way the rapists are depicted, because there are things that I both appreciate and think are extremely problematic about it.

A lot of times, rapists in movies and TV are depicted as basically total strangers. This feeds the copaganda narrative of those inherently evil and dangerous men, usually Black men or men of color, who women need other men to protect them from. This depiction is extremely misleading of what the real risks and who often are the real perpetrators of sexual assault.

The majority of sexual assaults are done by someone the victim knows. And A LOT of them are committed by white men and men that are believed by others to be "protectors" and "providers."

This is where the writing of the movie really works for me. The leader of the group of men is a small business owner and veteran who is married and has children. All four of them are white men. And Jennifer has met these men multiple times before the assault, one of whom she even calls a friend. This is far more realistic in who perpetrators of SA often are. These are the kinds of men I actually fear.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

This is part of what horror movies do for us. Part of the catharsis experience of horror is to simulate something we fear while we know in the back of our minds that we are safe because the thing behind the screens isn't actually happening. It's like a roller coaster or even kink in that way, allowing us to play with our fears while knowing we are actually safe.

For me, "I Spit On Your Grave" does that for me. I have encountered groups of men who have harassed me or made me feel unsafe, and known that I can't control or stop them if that group decides to overpower me and do violence to me. In one case, I was stalked down the street at night by two drunk men who had shouted transphobic and misogynistic sexual harassment at me. These scenes allowed me to ride through that sense of insecurity that sits inside me and let that fear play out while knowing I am actually safe, releasing the tension of that insecurity.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

This is part of what horror movies do for us. Part of the catharsis experience of horror is to simulate something we fear while we know in the back of our minds that we are safe because the thing behind the screens isn't actually happening. It's like a roller coaster or even kink in that way, allowing us to play with our fears while knowing we are actually safe.

For me, "I Spit On Your Grave" does that for me. I have encountered groups of men who have harassed me or made me feel unsafe, and known that I can't control or stop them if that group decides to overpower me and do violence to me. In one case, I was stalked down the street at night by two drunk men who had shouted transphobic and misogynistic sexual harassment at me. These scenes allowed me to ride through that sense of insecurity that sits inside me and let that fear play out while knowing I am actually safe, releasing the tension of that insecurity.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

The first thing I want to talk about is how the initial abduction and sexual assault is depicted.

Jennifer is relaxing by herself in a canoe on the lake. She is in a bikini, just trying to enjoy some peace in nature as she takes in the summer sun. Two of the men approach her on a motorboat. I would describe them as being depicted as "good ol' boys" who are often "boys being boys" despite both clearly being grown-ass men. They speed up on her, piloting the boat in circles around her canoe, causing it toss and turn in the waves. While hooting and hollering, they start harassing her while circling.

She screams at them to leave her alone, and even swings her canoe paddle at them, trying to scare them off. To these men, this is all fun and games, while she is clearly frightened. They grab the rope at the front of the boat that's used to tie it up to the dock at the cabin, and speed off dragging her in her canoe far away from the cabin.

This, for me, is the core of the fear of the movie. Growing up in the Midwest, I have known boys and men that act like they are "just having a little fun" and playing around as they harass a girl or woman. Often, the woman in question is scared and does not share the feeling that this is "just a prank." And this film depicts what the real fear of those moments is: what if these men don't stop there? Literally, what is the worst that could happen?

And this movie takes us there. I think this part of the reason a lot of men describe this movie as awful - they are uncomfortable because they are relating to these men and are seeing what the violence is that is implied in their "just boys being boys" behavior is.

They drag Jennifer out into the woods from there, and while she kicks and screams, and begs for them to stop, they rip off her clothes, they hit her, and they rape her multiple times. They then leave her beaten and scarred in the dirty, grimy lake. She has to stumble back to the cabin severely injured, bleeding, and covered in muck and dirt. This scene is harrowing and if you identify with the woman in the scene, it is taking you through that fear.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

The first thing I want to talk about is how the initial abduction and sexual assault is depicted.

Jennifer is relaxing by herself in a canoe on the lake. She is in a bikini, just trying to enjoy some peace in nature as she takes in the summer sun. Two of the men approach her on a motorboat. I would describe them as being depicted as "good ol' boys" who are often "boys being boys" despite both clearly being grown-ass men. They speed up on her, piloting the boat in circles around her canoe, causing it toss and turn in the waves. While hooting and hollering, they start harassing her while circling.

She screams at them to leave her alone, and even swings her canoe paddle at them, trying to scare them off. To these men, this is all fun and games, while she is clearly frightened. They grab the rope at the front of the boat that's used to tie it up to the dock at the cabin, and speed off dragging her in her canoe far away from the cabin.

This, for me, is the core of the fear of the movie. Growing up in the Midwest, I have known boys and men that act like they are "just having a little fun" and playing around as they harass a girl or woman. Often, the woman in question is scared and does not share the feeling that this is "just a prank." And this film depicts what the real fear of those moments is: what if these men don't stop there? Literally, what is the worst that could happen?

And this movie takes us there. I think this part of the reason a lot of men describe this movie as awful - they are uncomfortable because they are relating to these men and are seeing what the violence is that is implied in their "just boys being boys" behavior is.

They drag Jennifer out into the woods from there, and while she kicks and screams, and begs for them to stop, they rip off her clothes, they hit her, and they rape her multiple times. They then leave her beaten and scarred in the dirty, grimy lake. She has to stumble back to the cabin severely injured, bleeding, and covered in muck and dirt. This scene is harrowing and if you identify with the woman in the scene, it is taking you through that fear.

#FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick #ISpitOnYourGrave

For those that have never seen the film, here's the TLDR: Jennifer Hills is a writer from NYC that goes to a cabin by the lake to work on her novel. She is then targeted, abducted, and violently sexually assaulted by four men in the woods. She is left out there at first, and struggles her way back to the cabin. The four men decide to go to the cabin too, raping her again, and leave, expecting one of them to kill her. He pretends to kill her, but is unable to, and she is left for dead.

We then watch her painful and slow recovery. She is spotted by some of the men one day while she is still recovering, and she decides then what she is going to do: kill them. She lures one of them out to the cabin, pretends she wants to have sex with him again, and hangs him. She does this again with another one, cutting off his penis in the bathtub and listening to him die slowly over classical music. Lastly, she finds the two who first abducted her and murders them using their own motorboat they used in the abduction.

The original version of the film does not flinch away from simulating and depicting both the first and second sexual assaults. And in my opinion, it depicts it as violent and horrific, with Jennifer clearly being in fear, pain, and attempting to resist.

#ISpitOnYourGrave #FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick

For those that have never seen the film, here's the TLDR: Jennifer Hills is a writer from NYC that goes to a cabin by the lake to work on her novel. She is then targeted, abducted, and violently sexually assaulted by four men in the woods. She is left out there at first, and struggles her way back to the cabin. The four men decide to go to the cabin too, raping her again, and leave, expecting one of them to kill her. He pretends to kill her, but is unable to, and she is left for dead.

We then watch her painful and slow recovery. She is spotted by some of the men one day while she is still recovering, and she decides then what she is going to do: kill them. She lures one of them out to the cabin, pretends she wants to have sex with him again, and hangs him. She does this again with another one, cutting off his penis in the bathtub and listening to him die slowly over classical music. Lastly, she finds the two who first abducted her and murders them using their own motorboat they used in the abduction.

The original version of the film does not flinch away from simulating and depicting both the first and second sexual assaults. And in my opinion, it depicts it as violent and horrific, with Jennifer clearly being in fear, pain, and attempting to resist.

#ISpitOnYourGrave #FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick

I do want to say up front: If you do not like this movie or hate it, that's okay. If you are a survivor and never want to see it or despise it, that makes a heck of a lot of sense. That said, I want to note that there are survivors who have talked about why this movie is important to them, like BJ Colangelo (https://www.fangoria.com/problematic-films-in-defense-of-i-spit-on-your-grave/).

I also want to note: there are some shitfuckers out there who like this movie and others for exactly the wrong reasons. There are vile people out there who get off on seeing violence done to women. I wouldn't mind if those awful creeps met a real life Jennifer Hills.

I also share some criticisms many do, especially of the original uncut version. I think it does spend too much time on depicting some of rape scenes, in a way that I think enables some of the worst ways of viewing the film. Not to mention, there's very complicated ethics to depicting sexual assault on film, and it's easy to stray over the line onto the wrong side of it.

All that said, here's why I actually like this movie and what it says to me.

#ISpitOnYourGrave #FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlicks

I do want to say up front: If you do not like this movie or hate it, that's okay. If you are a survivor and never want to see it or despise it, that makes a heck of a lot of sense. That said, I want to note that there are survivors who have talked about why this movie is important to them, like BJ Colangelo (https://www.fangoria.com/problematic-films-in-defense-of-i-spit-on-your-grave/).

I also want to note: there are some shitfuckers out there who like this movie and others for exactly the wrong reasons. There are vile people out there who get off on seeing violence done to women. I wouldn't mind if those awful creeps met a real life Jennifer Hills.

I also share some criticisms many do, especially of the original uncut version. I think it does spend too much time on depicting some of rape scenes, in a way that I think enables some of the worst ways of viewing the film. Not to mention, there's very complicated ethics to depicting sexual assault on film, and it's easy to stray over the line onto the wrong side of it.

All that said, here's why I actually like this movie and what it says to me.

#ISpitOnYourGrave #FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlicks

When you think of the #FemRevengeFlick (often called the "Rape Revenge" exploitation subgenre), what is probably the movie that most comes to mind as the classic example of the genre?

"I Spit on Your Grave" (1978) is the one that comes to my mind first and foremost.

In case you don't know, this movie is has a long history of controversy and censorship due to the uncut version having many long depictions of rape. Depending on the version you see, this may be so heavily edited that almost none of the actual sexual assault is seen, or you might see a clear simulation of multiple acts of rape by multiple people.

When it was first released, it was heavily opposed by feminists and others for these depictions of rape, with the assumption that it was glorifying or celebrating the sexual assault. Heck, looking up reviews today, there sure are a lot of folks calling it trash and filth and awful.

The thing that strikes me though is that the reviewers who despise it most often seem to be men, such as Roger Ebert famously calling it "a vile bag of garbage." Meanwhile, there are many women, femmes, and non-binary people who love it, with references in songs like Zand's "I Spit on Your Grave" (https://youtu.be/8s7blmZXUiI?si=Zw2Z01l9642jlZnq).

I am one of those women who love this movie.

#ISpitOnYourGrave #FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick

When you think of the #FemRevengeFlick (often called the "Rape Revenge" exploitation subgenre), what is probably the movie that most comes to mind as the classic example of the genre?

"I Spit on Your Grave" (1978) is the one that comes to my mind first and foremost.

In case you don't know, this movie is has a long history of controversy and censorship due to the uncut version having many long depictions of rape. Depending on the version you see, this may be so heavily edited that almost none of the actual sexual assault is seen, or you might see a clear simulation of multiple acts of rape by multiple people.

When it was first released, it was heavily opposed by feminists and others for these depictions of rape, with the assumption that it was glorifying or celebrating the sexual assault. Heck, looking up reviews today, there sure are a lot of folks calling it trash and filth and awful.

The thing that strikes me though is that the reviewers who despise it most often seem to be men, such as Roger Ebert famously calling it "a vile bag of garbage." Meanwhile, there are many women, femmes, and non-binary people who love it, with references in songs like Zand's "I Spit on Your Grave" (https://youtu.be/8s7blmZXUiI?si=Zw2Z01l9642jlZnq).

I am one of those women who love this movie.

#ISpitOnYourGrave #FemRevenge #FemRevengeFlick