Veiling and Vampirism: Imperialism and Resistance in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Abstract

After witnessing the rise of militant Islamophobia, I thought it necessary to offer a perspective that disrupted the norm that has become virulent in Western society—demonization of the “Other.” Therefore, I decided to focus on the “first Middle Eastern vampire western film,” A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, because the protagonist of the film is Othered both by her belief in the Islamic faith and her deviating vampiric body. More so, this paper examines the Iranian-American film as an act of resistance to imperialism in the Middle East. It explores how the protagonist subverts Western imperial influence by claiming the power that lies within her female sexuality. My hope, then, is that this paper will contribute to the destabilization of hegemonic power that is found within imperialist and heteropatriarchal relationships to bring about actualized change, and that the true force behind this change, the embodied identity and agency of local Iranian women, will no longer be made invisible by Western-centrism.