Eden Lake Representation of Gender

and Class

Eden Lake is a horror film that follows the story of a

couple Jenny (Kelly Reilly) and Steve (Michael

Fassbender) who go to the lakeside to enjoy a

romantic weekender together. However things take

a turn when they are encountered with bunch of

rebellious teens. Matters worsen as the film goes n

and circumstances become horrific between the

couple and the group of hooligan teenagers, Steve is left dead and Jenny has to survive till the end.

Steve

The boyfriend Steve is seen as the quintessential ‘perfect man’ with a healthy relationship, good looks and

well-paid job shown by the Land Rover he drives a long with a funny personality shown in his relationship with

Jenny. As the main male character and a boyfriend Steve dos not show his sensitivity and manliness his

masculinity a lot of time. This is shown when Jenny mocks Steve abut not using a Sat Nav but he is manliness is

shown when the group of teens cycle through a red light disturbing his driving but also when they are playing

loud music on the beach side disturbing the couple. The manly aggressive attitude shown by Steve is a way for

him to protect his masculinity but also show his girlfriend jenny that he is tough and can please her by standing

up to the group of teenagers. This does not take a good turn for Steve in the movie as it continues.

In contrast to this strong masculinity, Steve’s behaviour changes as he movie take a dark turn and when he is

tortured and beaten his masculinity suffers the same fate. We see Steve crying due to the torture and

desperation to be free. This emphasises the fear and sensitivity that he had been hiding from Jenny at the start.

Jenny

Jenny character is seen as a caring, loving primary school teacher who like Steve also has chilled

personality. On the other hand she is also seen as naïve and gullible person when she befriends a

little boy Adam thinking he will help her when the film takes a bad turn but in fact he bring her

forward to the gang members who are torturing Steve. When this happens Jenny is able to flee

the area leaving Adam behind and watching the gang burns him to death. From here we see a

flip in Jenny she is no longer a simple and naïve characters but now she is a survivor. Steve and

Jenny are seen as the stereotypical middle class couple happily in love and stable jobs. However

the next character development of Jenny is when she has to hide herself in a bin filled with

disgusting garbage in which she is seen as extremely dirty, this wipes away the middle class

representation as she has now become someone desperate to survive. Jenny grows more

masculine and tougher when she has to forcibly endure pain on herself when taking a nail out

her foot from it being jammed whilst she was running to survive. Jenny is seen as a maternal

figure in the film as she is a primary school teacher therefore we would think she would feel

sympathy for the kids being led by the gang member but no as this is contradicted when Jenny

stabs a member of the gang Connor to avenge her boyfriend’s death. Finally Jenny is able to

escape from the woods in a stolen van whilst on her way she sees Paige the only female member

in the gang and does not hesitate to run her over. This emphasised the transformation of Jenny

as she now is a killer, but only for the sake of saving her own life.

Class

Class is a very apparent theme throughout the movie, the main one being the contrast between the middle class (Steve and Jenny) and the

lower class, the residents and local people living in the area of Eden Lake. The film also highlights the superiority that the middle class think

they have over lower classes. This is shown when the teenagers cross a red lights and Steve gets angry but then he does the s ame showing that

middle class values themselves as being more able to do things that may not be right because they have more right over other classes. This is

further evoked when the teenagers are disturbing Steve and Jenny on the beach. Steve is mocking of the way they speak and their accents. The

lower class are portrayed in an extremely stereotypical manner: the pub owner is shown as being vastly sexist, the mothers are shouting at

their children and the father who exclaims “not my kids!” not believing any accusations against his kids. Also the representation of teenagers

being unruly hooligans with nothing better to do then go around torturing people is extremely troubling as a society believes this is what youth

representation is about.