Medusa’s choice

Abstract

Ovid’s Metamorphoses gave Medusa little agency, which has prompted numerous feminist reclamations of the gorgon. The tension around agency shapes Matthew B.C.’s feminist horror movie Medusa (2021), in which Carly Beacon transforms into a serpent-like creature after being bitten by a snake. Evoking simultaneously the gender-ambiguous figures of monster and final girl, Carly acquires increased power and autonomy as she kills her pimp and violent johns. However, her agency is undercut by both a lack of choice about being bitten and a failure to resolve the cultural conditions driving prostitution and drug addiction. Medusa troubles Carly’s empowerment by reinforcing her lack of choice and ignoring the failure to change larger socio-cultural conditions – raising questions about what genuine feminist liberation might mean.