Carpenter Trio: One Piece of the Formula
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If Katrina fails to fulfill the role of tough Hawksian woman in Vampires,
who does? One of the things that drew Carpenter to the project was the obvious
parallel between Jack Crow’s rag-tag vampire hunters and the teamwork and code
of respect and mutual reliance in the Hawks’ universe. In addition, both Cumbow
and Muir make note of what they see as the verbal homosexual byplay in the film
between Crow and Father Adam Guiteau (Tim Guinee) who joins Crow and
Montoya following the massacre at the motel. However, it becomes quickly
apparent that Carpenter is taking one of his recurrent sly swipes at organized
religion in general, and the Catholic church specifically, by making the priest the
Hawksian woman surrogate in this story. In a film in which the lead male
characters are notable misogynists, Father Guiteau is also abused verbally and
physically early on by Crow. The vampire hunter eventually finds it necessary to
cut the Father’s hand in order to convince him to spill the story about the Bergiere
Cross Valek seeks which will allow him to walk in the daylight. When Guiteau
finally relates the story, Crow replies, “You’re a good man, Padre.” This scene
signals Guiteau’s acceptance iito the team, much as the Hawksian woman must
earn the respect of the men before she becomes part of the group. During the
story’s conclusion, the hunters’ Judas is revealed to be Cardinal Alba (Maximilian
Schell)-the priest who has had the task of overseeing the vampire killers’ work.
Eventually the threat posed by the Cardinal and Valek is repulsed, and it is Father
Guiteau who survives as the only hunter trustworthy enough to continue the work
of seeking out and destroying the remaining vampires with Crow.
Perhaps as a way of countering the misogynism charges leveled against
him following Vampires, Carpenter decided to create a society in which women
are running the show in his next film, Ghosts o f Mars (2001). Set on Mars in the
year 2176, the film’s voice-over accompanying the opening credits tells us the
planet is ruled by a matriarchy. In order to underscore this point, Carpenter
utilizes a female voice during this exposition.
Told primarily in flashback, Ghosts o f Mars tells a typical Hawksian
western narrative while reversing the gender of the standard team members. As
the story unfolds, Melanie Ballard (Natasha Henstridge), a police officer, is called
before the planet’s ruling council. Ballard has been summoned to explain why
the group of officers sent to bring back accused multiple murderer Desolation
Williams (Ice Cube) from the outpost named Shining Canyon failed to do so. In
an indication of the gender reversals coming in the film, the ruling council is
populated primarily by women and the “grand inquisitor” chairing the council
(Rosemary Forsyth) is female.
As Ballard begins to relate the circumstances that have returned her to
the home base minus Williams or the other four members of the police escort
team, Carpenter further develops his gender-bending take on the standard Hawks
team. Initially in charge is Helena Braddock (Pam Grier) who, to add spice to the
team’s interplay, is a lesbian. Clea Duvall’s Bashira Kincaid is one of the two