History’s justification of oppression and its ties with Cabin in the Woods

In the film Cabin in the Woods, the fear caused by the Ancient Ones forces the lab

workers to reduce the college students as monstrous beings; which ties into the justification of

oppression minorities experienced described by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s thesis IV: The Monster

Dwells at the Gates of Difference. In his thesis Cohen describes how peoples such as Jews,

Muslims and aboriginals have been falsely portrayed as monsters, cannibals and disease carriers

by their oppressors due to their different racial and cultural views (Cohen 8-9). In the film, the

five students are not referred to by their names by the lab workers but rather by stereotypical

nicknames despite Jules, the “whore,” being a med student (Cabin in the Woods 17:30-17:36) or

Marty, the “fool,” arguably being the smartest in the group and the first to be skeptical of the

cabin since when the group goes down into the basement and Dana begins to read Patience

Buckner’s diary (Cabin in the Woods 29:30-32:30). As Cohen mentioned with historical

evidence, it is easier for the technicians in the film to reduce the group’s humanity and sacrifice

them because of “humility and fear,” (Cabin in the Woods 43:17-43:25) as Sitterson says, after

Jules is killed. Hadley and Sitterson find entertainment in their jobs by turning the ritual into an

interactive-like movie and calling it the “greatest show on earth” (Cabin in the Woods 51:10-

51:15) or creating office activities such as the betting pool which is justified by “just people

letting off steam,” (Cabin in the Woods 23:10-23:15) by technician Wendy Lin. Similarly to the

previous evidence, the technicians need to step out of the reality of what they’re really doing and

make a game out of something cruel and violent; they are seen watching the students die, strip

naked, engaging in sexual behaviors without their consent with Sitterson justifying it by asking

Truman “You understand what’s at stake here?” (Cabin in the Woods 40:30-40:47). To

conclude, the film offers a unique perspective on how minorities were reduced to sadistic
creatures who would bring harm to the world through the college students' lives posing a threat

to the existence of mankind and picked to be sacrificed in a theatrical manner to please a feared

and powerful figure.

 Works Cited

Cabin in the Woods. Directed by Drew Goddard, Mutant Enemy Productions, 2012. Netflix app

Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” Monster Theory: Reading Culture,

edited by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen. University of Minnesota Press, 1996, pp. 7-12.

https://doi.org/10.5749/j.ctttsq4d.4.