In this paper, I intend to argue that the horror genre provides an ideal medium for discussing the trauma women endured within the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland, and for positing a feminist response to the construction of memory regarding the laundry system. I will discuss Clarke’s film with the context of feminist theory and performance to show how Clarke uses aspects of the horror genre to address the real-world legacy of the Magdalene Laundry system in Ireland, blending fact, fiction, and visual metaphors in a unique and compelling way. Clarke’s film deals with tropes familiar to many horror films, including exorcism and the found-footage format, yet the real revulsion, indeed, the real horror of The Devil’s Doorway lies in the all-too-human acts of violence, mercilessness, and zealotry that take place on the site, as referred to by the priests in their conversations together. References to the Devil abound, yet the real harm is done by a misogynistic theocracy, that dehumanizes all who enter the institutions. The trauma that cannot be properly address by the Irish nation, the Church, or those who study the laundries are made real in the form of ghosts, demons, and song in a way that is both unsettling and deeply emotive. Crucially, Clarke does not give any easy resolutions at the end of her work, forcing the viewer to consider the source of the Laundry’s evil, and its ongoing power to harm even today.
About the presenterBridget E Keown
Bridget is a lecturer in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on the experience and treatment of trauma among women, and the representation of women and trauma in the horror genre. She has a chapter in “Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modernism: Critical Essays,” (McFarland Books).