Made To Be Monsters: ‘Ginger Snaps’

On the trauma of gender, and when your body is not your own.

Welcome back to ‘Made To Be Monsters’, the series where I talk in-depth about my favorite films and why I think they’re secretly about the transsexual/queer experience. Remember: I am not trying to argue for the genuine, intended text of these films, and this is all in good fun.

Part one can be found here.

Karen Walton, the writer of the 2000’s film Ginger Snaps, has always been vocal about the fact that her movie is about the relationship between two sisters. It is about the specific pain that women go through when they reach the age of puberty, as well as what happens when a relationship simply falls apart. When sisters outgrow their childhood relationship. Underneath the blood and horror, it’s all about relationships: relationships with people, your loved ones, and the relationship one has with oneself.

In the years since the film’s release, Ginger Snaps has been reevaluated numerous times as one of horror’s great feminist films; its influence can still be seen in recent films, both mainstream ones like Jennifer’s Body and more obscure titles like WolfCop. It marks perhaps the last great werewolf film to feature entirely practical effects. It was the first mainstream horror film to focus specifically on…