Introduction:
Start with this quote-In 1970s action-adventure shows, only 15 per cent of the leading characters were women- talk about this quote suggests how rare it was for women to become leading roles in the 70s and therefore women were underrepresented.
Now days the figures are:
-In my introduction, I will make sure I write out clearly what the question is I am focusing on, and a quote from the movie/text I am going to be looking at. ‘mankind faces extinction, one women, is the final hope, for our survival'.· In the introduction, highlight the main points, in this case say how life was seen in the early days, such as women and representation, and introduce the text roughly to the examiner.
*Past- males were dominant protagonists Women were under represented
*Present- exceeding number of women in leading dominant roles- shows change in society.
*highlighting the amount of films that show female characters playing the main role and as dominant- women in these films oppose propp’s theory. Women not princess- women are hero’s
-Directors and writers being Male or representation of women being biased and non biased-new man.
Para 2
-Paragraph talk about old historical texts (in this include stuff like masculinity, femininity and how genders have changed and developed.
-Women in the Hollywood movie are more and more being portrayed as dominant instead of the “object of desire”. A brief outline the change in portrayal of women from past films and contemporary. Reference to films such as Kill Bill,
Para 3
-talk about political issue that are /were in the Media, and how it had brought a change in today’s generation. For example you can talk about the Women’s movement, and the Second World War, how women’s took over men’s job and war in the munitions.
Para 3
-bring in theorist and authors and start to make points and add quotes in the study. Mention stuff like how females were seen to be sex symbols in the early days (Laura Mulvey) link this to my study/text talk about Milla jovovich, how she is not seen to be a ‘sex symbol’- show both sides how she is not in para4. (Male gaze) refer to Gauntlett.
- Milla Jovovich kills lots of males showing her authority over the opposite sex and uses Struass-binary opposition as its women vs. men.
Para 4:
How milla jovovich is represented as a sex symbol.. and how...
Link this to the film having a male director- so biased opinion- we live in a patriarchal society.
Link to Mulveys theory and other quotes from david gauntlets book.
*Guns and knives- Phallic object
Para5:
Show the change of role of female characters. Link to films from the past and gradually become more contemporary. Films such as James bond and Kill Bill.
*Talk about society now how females are accepted as going to work.
Para6:
*Talk about gender as a whole. So how females were seen to be in the early days (Mulvey) how they are seen to be now (Independent)
* how males were seen in the early days (superior) how they are seen to be now (New Man)
Friday, 26 December 2008
Monday, 15 December 2008
Female directors
5 reasons why women directors are such a rare sight:
*Because mostly jobs that women prefer are quiet stereotypical they would either want to be a teacher, secretary, nurse or remain a housewife.
*Another reason is that after women get pregnant it is seen less likely that they would carry on with their profession as they now have a family to look after.
*It harder for women to enter this industry as it is male dominated
*Women could be discouraged because of the lack of women in that profession
*Men are more likely to be preferred then women to do the job
5 female Directors:
Penny Marshall-
Penny Marshall (born October 15, 1942) is an American actress, producer and director. After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley. A ratings success, the show ran from 1976 until 1983, and Marshall received three Golden Globe award nominations for her performance.
She progressed to directing films such as Big (1983), the first film directed by a woman to gross in excess of $100 million at the U.S. box office, Awakenings (1990), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, and A League of Their Own (1992). In more recent years, she has produced Cinderella Man (2005) and Bewitched (2005).
Elaine May
Elaine May is a two-time Academy Award nominated film director, screenwriter and actress. She achieved her greatest fame, in the 1950s, from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols.
Rosanna Arquette
Rosanna Lauren Arquette is an American actress, film director, and film producer.
Filmography as director/producer:
Searching For Debra Winger (2002)
All We Are Saying (2005)
Jane Campion
Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954 in Wellington, New Zealand) is an Academy Award-nominated film maker and Academy Award-winning screenplay writer. She is one of the most internationally successful New Zealand directors, although most of her work has been made in or financed by other countries, principally Australia – where she now lives – and the U.S. Campion attended the Australian Film Television and Radio School early in its history, where she learned the craft that has resulted in a career that spans fourteen films as director, three as producer and eight as writer.
Directed films:
Sweetie (1989)
An Angel at My Table (1990) — based on the autobiography of Janet Frame
The Piano (1993)
Holy Smoke! (1999)
In the Cut (2003) — based on the novel by Susanna Moore
The Water Diary (2006)
8 (2008)
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola (born May 14, 1971) is an American film director, actress, producer and Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is the third female director, and only American woman, to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing, the other two being Lina Wertmüller and Jane Campion.
Lina Wertmuller
Lina Wertmüller is an Italian film director of aristocratic Swiss descent. In 1976, she became the first woman ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing with Seven Beauties.
THREE ways the number of female directors could be improved:
1. Female directors can try and do joint directing with males, to gain knowledge in the field.
2.When most women have become mature they stop acting in film therefore after they have stopped acting they should be encouraged to direct films.
3.Have more courses for women to do directing.
*Because mostly jobs that women prefer are quiet stereotypical they would either want to be a teacher, secretary, nurse or remain a housewife.
*Another reason is that after women get pregnant it is seen less likely that they would carry on with their profession as they now have a family to look after.
*It harder for women to enter this industry as it is male dominated
*Women could be discouraged because of the lack of women in that profession
*Men are more likely to be preferred then women to do the job
5 female Directors:
Penny Marshall-
Penny Marshall (born October 15, 1942) is an American actress, producer and director. After playing several small roles for television, she was cast as Laverne DeFazio in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley. A ratings success, the show ran from 1976 until 1983, and Marshall received three Golden Globe award nominations for her performance.
She progressed to directing films such as Big (1983), the first film directed by a woman to gross in excess of $100 million at the U.S. box office, Awakenings (1990), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, and A League of Their Own (1992). In more recent years, she has produced Cinderella Man (2005) and Bewitched (2005).
Elaine May
Elaine May is a two-time Academy Award nominated film director, screenwriter and actress. She achieved her greatest fame, in the 1950s, from her improvisational comedy routines in partnership with Mike Nichols.
Rosanna Arquette
Rosanna Lauren Arquette is an American actress, film director, and film producer.
Filmography as director/producer:
Searching For Debra Winger (2002)
All We Are Saying (2005)
Jane Campion
Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954 in Wellington, New Zealand) is an Academy Award-nominated film maker and Academy Award-winning screenplay writer. She is one of the most internationally successful New Zealand directors, although most of her work has been made in or financed by other countries, principally Australia – where she now lives – and the U.S. Campion attended the Australian Film Television and Radio School early in its history, where she learned the craft that has resulted in a career that spans fourteen films as director, three as producer and eight as writer.
Directed films:
Sweetie (1989)
An Angel at My Table (1990) — based on the autobiography of Janet Frame
The Piano (1993)
Holy Smoke! (1999)
In the Cut (2003) — based on the novel by Susanna Moore
The Water Diary (2006)
8 (2008)
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola (born May 14, 1971) is an American film director, actress, producer and Academy Award-winning screenwriter. She is the third female director, and only American woman, to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing, the other two being Lina Wertmüller and Jane Campion.
Lina Wertmuller
Lina Wertmüller is an Italian film director of aristocratic Swiss descent. In 1976, she became the first woman ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing with Seven Beauties.
THREE ways the number of female directors could be improved:
1. Female directors can try and do joint directing with males, to gain knowledge in the field.
2.When most women have become mature they stop acting in film therefore after they have stopped acting they should be encouraged to direct films.
3.Have more courses for women to do directing.
Contemporary adverts
Diet coke advert
In this advert the women are seen as independant. This is shown through as when the man comes down the lift instead of the male gaze their is the 'female gaze' as the women are gazing upon the men. However the use of the pepsi can suggest that it is a phallic symbol to the women. The women are dressed in smart clothes which also proves that they are independant as they have their own job and don't have to rely on the man.
Perfume advert
In this advert the women is promoting a perfume however in the whole advert we see a middle shot used to show the women face all the time, this links back to mulvey's theory of the male gaze as the shot is focusing more on the women face than the perfume itself. In this advert it could be questioned that what is the point of the women not wearing any clothes in a perfume advert as it is totally not related and just shows that the women are there for the male gaze and to look good for them this is also reinforced as the women are young and good looking.
lip gloss advert
Vanish oxi advert
In a way this is the kind of advert that people may laugh at this is because the women is shown being domestic which is something women don’t tend to do that often anymore, however it could suggest that there are still women who don’t go to work and look after their family and house hold chores even though women nowadays are in control of their professional and social life, and a kitchen slave to no one. This stereotypical representation can reinforce that women are “symbolically annihilated” and reinforce what happened in the 70s that women are shown most often in advertising promoting kitchen and bathroom products.
In this advert the women are seen as independant. This is shown through as when the man comes down the lift instead of the male gaze their is the 'female gaze' as the women are gazing upon the men. However the use of the pepsi can suggest that it is a phallic symbol to the women. The women are dressed in smart clothes which also proves that they are independant as they have their own job and don't have to rely on the man.
Perfume advert
In this advert the women is promoting a perfume however in the whole advert we see a middle shot used to show the women face all the time, this links back to mulvey's theory of the male gaze as the shot is focusing more on the women face than the perfume itself. In this advert it could be questioned that what is the point of the women not wearing any clothes in a perfume advert as it is totally not related and just shows that the women are there for the male gaze and to look good for them this is also reinforced as the women are young and good looking.
lip gloss advert
Vanish oxi advert
In a way this is the kind of advert that people may laugh at this is because the women is shown being domestic which is something women don’t tend to do that often anymore, however it could suggest that there are still women who don’t go to work and look after their family and house hold chores even though women nowadays are in control of their professional and social life, and a kitchen slave to no one. This stereotypical representation can reinforce that women are “symbolically annihilated” and reinforce what happened in the 70s that women are shown most often in advertising promoting kitchen and bathroom products.
Historical adverts
Flash:
The women is seen as a typical housewife who’s role is to look after the house especially when the husband has probably gone to work and the kids at school she is kind of seen as a free women who can do whatever she wants and that is to clean up the house. The advert shows the women quite happy when she is cleaning letting the audience know that women are happy doing cleaning (it’s like their hobby). The advert reinforces what Bartsch said- ‘women were twice as likely as men to be in commercials for domestic products’. In the past women were expected to do such roles as that is what was going on in society as women did not have good jobs or even get out of the house much, it was like their house was their ‘comfort zone’ which they hardly ever got out of.
Peugeot 305 advert
The advert is related to a new car that has been released and to a certain extent if you think about it you will think that why on earth the woman even is in the advert as the car is aimed at men and the women has nothing to do with the car so why have her in there. This could suggest that men are reliant on women for things that they need. The actress is acting in a promiscuous way through the way she speaks and poses it suggests the idea of sex sells, in addition what she is saying is good about the car connotates what is believed that the women wants in her ideal man as she says it has "power" and "control" which further brainwashing males. The woman is acting in a very sexually promiscuous way which is once again re emphasizing the theory of the male gaze.
Flake advert
Cortese’s- women are often shown as the ‘perfect provocateur’. This is re-emphasised through the women eating the flake slowly and lusciously making her look provocative and as she is young, good looking which links back to Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze as her acting in such a provocative way would make men gaze upon her and excite them as the flake can also be seen as a phallic symbol. He also says talks about “Symbolic and institutionalised Sexism” which says that the media is sexist and this was extremely true in the past as women were given certain roles that you would never see a man doing such as this flake advert for example.
The women is seen as a typical housewife who’s role is to look after the house especially when the husband has probably gone to work and the kids at school she is kind of seen as a free women who can do whatever she wants and that is to clean up the house. The advert shows the women quite happy when she is cleaning letting the audience know that women are happy doing cleaning (it’s like their hobby). The advert reinforces what Bartsch said- ‘women were twice as likely as men to be in commercials for domestic products’. In the past women were expected to do such roles as that is what was going on in society as women did not have good jobs or even get out of the house much, it was like their house was their ‘comfort zone’ which they hardly ever got out of.
Peugeot 305 advert
The advert is related to a new car that has been released and to a certain extent if you think about it you will think that why on earth the woman even is in the advert as the car is aimed at men and the women has nothing to do with the car so why have her in there. This could suggest that men are reliant on women for things that they need. The actress is acting in a promiscuous way through the way she speaks and poses it suggests the idea of sex sells, in addition what she is saying is good about the car connotates what is believed that the women wants in her ideal man as she says it has "power" and "control" which further brainwashing males. The woman is acting in a very sexually promiscuous way which is once again re emphasizing the theory of the male gaze.
Flake advert
Cortese’s- women are often shown as the ‘perfect provocateur’. This is re-emphasised through the women eating the flake slowly and lusciously making her look provocative and as she is young, good looking which links back to Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze as her acting in such a provocative way would make men gaze upon her and excite them as the flake can also be seen as a phallic symbol. He also says talks about “Symbolic and institutionalised Sexism” which says that the media is sexist and this was extremely true in the past as women were given certain roles that you would never see a man doing such as this flake advert for example.
Monday, 8 December 2008
Analysis of movies from 1950s-1990s
1950s
High Noon
The Sound Of Music
In the 1960s the roles of geder had not really chnaged much from the last decade. The male characters were shown more intelligent, more assertive- and much more prevavlent. In the film Lawrence of Arabia you do not see any female characters which proves that women were not taken seriously and did not have much of a role in society this can also suggest that "Women have been 'Symbolically Annihilated" as Tuchman said.
In The sound of music we see that women of the 1960s were represented as housewives and caring. The female character in sound of music is shown as a mother like figure to the children and is portrayed as the Madonna who is pure, innocent and caring.
1970s:
Star Wars
Alien
In the 1970s we are introduced to the second wave femenism were women fought to work and become more independent. In the 70s it can be seen that the role of women in movies is increasing and becoming more stronger. In Star Wars the whole movie is revolved around the female character Leia, she is shown as pretty and good at shooting stormstroopers which makes her loo powerfull, however she is also the prized princess that the heroic boys had to rescue and win the heart of. We also see a powerfull female in the movie Alien; the fact that women are begining to be shown in action movies more often is a celebration for femenists. Ripley is presented as strong and independant, this proves that women are becoming more elivated and this time its the men who have to cross gender and identify with the female character.
1980:
Terminator
Three Men and a Baby
In the 1980s we see that women are still shown as strong and powerfull e.g. Sarah Connor in The Terminator, however although she is shown independant she is patronised as people from the future send a man back in time to save her.In the 1980s we were also introduced to 'The New Man' for example in Three Men and a Baby' as this was a fresh and different movie to what we were usually shown to as the men were dealing with a baby and have become more domestic showing the men beoming more femenine.
1990s:
Fatal Attraction
In the 1990s there was a male backlash as "faludi" found out that there was a backlash against women having careers and being independent on themselves and women liberation's. Fatale attraction is able to expolit the different roles in which the women play throughout the film, one being the Madonna in the film is the housewife shown to be caring and innocent and pure compared to the other female charcter who is the Whore as she is the one who uses her sexual appearence in order to get what she wants and comes across as sexual and sinful , the whore also relates to the femme fatale.
High Noon
Rear Window
In the 1950s the films almost always focused on male heroes. These men typically made the decisions which led the story, and were assertive, confident and dominant. High noon is a more western type of movie and mostly revolves around the men. The women are shown as frightened, in need of protection and direction, and offering love and support to the male character. In Rear Window the women hardly even have a role the whole movie is revolved around the male lead character, the women is shown a little bit and is shown as offering support and love to the male lead character. In these movies the female character had to cross gender and identify with the male characters.In the 1950s, especially, we witnessed an era of “reaffirming male dominance and female subservience; movies showed women as breasts and buttocks, again idealizing women who were ‘pretty, amusing, and childish,’” (Butler, 145).
1960s:
Lawrence of Arabia
The Sound Of Music
In the 1960s the roles of geder had not really chnaged much from the last decade. The male characters were shown more intelligent, more assertive- and much more prevavlent. In the film Lawrence of Arabia you do not see any female characters which proves that women were not taken seriously and did not have much of a role in society this can also suggest that "Women have been 'Symbolically Annihilated" as Tuchman said.
In The sound of music we see that women of the 1960s were represented as housewives and caring. The female character in sound of music is shown as a mother like figure to the children and is portrayed as the Madonna who is pure, innocent and caring.
1970s:
Star Wars
Alien
In the 1970s we are introduced to the second wave femenism were women fought to work and become more independent. In the 70s it can be seen that the role of women in movies is increasing and becoming more stronger. In Star Wars the whole movie is revolved around the female character Leia, she is shown as pretty and good at shooting stormstroopers which makes her loo powerfull, however she is also the prized princess that the heroic boys had to rescue and win the heart of. We also see a powerfull female in the movie Alien; the fact that women are begining to be shown in action movies more often is a celebration for femenists. Ripley is presented as strong and independant, this proves that women are becoming more elivated and this time its the men who have to cross gender and identify with the female character.
1980:
Terminator
Three Men and a Baby
In the 1980s we see that women are still shown as strong and powerfull e.g. Sarah Connor in The Terminator, however although she is shown independant she is patronised as people from the future send a man back in time to save her.In the 1980s we were also introduced to 'The New Man' for example in Three Men and a Baby' as this was a fresh and different movie to what we were usually shown to as the men were dealing with a baby and have become more domestic showing the men beoming more femenine.
1990s:
Fatal Attraction
In the 1990s there was a male backlash as "faludi" found out that there was a backlash against women having careers and being independent on themselves and women liberation's. Fatale attraction is able to expolit the different roles in which the women play throughout the film, one being the Madonna in the film is the housewife shown to be caring and innocent and pure compared to the other female charcter who is the Whore as she is the one who uses her sexual appearence in order to get what she wants and comes across as sexual and sinful , the whore also relates to the femme fatale.
Bibliography- 10 books
Hollows Joanne: Feminism, femininity and popular culture
* "second-wave feminism is seen as a product of the past." pg1
* "male character is presented as doing a favour for his wife by helping out in order to get in her good books, thereby confirming the nation that it is normal for women to be responsible for domestic labour." pg 23
Gauntlett David: MEDIA, GENDER AND IDENTITY
*"advertisers have by now realised that audiences will only laugh at images of the pretty housewife" pg57
*“She doesn’t lead the story, she doesn’t make the central decisions, she doesn’t repeatedly save her male colleague, and she’s not the star of the film.” (pg47)
*Sharon Smith Journal (1972): Women and Film
*"The role of women in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction, and the mating games she plays with the male character".
Jeffords Susan: Hard Bodies: Hollywood Masculinity in the Reagan Era (1993)
*“Good mother icons are pretty thin on the ground too; we’ve probably got more good fathers these days.”
Tasker Yvonne: Working Girls: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema
*"there are only three ages for women in Hollywood:babe, district attorney and driving miss daisy."
Riley Glenda:The Female Frontier
*"domestic service attracted a wide variety of women." pg 126
Rosen Marjorie: Popcorn Venus: Women, Movies and the American Dream (1973)
*"the Cinema Woman is a popcorn Venus, a delectable but insubstantial hybrid of culture distortions"
Gogerly Liz: 21st Century lives. Film Stars
Halle's Speech on Oscar Night 2002
*"Oh my God. Oh my God. I'm so sorry. This moment is much bigger then me. This moment is for...every nameless, faceless woman of colour that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened". (page 8)
Kaplan: Women in film noir (1978)
*"The film noir world is on in which women are central to the intrigue of the films, and are furthermore usually not placed safely in...familiar roles...Defined by their sexuality, which is presented as desirable but dangerous, the women function as an obstacle to the main quest. The hero's success or not depends on the degree to which he can extricate himself from the women manipulations. Allthough the man is sometimes simply destroyed because he cannot resist womens lures, often the world of the film is the attempted restoration of order through the exposure and then destruction of the sexual manipulating women. (page 2-3)
Jacobs Lea: The wages of sin: Censorship and the Fallen Woman Film 1928-1942
*"These films concern a woman who commits a sexual transgression such as adultery or premartial sex. In traditional versions of the plot, she is expelled from the domestic space of the family and undergoes a protracted decline". (page 107)
Neale Steve: Genre and Hollywood
*Thomas and Krutnick- the femme fatale tends to represent "conflicting elements within male identity"
*"A womans film is a movie that places at the centre of its universe a female who is trying to deal with emotional, social and psychological poblems that are specifically connected to the fact that she is a woman"-Basinger (1993:20)
Monday, 1 December 2008
Representation of Gender today
*Media gender and Identity
*David Gauntlett
Gender in contemporary TV programmes:
*In prime time TV shows, 1192-1993 men took 61% of the total number of speaking roles, women having 39%.
*1995-1996 study found that men took 63% of the speaking roles, women having 37%.
*1992-1993- 18% of the female characters took the major role and more than two thirds were the stars of domestic situation comedies.
*1995-1996 43% of major characters were female, although still less than half.
*1992-1993- 3% of women were represented as housewives as their main occupation- massive decrease from the 1970. An additional 8% of women were shown as 'homemakers'
*1995-1996- On a character b character basis, females male were equal in these respects.
*Overall the 1992-1993 study found that ' the women on prime time TV in the early 1990s was young, single, independent, and free from family and work place pressures' (Elasmer, Hasegawa and Brain, 1999:33).
*1990s to a certain extent, programme makers arrived at a comfortable, not particularly- offensive modes of masculinity and femininity, which majority of the public seemed to think were acceptable.
e.g. Friends (1994)-
3 Men (Ross, Chandler & Joey) fit easily with convectional models of masculinity, but given some characteristics of sensitivity and gentleness, and male bonding to make things refreshing.
Similarly 3 women (Rachel, Monica and Phoebe) are clearly feminine, whilst being sufficiently intelligent and non housewifely to seem like acceptable characters of the 1990s.
-They were all Friends so it was a refreshing modern replacement for the traditional family.
-Not long of course before they spoilt this by having Ross and Rachel then Monica and Chandler fall in love.
*Some shows put successful professional women at the forefront, and are focused on their quets for sex, pleasure and romantic love e.g. Ally McBeal (1997) and Sex in the City (1998)- both do this in different ways.
-McBeal is a very good lawyer, but more stereotypically is quite desperate to find a husband.
-Calsita Flockhart, inhabits an alarming anorexic looking body- dependant on male, she wants to be gazed upon and look good for the men.
-However Allys colleagues Ling (Lucy Lui) and Nelle (Portia de Rossi) are tougher- both have been out with men from the law firm.
-The show sides with women and often shows them making fun of the men.
-Sex in the City male sexual performance is subject to laughter by women.
Madeleine Bunting (2001) notes:
-Characters in Sex and the City discuss every kind of sex- comparing experiences, offering advice and encouragement. Nothing is out of Bonds, Sex is an adventure playground which doesn't necessarily have much to do with love.
-Sex Stuff works because it turns on its head the old age female sexual victim hood.
- Buffy the vampire Slayer (1997)- Broke new ground by becoming hugely popular within the typically male dominated world of Sci-fi fans.
-Buffy has repeatedly won 'Best television sow' in SFX magazines annual readers poll.
-1990s Superman was relaunched (Louis and Clark, a.k.a The new adventure of Superman, 1993-1999) he was sweet & insecure and always consulting his small town parents.
-Buffy- confident assertive than either incarnation of the man of steel, whilst remaining recognisably human.
Polly Vernon (1999):
-"She's a girl's girl, at once hard as nails and physically confident in a way that's genuinely empowering, and yet women enough and scared enough not to become some kind of dumsy, shouting mutated Spice GIRL".
-Buffy is a Good role model for everybody, because she has to use her wits and physical strength to win.
-Male and female roles are often not exactly interchangeable.
-NYPD Blue. Sipowicz's partners are typically more sensitive but have problems of their own.
Gender in Contemporary Movies:
- Representations in the 1990s-
-Magie Humms Feminism and Film (1997) didn't seem to think that anything had changed.
-"Film...Often and anxiously envisions women stereotypically as 'good' mothers or 'bad', hysterically careists. In the past, and today, every Hollywood women is someone else's other. (1997:3)
-'Good Mother' icons are pretty thin on the ground too; we've probably got more good fathers these days.
Susan Jefford (1993):
-Arnold Shwarzneggers evil Terminator (1984) comes back in Terminator 2: Judgement day (1991) as a protective father figure to Ed Furlong.
-Jefford's sees this as part of 1990s trend of reinventing ,masculinity as fatherhood and caring.
-Hollywood culture is offering in place of bold spectacle of male masculinity and violence, is a self effacing man, one who now, learns to live instead of fighting.
- There are many other hit films where the male action hero works along side a more or less equally powerful female action hero.
-Men in Hollywood films today tend o be the seamlessly macho heroes which we saw in the 1980s; they more often combine the toughness required of an action hero with a more sensitive, thoughtful or caring side.
-Female roles have become tougher.
Charlies Angels:
-Those who publicly criticised it were not women and feminists, however they were the mainstream, mostly male, film critics.
-'Barrymore, Diaz and Liu represent redhead, blond and brunette respectively ( as David Poland has pointed out, T[its], A[ss] and Hair.
-Michael Thomson of BBC online- 'Women's glamour and pouting', saying that the film's message was 'by all means be feisty, but never forget to be feminine'.
-Complaints- including the occasional not that the women are 'Bimbos'.
-They defeat their enemies without guns.
-The film does knowingly showcase the women's physical attractiveness, but their success comes from their brains, and their fighting skills.
-Charlies Angels has an effervescent 'girl power' zing which had not been seen since the Spice Girls.
-Charlie- what does he do?- In other words, he's a Marxist and feminist.
*David Gauntlett
Gender in contemporary TV programmes:
*In prime time TV shows, 1192-1993 men took 61% of the total number of speaking roles, women having 39%.
*1995-1996 study found that men took 63% of the speaking roles, women having 37%.
*1992-1993- 18% of the female characters took the major role and more than two thirds were the stars of domestic situation comedies.
*1995-1996 43% of major characters were female, although still less than half.
*1992-1993- 3% of women were represented as housewives as their main occupation- massive decrease from the 1970. An additional 8% of women were shown as 'homemakers'
*1995-1996- On a character b character basis, females male were equal in these respects.
*Overall the 1992-1993 study found that ' the women on prime time TV in the early 1990s was young, single, independent, and free from family and work place pressures' (Elasmer, Hasegawa and Brain, 1999:33).
*1990s to a certain extent, programme makers arrived at a comfortable, not particularly- offensive modes of masculinity and femininity, which majority of the public seemed to think were acceptable.
e.g. Friends (1994)-
3 Men (Ross, Chandler & Joey) fit easily with convectional models of masculinity, but given some characteristics of sensitivity and gentleness, and male bonding to make things refreshing.
Similarly 3 women (Rachel, Monica and Phoebe) are clearly feminine, whilst being sufficiently intelligent and non housewifely to seem like acceptable characters of the 1990s.
-They were all Friends so it was a refreshing modern replacement for the traditional family.
-Not long of course before they spoilt this by having Ross and Rachel then Monica and Chandler fall in love.
*Some shows put successful professional women at the forefront, and are focused on their quets for sex, pleasure and romantic love e.g. Ally McBeal (1997) and Sex in the City (1998)- both do this in different ways.
-McBeal is a very good lawyer, but more stereotypically is quite desperate to find a husband.
-Calsita Flockhart, inhabits an alarming anorexic looking body- dependant on male, she wants to be gazed upon and look good for the men.
-However Allys colleagues Ling (Lucy Lui) and Nelle (Portia de Rossi) are tougher- both have been out with men from the law firm.
-The show sides with women and often shows them making fun of the men.
-Sex in the City male sexual performance is subject to laughter by women.
Madeleine Bunting (2001) notes:
-Characters in Sex and the City discuss every kind of sex- comparing experiences, offering advice and encouragement. Nothing is out of Bonds, Sex is an adventure playground which doesn't necessarily have much to do with love.
-Sex Stuff works because it turns on its head the old age female sexual victim hood.
- Buffy the vampire Slayer (1997)- Broke new ground by becoming hugely popular within the typically male dominated world of Sci-fi fans.
-Buffy has repeatedly won 'Best television sow' in SFX magazines annual readers poll.
-1990s Superman was relaunched (Louis and Clark, a.k.a The new adventure of Superman, 1993-1999) he was sweet & insecure and always consulting his small town parents.
-Buffy- confident assertive than either incarnation of the man of steel, whilst remaining recognisably human.
Polly Vernon (1999):
-"She's a girl's girl, at once hard as nails and physically confident in a way that's genuinely empowering, and yet women enough and scared enough not to become some kind of dumsy, shouting mutated Spice GIRL".
-Buffy is a Good role model for everybody, because she has to use her wits and physical strength to win.
-Male and female roles are often not exactly interchangeable.
-NYPD Blue. Sipowicz's partners are typically more sensitive but have problems of their own.
Gender in Contemporary Movies:
- Representations in the 1990s-
-Magie Humms Feminism and Film (1997) didn't seem to think that anything had changed.
-"Film...Often and anxiously envisions women stereotypically as 'good' mothers or 'bad', hysterically careists. In the past, and today, every Hollywood women is someone else's other. (1997:3)
-'Good Mother' icons are pretty thin on the ground too; we've probably got more good fathers these days.
Susan Jefford (1993):
-Arnold Shwarzneggers evil Terminator (1984) comes back in Terminator 2: Judgement day (1991) as a protective father figure to Ed Furlong.
-Jefford's sees this as part of 1990s trend of reinventing ,masculinity as fatherhood and caring.
-Hollywood culture is offering in place of bold spectacle of male masculinity and violence, is a self effacing man, one who now, learns to live instead of fighting.
- There are many other hit films where the male action hero works along side a more or less equally powerful female action hero.
-Men in Hollywood films today tend o be the seamlessly macho heroes which we saw in the 1980s; they more often combine the toughness required of an action hero with a more sensitive, thoughtful or caring side.
-Female roles have become tougher.
Charlies Angels:
-Those who publicly criticised it were not women and feminists, however they were the mainstream, mostly male, film critics.
-'Barrymore, Diaz and Liu represent redhead, blond and brunette respectively ( as David Poland has pointed out, T[its], A[ss] and Hair.
-Michael Thomson of BBC online- 'Women's glamour and pouting', saying that the film's message was 'by all means be feisty, but never forget to be feminine'.
-Complaints- including the occasional not that the women are 'Bimbos'.
-They defeat their enemies without guns.
-The film does knowingly showcase the women's physical attractiveness, but their success comes from their brains, and their fighting skills.
-Charlies Angels has an effervescent 'girl power' zing which had not been seen since the Spice Girls.
-Charlie- what does he do?- In other words, he's a Marxist and feminist.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
women and men h/w sheet summarised
Women and Men in TV:
*In the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's only 20 to 35% of characters were female. By the mis 1980's there were more women in leading roles, but still there were twice as many men on screen.
*In action adventure shows only 15% of the leading characters were women.
*In 1987 study found female characters to be most common in comedy programmes (43%)
*In action adventure women had almost doubled their showing to a still low 29% of characters.
*1970's consistency found that marriage, parenthood and domescticity were shown on television to be more important for women than men.
*McNiel (1975) concluded that womens movement had been largely ignored by television, with married housewives being the main female role shown.
*Women intercations were very often concerned with romance or family problems in 74% of the cases.
*Female characters were unlikely to work especially not if they were wives or mothers, even if they did it was not typically shown on screen.
*In 1970s men were the dominant characters and decision makers on TV.
(Gunter, 1995)
*Men- assertive, agressive-adventuruous, active and victorious.
*Women-passive-weak, innefectual, victimised, supportive, laughable or morely token females.
(1978) Gaye Tucham
*Women were underrepresented in televisions fictional life- they are 'symbolically annihilated'
*Women don't matter much in American society
*Women who were shown to be working were portrayed as 'incompetents and inferiors', as victims, or having 'trivial interests.
*Women had little value in the TV world
*In the mid 1980s a number of programmes showed women in a more centralised way such as documentaries, discussion programmes and dramas, they also began to be shown in police and crime roles.
Women and Men in movies:
*In the 1950s most films almost always focused on male heroes.
*Men typically made the decisions which led the story and were assertive, confident and dominant.
*Women had many important roles but were far more likely to be shown as frightened, need protection and directing and offering love & support to male characters.
*1970's- Woody Allen featured women more intelligent.
*Sherron Smith- the role of a women in a film almost always revolves around the physical attraction and the games he plays with the male chracters.
*Ann Kaplan- women are ultimatley refused a voice, discourse and their desire is subjected to male edesire.
* Kathi Miao- Women are given less screen time, likely to be portrayed as powerless and ineffectual.
*In the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's only 20 to 35% of characters were female. By the mis 1980's there were more women in leading roles, but still there were twice as many men on screen.
*In action adventure shows only 15% of the leading characters were women.
*In 1987 study found female characters to be most common in comedy programmes (43%)
*In action adventure women had almost doubled their showing to a still low 29% of characters.
*1970's consistency found that marriage, parenthood and domescticity were shown on television to be more important for women than men.
*McNiel (1975) concluded that womens movement had been largely ignored by television, with married housewives being the main female role shown.
*Women intercations were very often concerned with romance or family problems in 74% of the cases.
*Female characters were unlikely to work especially not if they were wives or mothers, even if they did it was not typically shown on screen.
*In 1970s men were the dominant characters and decision makers on TV.
(Gunter, 1995)
*Men- assertive, agressive-adventuruous, active and victorious.
*Women-passive-weak, innefectual, victimised, supportive, laughable or morely token females.
(1978) Gaye Tucham
*Women were underrepresented in televisions fictional life- they are 'symbolically annihilated'
*Women don't matter much in American society
*Women who were shown to be working were portrayed as 'incompetents and inferiors', as victims, or having 'trivial interests.
*Women had little value in the TV world
*In the mid 1980s a number of programmes showed women in a more centralised way such as documentaries, discussion programmes and dramas, they also began to be shown in police and crime roles.
Women and Men in movies:
*In the 1950s most films almost always focused on male heroes.
*Men typically made the decisions which led the story and were assertive, confident and dominant.
*Women had many important roles but were far more likely to be shown as frightened, need protection and directing and offering love & support to male characters.
*1970's- Woody Allen featured women more intelligent.
*Sherron Smith- the role of a women in a film almost always revolves around the physical attraction and the games he plays with the male chracters.
*Ann Kaplan- women are ultimatley refused a voice, discourse and their desire is subjected to male edesire.
* Kathi Miao- Women are given less screen time, likely to be portrayed as powerless and ineffectual.
Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Hegemonic vs Pluralistic model
Hegemonic model is about how people get brainwashed to do things, they help to determine how groups and people are represented.It believes in Marxist- dominant ideology- their views and values get promoted to the mass media.
Pluralistic model has an active audience and instead sees the media as diverse and full of consumer choices.
In a way I do believe in both the models as they can both be justified, however I mostly believe in the pluralistic model. I believe I am more of an active audience rather than passive as I tend to interpret and take the media in a way that I want and not the way that that it has been presented and portrayed.
However I kind of believe in the hegemonic model as it speaks about the ruling classes who brainwash us and this is true, for example Rupert Murdoch owns BSKYB, Star TV, The Sun and the Times therefore his views are portrayed to us and we believe what he believes however we are unaware of this, this is called false consciousness. However these institutions need to attract an audience therefore they would show what the audience would like, therefore they need to use the pluralistic model as well.
Pluralistic model has an active audience and instead sees the media as diverse and full of consumer choices.
In a way I do believe in both the models as they can both be justified, however I mostly believe in the pluralistic model. I believe I am more of an active audience rather than passive as I tend to interpret and take the media in a way that I want and not the way that that it has been presented and portrayed.
However I kind of believe in the hegemonic model as it speaks about the ruling classes who brainwash us and this is true, for example Rupert Murdoch owns BSKYB, Star TV, The Sun and the Times therefore his views are portrayed to us and we believe what he believes however we are unaware of this, this is called false consciousness. However these institutions need to attract an audience therefore they would show what the audience would like, therefore they need to use the pluralistic model as well.
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Points from expamle cw
* Since the late 1990s their has been a change in what society is willing to accept, for exampe their has been a decrease in the amount of censorship.
*Their was a lot of controvesy in society beause the magazines contained images and articles that were seen to promote a sexist attitude, degarding representatin of women.
*Women have been rising in statu throughout the media.
* 'Lads'- men aged between 15-25, their modern, fashionable young men, not afraid to admit they enjoy porn, women, sex, heavy drinking and sports.
*Mens magazines represent women as the prototypical object of sexual desire, presenting the idea that a womens purpose is to look appealing and attractive to male audience.
*Prototypical-constituting or representing an original type of something that others are modelled on, or derived from
*The student talks about exactly how the person on the magazine was posed and colours and how all that relates to the audience and connotations of colours.
*Women are traditionally seen as beatifull, attractive, thin and well groomed. This puts pressure on women to conform to hat the male audience finds attractive.
*Women are stereotypicaly seen to men as only objects of theri sexual desire, and should conform to what they view as attractive, this relates to the hpodermic needle, that audiences are passive and easily influenced.
*"Effect tradition"theory- men to be the dominant gender over women.
*Their was a lot of controvesy in society beause the magazines contained images and articles that were seen to promote a sexist attitude, degarding representatin of women.
*Women have been rising in statu throughout the media.
* 'Lads'- men aged between 15-25, their modern, fashionable young men, not afraid to admit they enjoy porn, women, sex, heavy drinking and sports.
*Mens magazines represent women as the prototypical object of sexual desire, presenting the idea that a womens purpose is to look appealing and attractive to male audience.
*Prototypical-constituting or representing an original type of something that others are modelled on, or derived from
*The student talks about exactly how the person on the magazine was posed and colours and how all that relates to the audience and connotations of colours.
*Women are traditionally seen as beatifull, attractive, thin and well groomed. This puts pressure on women to conform to hat the male audience finds attractive.
*Women are stereotypicaly seen to men as only objects of theri sexual desire, and should conform to what they view as attractive, this relates to the hpodermic needle, that audiences are passive and easily influenced.
*"Effect tradition"theory- men to be the dominant gender over women.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Cover work: Analysis of a scene
In the beginning of the scene we see a shot of the institution sign of the film in big which are, ‘Screen Gems’. Screen Gems is an American subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation. Screen Gems mostly make movies that are thriller or Sci-fi, such as, Zombies and The Grudge. The scene starts with Milla Jovovich lying in a bathroom and only covered in the shower net. The camera zooms out on her and shows her whole body. In this image she is represented as week as she has no clothes on and looks helpless. She is also represented as a sex object, this is after the bath scene we see her wear a red dress which is quite short this reinforces the stereotypes that women are seen as sex objects as red connotates love and makes her look seductive, she also reinforces some of the stereotypes that are linked to Malveys 'male gaze' theory. The lighting is very dark which foreshadows that something bad is going to happen or has already happened. After that we the camera slowly walking with Jovovich in a dark corridor and then in a white, bright corridor, the cut from a dark lighting shot then a white shot shows Binary opposition between good and Evil. This could give the audience a clue that the story is line is about good vs. evil. In the next shot we see Jovovich get shot the camera then fades to black and we see her fall to the ground, the fade to black creates a sense of sadness in the audience as it slows the shot down. In all of these shots the music is quite slow paced which build up tension to the audience. We then see a man who looks like a scientist tell some other people to dump Jovovich’s body; this shows the female character as week as the man has defeated her. After this the movie is kind of gone to a new theme, this is as before Milla Jovovich is represented as weak; this is as she gets killed. However in the shots shown after she dies she is represented as an independent and strong female, her character seems to be challenging the stereotypes that females are associated with weak, emotional, and sex objects. Milla Jovovich is represented as dominant in the rest of the scene as we can see her riding a motorbike which is usually associated to men who are mostly stereotyped as strong and powerful. She is also shown as a powerful character and challenges stereotypes as she is shown using weapons such as guns and machete’s to kill zombies. There are many narrative theories that can be applied to the film, one of them include the Proppian theory. The film contains both hero (Milla Jovovich) we can tell this because she is the main icon on the poster of the film e.g. she’s positioned in the middle also the film starts of with her, and Villain of the film (Iain Glen) this could be identified through his first appearance in the film e.g. in a lab experimenting with clones etc. other narrative theories that can be applied to the film is Todorovs equilibrium theory. However you cannot apply the theory exactly because the film doesn't exactly start of with an equilibrium however there is a disruption and realisation and a new equilibrium where she kills the villain. We can also apply Levi-struasses binary oppositions to the movie, for example there is the binary oppositions of good and evil and light and dark. The film also contains narrative enigmas for example at the beginning you see a big close up of the protagonist eye, it then slowly zooms out showing her in a bathtub with a white cloth over her, this starts getting the audience thinking as to why she’s there and what the situation and the slow paced music also builds up tension which therefore leaving them wanting to know more. Milla Jovovich is viewed as the hero ‘who will save the day’ not just through the shots but through the way the shots are put into sequence with the phrases. Jovochic is represented as powerful, mainly through the use of propp's e.g. her gun. The film Resident evil clearly suggests that the representation of females within the film industry has changed, due to the reason that nowadays there are many female action stars whereas before females were only given parts which fitted in with their stereotypes e.g. housewife or object of sexual desire for the male. By Jovovich taking on a masculine role she is presenting females as more independent and strong. On the other hand it can also be argued that she is still represented as a sexual object, mainly through her clothing, for example at the beginning of the film she is wearing a red dress which is quite revealing, this could portray her as seductive. The text is likely to be aimed at teenagers and adults from all ethnic groups aged 18-35 who are interested in action/horror movies. The primary audience could be males because of the genre of the film; action, which boys are normally associated with, however due to the protagonist being a female it could also be primarily aimed at females. From the text we can tell that the audience would be interested in films that include violence and guns because the film includes many scenes of violence. The audience could be consuming this text mainly for entertainment or division; to escape from the reality they are in. The audience are actively engaged in the interpretation of the text therefore they would be decoding the text in ways that relate to their social experience. The film is likely to be aimed at people of all genders and ethnicity in order to target a wide range of audience, in order for the film to be successful, also the film does not contain any particular ethnic groups e.g. whites whereas it includes ethnic groups such as black and white and also other actors e,g, Oded Fehr, an Israeli.
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Director: Russel Mulchay
Russel mulcahy:
*He has made many movies with the genre of thriller, sci-fi and adventures.
*Russell Mulcahy's career began with making music videos.
REE is not the only movie that he has shown women to be strong; he also makes them look strong in films many other films such as 'The Sitter' and 'The Scorpion King' which has two dominant female women.
REE is not the only movie that he has shown women to be strong; he also makes them look strong in films many other films such as 'The Sitter' and 'The Scorpion King' which has two dominant female women.
Award-winning director of commercials and rock videos in the 1980s turned polished and proficient helmer of Hollywood genre movies. Mulcahy directed over 300 rock videos by 1983, including 15 starring Elton John and others featuring glitzy sets and costumes and fluid camerawork which highlighted Duran Duran, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, Fleetwood Mac ("Gypsy") and Rod Stewart ("Young Turks"). He also made many TV commercials, including advertisements for HBO, Doritos, Miller Lite beer, Ford and British Petroleum. Mulcahy made his feature debut with the British-produced "Derek and Clive Get the Horn" (1980), starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and followed up with "Razorback" (1984), a galvanizing cult thriller about a killer pig set in the Australian outback.
Mulcahy achieved some measure of commercial success with the Sean Connery/Christopher Lambert fantasy vehicle, "Highlander" (1986), which yielded the disappointing sequel, "Highlander II: The Quickening" (1991). He next fashioned a slick urban thriller, "Richochet" (1991) starring Denzel Washington and John Lithgow, which seemed to set a pattern for his subsequent work. Teaming for the first time with producer Martin Bregman on the made-for-cable spy drama, "Blue Ice" (1992), Mulcahy reteamed with Bregman and stayed in character with the unsuccessful "The Real McCoy" (1993), a tale of a burglar starring Kim Basinger. Mulcahy's third teaming with Bregman, "The Shadow" (1994), was his most ambitious feature project to date. With a $45 million budget at his command, Mulcahy unleashed his video-bred stylishness on the period adventure thriller as he sought to bring the cult pulp-fiction figure Lamont Cranston to the screen.
Monday, 3 November 2008
10 keywords
-Representation:
The process by whereby the media constructs version of people.
-Radical femenism:
A femenist perspective that sees men as the enemy who have used patriachy and the traditional family structure to suppress all women, regardless of class, culture or ethnicity
-Post femenism:
Part of the postmodern perspective which takes the achievements of feminism for granted and views it as ineffective in explaining the current condition of women and the many identity choices they face.
-Mulvey, Laura:
femenist academic and media and film critic, responsible for developing theories of the male gaze in her 1975 essay 'Visual Pleasure' and 'Narrative Cinema'.
-Marxist femenism:
A femenist perspective which sees capitalism as the principle source of gender inequalities.
* In a capitalist class hierachy, women are seen as being subordinate to men and serving the male workforce in terms of low-paid, low-status employment and unpaid domestic labour and child rearing.
*Domestic violence against women is seen to be the result of the powerless male workforce exercising its fustration on the famle sex rather than directing it at the class system.
*The media and culture industries serve the interest of capitalism by reinforcing traditional gender roles and supporting the status quo created by the dominant ideology.
-Male gaze:
*used by Laura Mulvey to describe what she saw as the male point of view adopted by the camera for the benefit of an assumed male audience.
-Gender consumption:
the way that gender affects our consumption of media texts.
-Femme fatale:
in french film noir theory a famale character who uses her sexuality, often in devious, disreputable, secretive ways, to achieve the ends she desires.
-Active audience theory:
This audience theory sees the audience as active participants in the process of deconding and making sense of media texts. This can be relevent to my study because while im talkin about audience i can say how they active audience would consume the text in different ways e.gg. feminist could say that females are becoming more powerful.
-Stereotype:
The social classification of a group of people by identifying common characteristics and universily applying them in an often over simplified and genralised way. This is linked to my study because i will be talkin about the stereotypes that the females in my text are associated with for example sexual objects etc.
The process by whereby the media constructs version of people.
-Radical femenism:
A femenist perspective that sees men as the enemy who have used patriachy and the traditional family structure to suppress all women, regardless of class, culture or ethnicity
-Post femenism:
Part of the postmodern perspective which takes the achievements of feminism for granted and views it as ineffective in explaining the current condition of women and the many identity choices they face.
-Mulvey, Laura:
femenist academic and media and film critic, responsible for developing theories of the male gaze in her 1975 essay 'Visual Pleasure' and 'Narrative Cinema'.
-Marxist femenism:
A femenist perspective which sees capitalism as the principle source of gender inequalities.
* In a capitalist class hierachy, women are seen as being subordinate to men and serving the male workforce in terms of low-paid, low-status employment and unpaid domestic labour and child rearing.
*Domestic violence against women is seen to be the result of the powerless male workforce exercising its fustration on the famle sex rather than directing it at the class system.
*The media and culture industries serve the interest of capitalism by reinforcing traditional gender roles and supporting the status quo created by the dominant ideology.
-Male gaze:
*used by Laura Mulvey to describe what she saw as the male point of view adopted by the camera for the benefit of an assumed male audience.
-Gender consumption:
the way that gender affects our consumption of media texts.
-Femme fatale:
in french film noir theory a famale character who uses her sexuality, often in devious, disreputable, secretive ways, to achieve the ends she desires.
-Active audience theory:
This audience theory sees the audience as active participants in the process of deconding and making sense of media texts. This can be relevent to my study because while im talkin about audience i can say how they active audience would consume the text in different ways e.gg. feminist could say that females are becoming more powerful.
-Stereotype:
The social classification of a group of people by identifying common characteristics and universily applying them in an often over simplified and genralised way. This is linked to my study because i will be talkin about the stereotypes that the females in my text are associated with for example sexual objects etc.
Kill Bill Trailer
This is the trailer to Kill Bill, which is similar to the text which i am studying. Both the films include female protagonists who are challenging the stereotypes that females are associated with. In the trailer the first shot of Uma Thurman is a low angle therefore the camera is looking up at her which could portray her as superior and powerful. This is common throughout the trailer as most of the shots of the female actions stars are low angle, as they are looking down at the camera, this makes the audience feel inferior to them. In the trailer Uma Thurman is holding a sword most of the time, this could be a symbol of her power and strength. At one part there is a group of men "Crazy 88" surrounding her and shes on her own, the men are all dressed in black which clearly have connotations of evil in contrast to Thurmans costume which is all yellow, which could have possible connotations of power. Also as she draws her sword back all the men move one step back, this implies that they are afraid of her, this could be challenging the stereotypes that men are more powerful and physically stronger then women, as she is the only female fighting the "crazy 88".
Related films:
Catwoman:
Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) is a timid woman who can't stand up for herself. She lets people walk all over her, and has wasted her artistic talent working for a cosmetic company as a graphic designer. George Hedare (Lambert Wilson) runs the company with his supermodel wife, Laurel (Sharon Stone). The company is about to launch a new anti-aging product nationwide. Patience must go to the production factory to deliver her artwork, and she accidentally hears that the product has unsafe health problems. To keep the secret safe, she must to be eliminated. Patience runs into a large waste water pipe, where she is trapped, and they flush her into the river, where she drowns. An Egyptian Mau cat has been watching Patience for several days, knowing that she was about to die. The cat has special powers that are given only to a few deserving women after they die. Patience is reborn with new catlike powers. She now becomes Catwoman with the senses and agility of a cat. Patience and Catwoman are two completely different people, yet they are one. Catwoman goes on the prowl, looking for the reason why she was murdered, and then for revenge. A police detective, Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), who is investigating crimes, that he thinks Catwoman committed, meets Patience and asks her out for a date. Catwoman's wild side begins to have more influence over Patience, and she begins to follow her own rules. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)
Charlie's Angels:
Kill Bill:
The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad consists of five most deadly killers, led by Bill. There is O'Ren-Ishii as Cottonmouth, Elle Driver as California Mountain Snake, Vernita Green as Copperhead, Budd as Sidewinder. And there is The Bride, whose name is not spoken, who wanted to quit because she was pregnant. One day, somewhere in the Texas desert, The Bride wanted to marry the love of her life. Then Bill and her former colleagues showed up and killed everyone there. But they did not do a good enough job: The Bride survives, barely, and is in a coma for four years. Her colleagues know this but won't kill her in her sleep, it would just ruin the reputation. One day, The Bride awakens. For her, not a second has consciously passed, and after she realizes all the things that have happened, The Bride decides to take revenge. Bloody revenge. On each single one of those who betrayed her. First on her death list is Cottonmouth, who has become the yakuza boss of Tokyo, Japan, second in line is Copperhead, who chose a more decent life as well. The Bride sets out to take back what was once hers: Her life.
Patience Phillips (Halle Berry) is a timid woman who can't stand up for herself. She lets people walk all over her, and has wasted her artistic talent working for a cosmetic company as a graphic designer. George Hedare (Lambert Wilson) runs the company with his supermodel wife, Laurel (Sharon Stone). The company is about to launch a new anti-aging product nationwide. Patience must go to the production factory to deliver her artwork, and she accidentally hears that the product has unsafe health problems. To keep the secret safe, she must to be eliminated. Patience runs into a large waste water pipe, where she is trapped, and they flush her into the river, where she drowns. An Egyptian Mau cat has been watching Patience for several days, knowing that she was about to die. The cat has special powers that are given only to a few deserving women after they die. Patience is reborn with new catlike powers. She now becomes Catwoman with the senses and agility of a cat. Patience and Catwoman are two completely different people, yet they are one. Catwoman goes on the prowl, looking for the reason why she was murdered, and then for revenge. A police detective, Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), who is investigating crimes, that he thinks Catwoman committed, meets Patience and asks her out for a date. Catwoman's wild side begins to have more influence over Patience, and she begins to follow her own rules. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)
Charlie's Angels:
Kill Bill:
The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad consists of five most deadly killers, led by Bill. There is O'Ren-Ishii as Cottonmouth, Elle Driver as California Mountain Snake, Vernita Green as Copperhead, Budd as Sidewinder. And there is The Bride, whose name is not spoken, who wanted to quit because she was pregnant. One day, somewhere in the Texas desert, The Bride wanted to marry the love of her life. Then Bill and her former colleagues showed up and killed everyone there. But they did not do a good enough job: The Bride survives, barely, and is in a coma for four years. Her colleagues know this but won't kill her in her sleep, it would just ruin the reputation. One day, The Bride awakens. For her, not a second has consciously passed, and after she realizes all the things that have happened, The Bride decides to take revenge. Bloody revenge. On each single one of those who betrayed her. First on her death list is Cottonmouth, who has become the yakuza boss of Tokyo, Japan, second in line is Copperhead, who chose a more decent life as well. The Bride sets out to take back what was once hers: Her life.
Usefull sites
*This is linked to women:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html
This is linked to Luara Mulvey who is one of the theorists I will be talking about in my independent study.
*Gender, Race and Ethnicity
http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/resources/GenderMedia/femmedia.html
This will be useful as it shows me a feminist point of view and will help me understand the topic more.
*Media, Gender and Identity
http://theoryhead.com/gender/extract.htm
This is a website about how gender is represented in todays modern world.
*Media/Gender/Identity
http://www.theory.org.uk/giddens.htm
A website dedicated to theory and gender helping me gain scope of my topic.
*Gender and Representation
http://mediaknowall.com/gender.html
This has lots to do with gender and shows different role models and stereotypes of each gender.
*Kiranjits Blog
http://killbill-volumetwo.blogspot.com/
This will help me as it is on Kill Bill which is a related text and focuses on the representation of women.
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html
This is linked to Luara Mulvey who is one of the theorists I will be talking about in my independent study.
*Gender, Race and Ethnicity
http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/resources/GenderMedia/femmedia.html
This will be useful as it shows me a feminist point of view and will help me understand the topic more.
*Media, Gender and Identity
http://theoryhead.com/gender/extract.htm
This is a website about how gender is represented in todays modern world.
*Media/Gender/Identity
http://www.theory.org.uk/giddens.htm
A website dedicated to theory and gender helping me gain scope of my topic.
*Gender and Representation
http://mediaknowall.com/gender.html
This has lots to do with gender and shows different role models and stereotypes of each gender.
*Kiranjits Blog
http://killbill-volumetwo.blogspot.com/
This will help me as it is on Kill Bill which is a related text and focuses on the representation of women.
Friday, 24 October 2008
Self Evaluation
Attainment-3
*I would give myself a 3 for attainment as my achievements so far in the course are averagely good and could be better. I hope that as I go on with the course my attainment in the course goes better.
Effort -3
*I would give myself a 3 for effort as I believe this term I have not really put in allot of effort in lesson however this is kind of because I haven’t really done much in lessons apart from presentations, hopefully next term we will do more work in lesson therefore I will be able to put more effort in.
Punctuality-3/2
*I consider my punctuality as averagely good this is as sometimes I tend to make silly mistakes. These can be redeemed by using spell check after each piece of work I do. I have given myself a 2 for punctuality as well this is as most of the time I have come to lesson on time.
Submission and quality of homework-2/3
*Sometimes my homework is really good and sometimes it is averagely good, this is as I believe that my work on my presentation and some other homework’s have been really good, however some have been a little less good such as the highlighting homework’s to make these better it would be good if I also annotated the parts that I highlighted. Most of the time my homework is always completed on time.
Ability to work independently-2
*I believe the ability of me being able to work independently is very good, this is as all the work that I have produced on my blog is my independent work and I have done a large amount of work on the blog and most of this work is of good quality.
Quality of writing-2/3
*I have given myself a 2/3 for my quality of written work as most of the work that I have posted up on my blog is of really good quality, however some of the work is slightly less good as I have not put enough effort in that work.
Organisation of Media folder-1
*I consider the organisation of my media folder as very good this is as everything is in order.
Oral contributions in class- 3
*I believe my Oral contribution is OK this is as sometimes I do take part when we have oral discussions or something but then this term we haven’t really had any oral discussions or work in lesson.
Standard of Module 5 blog-2
*I believe the standard of my Med 5 blog is pretty good this is as I have done allot of work of work on my blog which is of good quality.
Standard of Module 6 blog-4
*My med 6 blog is quite poor this is as I have only done 2 posts on the blog so far and the quality is OK.
*I would give myself a 3 for attainment as my achievements so far in the course are averagely good and could be better. I hope that as I go on with the course my attainment in the course goes better.
Effort -3
*I would give myself a 3 for effort as I believe this term I have not really put in allot of effort in lesson however this is kind of because I haven’t really done much in lessons apart from presentations, hopefully next term we will do more work in lesson therefore I will be able to put more effort in.
Punctuality-3/2
*I consider my punctuality as averagely good this is as sometimes I tend to make silly mistakes. These can be redeemed by using spell check after each piece of work I do. I have given myself a 2 for punctuality as well this is as most of the time I have come to lesson on time.
Submission and quality of homework-2/3
*Sometimes my homework is really good and sometimes it is averagely good, this is as I believe that my work on my presentation and some other homework’s have been really good, however some have been a little less good such as the highlighting homework’s to make these better it would be good if I also annotated the parts that I highlighted. Most of the time my homework is always completed on time.
Ability to work independently-2
*I believe the ability of me being able to work independently is very good, this is as all the work that I have produced on my blog is my independent work and I have done a large amount of work on the blog and most of this work is of good quality.
Quality of writing-2/3
*I have given myself a 2/3 for my quality of written work as most of the work that I have posted up on my blog is of really good quality, however some of the work is slightly less good as I have not put enough effort in that work.
Organisation of Media folder-1
*I consider the organisation of my media folder as very good this is as everything is in order.
Oral contributions in class- 3
*I believe my Oral contribution is OK this is as sometimes I do take part when we have oral discussions or something but then this term we haven’t really had any oral discussions or work in lesson.
Standard of Module 5 blog-2
*I believe the standard of my Med 5 blog is pretty good this is as I have done allot of work of work on my blog which is of good quality.
Standard of Module 6 blog-4
*My med 6 blog is quite poor this is as I have only done 2 posts on the blog so far and the quality is OK.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Action plan timetable
1. Complete my action plan – 20th October 2008
2. Get some books that relate to my question (representation of women)- 24th October 2008
3. Do more research on representation of women- 25th October - 2nd October 2008
4. Do more research and focus more on wider context because I haven’t really focused allot on them so far this relates to A02- 25th October- 2nd October 2008
5. Go on The Guardian at least twice a week- 21st October 2008
6. Do spell check after every piece of work that I complete this will relate to the quality of my written communication and hopefully improve it- 20th October 2008
7. Look at least 10 keywords that would be useful to my text this would link to AO5- 20th October 2008
8. Watch Resident Evil Extinction again- 25th October 2008
9. Watch the other texts that I am going to link my study to this would link to A05 as I would be researching my text more- 26th October- 27th October 2008
10. Read what people have written about my presentation, www and ebi and try to improve on the ebi’s for future presentations- Next presentation
11. Research on the director of the film- 22nd October 2008
12.Copy and paste all links from the sites that I get researh from, this will help me for my bibliography- Everytime I get research from a website
2. Get some books that relate to my question (representation of women)- 24th October 2008
3. Do more research on representation of women- 25th October - 2nd October 2008
4. Do more research and focus more on wider context because I haven’t really focused allot on them so far this relates to A02- 25th October- 2nd October 2008
5. Go on The Guardian at least twice a week- 21st October 2008
6. Do spell check after every piece of work that I complete this will relate to the quality of my written communication and hopefully improve it- 20th October 2008
7. Look at least 10 keywords that would be useful to my text this would link to AO5- 20th October 2008
8. Watch Resident Evil Extinction again- 25th October 2008
9. Watch the other texts that I am going to link my study to this would link to A05 as I would be researching my text more- 26th October- 27th October 2008
10. Read what people have written about my presentation, www and ebi and try to improve on the ebi’s for future presentations- Next presentation
11. Research on the director of the film- 22nd October 2008
12.Copy and paste all links from the sites that I get researh from, this will help me for my bibliography- Everytime I get research from a website
Friday, 10 October 2008
My Presentation...
WWW: =)
*Compared historical image of woman and New image of woman
*Not alot of text on the slides
*Sound on the slides and Colour- looked good
*Explained the points on the slide
*Migrain analysis
*Highlighted key points
*Conclusion
EBI: =(
*I compared historical text to my text
*Spoke a bit slower ans stop saying yeah!
*Customise the animations so each point comes up one by one
*Spell Check!!! PHALLIC ,Not FALIX heehehehe
Targets:
*Research representation of woman more on blog
*Research on the director
*Link theorists to the text
*Analyse the text more
*Compared historical image of woman and New image of woman
*Not alot of text on the slides
*Sound on the slides and Colour- looked good
*Explained the points on the slide
*Migrain analysis
*Highlighted key points
*Conclusion
EBI: =(
*I compared historical text to my text
*Spoke a bit slower ans stop saying yeah!
*Customise the animations so each point comes up one by one
*Spell Check!!! PHALLIC ,Not FALIX heehehehe
Targets:
*Research representation of woman more on blog
*Research on the director
*Link theorists to the text
*Analyse the text more
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Social Context
Nowadays women have been represented more in action movies and change can easily be seen through the movies. The narrative of a typical action film has not changed much but the character has from male to female. This shows that society is changing and becoming less patriarchal and it shows how women now can do anything men can do. This change is seen through movies developing over time and bringing women from being passive characters to main characters in action films.
Historical Context
Earlier in films women were used as passive characters in films and not taken seriously, they were used as sex objects to seduce men and created a bigger audience for films. Now women have a much stronger purpose in films, it started happening slowly and now gradually more films are coming out whereby women have a positive main role in a film just like REE.
Economic Context
Women are respected much more now and it’s not only men who earn for a household now. So from this it shows how women are just as good as men and just as wealthy as men.
Political Context
Most movies have a message whereby it is reflected due to the mood at the time, in REE I think it shows how women have moved and changed so much in society and now society is much more correct and slightly more fair.
Nowadays women have been represented more in action movies and change can easily be seen through the movies. The narrative of a typical action film has not changed much but the character has from male to female. This shows that society is changing and becoming less patriarchal and it shows how women now can do anything men can do. This change is seen through movies developing over time and bringing women from being passive characters to main characters in action films.
Historical Context
Earlier in films women were used as passive characters in films and not taken seriously, they were used as sex objects to seduce men and created a bigger audience for films. Now women have a much stronger purpose in films, it started happening slowly and now gradually more films are coming out whereby women have a positive main role in a film just like REE.
Economic Context
Women are respected much more now and it’s not only men who earn for a household now. So from this it shows how women are just as good as men and just as wealthy as men.
Political Context
Most movies have a message whereby it is reflected due to the mood at the time, in REE I think it shows how women have moved and changed so much in society and now society is much more correct and slightly more fair.
Monday, 6 October 2008
SELF-ASSESSMENT OF BLOG WORK
AO1 - demonstrate knowledge and application of the Key Concepts employed within Media Studies and the evaluation of texts and ideas using the Key Concepts
I feel as though I have analyzed my topic with the key concepts quite well, especially when analyzing specific clips from YouTube. The key concept which i have covered most is representation, as my entire independent study is based on the representation of women. I have also looked at audience and media language in detail. I think I have achieved this objective fairly well as I have been doing many MIGRAIN analysis of the trailer and the whole movie. Also I think this is one of the easier objectives as I have been learning how to meet this objective well since yr12. Even though representation is one of the concepts that I have done a large amount on work on I feel that I could still do more as it is the main aim of my research, I will meet this by getting books on representations and finding more useful sites that can help me.
AO2 - demonstrate knowledge and application of the wider contexts (historical, social, political, economic) relevant to Media Studies
I have not yet focused a lot on the wider contexts. I have not covered aspects of SHEP yet. I could cover these by looking at some olden days movies of women for Historical concept.
AO5 - demonstrate the ability to use appropriate investigative and research techniques in carrying out an independent study of a media text, topic or issue
I have not yet fully covered all the available literature of my text. I have used online services to get reviews and quotes of my film however; I need to get more book research to ensure that I get a variety of research from all sources which I then can add in in my essay.
I think I have formulated a good question as it is not a very complicated question therefore it is clear and easy to understand. I feel that with this question I can explore a number of representations which are brought up in the film.
My hypothesis is not very detailed; however it is detailed slightly but could be more detailed, though it does state what intend to find out from my study.
I have considered a few of the issues and debates that occur or surround my study. The issues and debates which are clear from my study are male dominance, representation of women as weak and dominant.
I have undertaken a fair amount of textual analysis and have analyzed the film trailer, and the film itself.
I have viewed my text twice.
I have not analyzed my text in detail from different theoretical perspectives; however I have looked at feminist theoretical perspectives.
I have not yet analyzed other texts from the same/different genre from my texts, however I do definitely intend on doing that soon.
I have been keeping record of useful sites that I have got information from, such as, useful quotes from reviews, but I have not read any books about my text therefore I have not kept a record of any useful pages from books.
SYNOPTIC ABILTY- draw together understanding of Key Concepts, from different parts of the specification in order to make effective textual readings
-draw upon knowledge and application of a wide range of possible relevant contexts, in order to account for the characteristics of media texts.
I have studied my text to other parts of my course such as narrative and theories such as Levi Strauss and Binary opposition. I have not yet read Media Guardian a lot or found any relevant stories, but I am definitely going to research more.
CRITICAL AUTONOMY - apply critical ideas and principles to new situations – and demonstrate media literacy in responses to media texts
I am thinking for myself and coming up with my own ideas.
I am working independently. I have been O.K with my self motivation, as the movie that I have chosen for my independent study is pretty boring, however the related texts are pretty interesting therefore I look forward to research them.
QUALITY OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
-select and use forms and styles of writing appropriate to purpose and complex subject matter
- organise relevant information clearly and coherently, using specialist vocabulary when appropriate
-ensure text is legible, and spelling, grammar and punctuation are accurate, so that meaning is clear
So far I think that my work is presented quite well. My spelling, grammar and punctuation all seem to be accurate; however my work could be better by highlighting key words. I could also use more media terminology to make my work better.
I feel as though I have analyzed my topic with the key concepts quite well, especially when analyzing specific clips from YouTube. The key concept which i have covered most is representation, as my entire independent study is based on the representation of women. I have also looked at audience and media language in detail. I think I have achieved this objective fairly well as I have been doing many MIGRAIN analysis of the trailer and the whole movie. Also I think this is one of the easier objectives as I have been learning how to meet this objective well since yr12. Even though representation is one of the concepts that I have done a large amount on work on I feel that I could still do more as it is the main aim of my research, I will meet this by getting books on representations and finding more useful sites that can help me.
AO2 - demonstrate knowledge and application of the wider contexts (historical, social, political, economic) relevant to Media Studies
I have not yet focused a lot on the wider contexts. I have not covered aspects of SHEP yet. I could cover these by looking at some olden days movies of women for Historical concept.
AO5 - demonstrate the ability to use appropriate investigative and research techniques in carrying out an independent study of a media text, topic or issue
I have not yet fully covered all the available literature of my text. I have used online services to get reviews and quotes of my film however; I need to get more book research to ensure that I get a variety of research from all sources which I then can add in in my essay.
I think I have formulated a good question as it is not a very complicated question therefore it is clear and easy to understand. I feel that with this question I can explore a number of representations which are brought up in the film.
My hypothesis is not very detailed; however it is detailed slightly but could be more detailed, though it does state what intend to find out from my study.
I have considered a few of the issues and debates that occur or surround my study. The issues and debates which are clear from my study are male dominance, representation of women as weak and dominant.
I have undertaken a fair amount of textual analysis and have analyzed the film trailer, and the film itself.
I have viewed my text twice.
I have not analyzed my text in detail from different theoretical perspectives; however I have looked at feminist theoretical perspectives.
I have not yet analyzed other texts from the same/different genre from my texts, however I do definitely intend on doing that soon.
I have been keeping record of useful sites that I have got information from, such as, useful quotes from reviews, but I have not read any books about my text therefore I have not kept a record of any useful pages from books.
SYNOPTIC ABILTY- draw together understanding of Key Concepts, from different parts of the specification in order to make effective textual readings
-draw upon knowledge and application of a wide range of possible relevant contexts, in order to account for the characteristics of media texts.
I have studied my text to other parts of my course such as narrative and theories such as Levi Strauss and Binary opposition. I have not yet read Media Guardian a lot or found any relevant stories, but I am definitely going to research more.
CRITICAL AUTONOMY - apply critical ideas and principles to new situations – and demonstrate media literacy in responses to media texts
I am thinking for myself and coming up with my own ideas.
I am working independently. I have been O.K with my self motivation, as the movie that I have chosen for my independent study is pretty boring, however the related texts are pretty interesting therefore I look forward to research them.
QUALITY OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
-select and use forms and styles of writing appropriate to purpose and complex subject matter
- organise relevant information clearly and coherently, using specialist vocabulary when appropriate
-ensure text is legible, and spelling, grammar and punctuation are accurate, so that meaning is clear
So far I think that my work is presented quite well. My spelling, grammar and punctuation all seem to be accurate; however my work could be better by highlighting key words. I could also use more media terminology to make my work better.
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Assessment objectives
- AO1: Key ConceptsThis objective is OK, as we used it last year, however i can improve by practicing on my independent study, to see what else I can add in.
- AO2: Wider ContextI will read Media Guardian on a regular basis as well as reading newspapers, which I already do.
- AO3.2: Comparing and Accounting for similarities and differencesI will practice by comparing at least 2 texts a week, and will bring the rest of the assessment objectives in my answer. Then I can see what my targets would be.
-AO3.1: Issues/Debates/TheoriesI will research over the internet different theories and theorists that I will need to use in the future. I will also look at blogs from last year and read a variety of books.- AO5: Research TechniquesI will start to broaden my techniques my reading books
- AO2: Wider ContextI will read Media Guardian on a regular basis as well as reading newspapers, which I already do.
- AO3.2: Comparing and Accounting for similarities and differencesI will practice by comparing at least 2 texts a week, and will bring the rest of the assessment objectives in my answer. Then I can see what my targets would be.
-AO3.1: Issues/Debates/TheoriesI will research over the internet different theories and theorists that I will need to use in the future. I will also look at blogs from last year and read a variety of books.- AO5: Research TechniquesI will start to broaden my techniques my reading books
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
MIGRAIN analysis of REE Trailer
The trailer starts with Milla Jovovich lying in a bathroom and only covered in the shower net. The camera zooms out on her and shows her whole body. In this image she is represented as week as she has no clothes on and looks helpless. She is also represented as a sex object and reinforces the stereotypes that women are seen as sex objects, she also reinforces some of the stereotypes that are linked to Malveys 'male gaze' theory. The lighting is very dark which foreshadows that something bad is going to happen or has already happened. After the shot of her in the shower the camera cuts into some fast cuts of a DNA bottle crashing, helicopters, zombies and bomb blasts, these fast cuts set a genre of thriller, also seeing bombs blasts and zombies also shows a genre of Sci-fi. After the sequence of so many fast jump cuts the camera slows down and we see Jovovich walking first in a dark corridor and then in a white, bright corridor, the cut from a dark lighting shot then a white shot shows an ideology between good and Evil. This could give the audience a clue that the story is line is about good vs. evil. In the next shot we see Jovovich get shot the camera then fades to black and we see her fall to the fall, the fade to black creates a sense of sadness in the audience as it slows the shot down. In all of these shots the music is quite slow paced which build up tension to the audience. We then see a man who looks like a scientist talk about clones and samples of blood, the camera then zooms out and shows loads of Jovovichs in a laboratory this emphasises that the movie is a genre of sci-fi. We then see a shot of the institution sign of the film in big which are, ‘Screen Gems’. Screen Gems is an American subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation. Screen Gems mostly make movies that are thriller or Sci-fi, such as, Zombies and The Grudge. After the institution is shown the movie is kind of gone to a new theme, this is as before the institution was shown Milla Jovovich is represented as weak; this is as she gets killed. However in the shots shown after the institution was shown she is represented as an independent and strong female, her character seems to be challenging the stereotypes that females are associated with weak, emotional, and sex objects. Milla Jovovich is represented as dominant in the trailer as we can see her riding a motorbike which is usually associated to men who are mostly stereotyped as strong and powerful. She is also shown as a powerful character and challenges stereotypes as she is shown using weapons such as guns and machete’s to kill zombies. Also the music in this second half of the trailer is very fast paced and involves more action dominated roles. There are many narrative theories that can be applied to the film, one of them include the Proppian theory. The film contains both hero (Milla Jovovich) we can tell this because she is the main icon on the poster of the film e.g. she’s positioned in the middle also the film starts of with her, and Villain of the film (Iain Glen) this could be identified through his first appearance in the film e.g. in a lab experimenting with clones etc. other narrative theories that can be applied to the film is Todorovs equilibrium theory. However you cannot apply the theory exactly because the film doesn't exactly start of with an equilibrium however there is a disruption and realisation and a new equilibrium where she kills the villain. we can also apply Levi-struasses binary oppositions to the movie, for example there is the binary oppositions of good and evil and light and dark. The film also contains narrative enigmas for example at the beginning you see a big close up of the protagonist eye, it then slowly zooms out showing her in a bathtub with a white cloth over her, this starts getting the audience thinking as to why she’s there and what the situation and the slow paced music also builds up tension which therefore leaving them wanting to know more. Milla Jovovich is viewed as the hero ‘who will save the day’ not just through the shots but through the way the shots are put into sequence with the phrases, such as the phrases “One women” “Is the Final HOPE” come in the trailer and after each of these phrases a clip of Milla Jovovich is shown doing an action move or killing someone, this represents Jovovich as a dominant and independent women. Jovochic is represented as powerful, mainly through the use of propp's e.g. her gun. The film Resident evil clearly suggests that the representation of females within the film industry has changed, due to the reason that nowadays there are many female action stars whereas before females were only given parts which fitted in with their stereotypes e.g. housewife or object of sexual desire for the male. By Jovovich taking on a masculine role she is presenting females as more independent and strong. On the other hand it can also be argued that she is still represented as a sexual object, mainly through her clothing, for example at the beginning of the film she is wearing a red dress which is quite revealing, this could portray her as seductive. The text is likely to be aimed at teenagers and adults from all ethnic groups aged 18-35 who are interested in action/horror movies. The primary audience could be males because of the genre of the film; action, which boys are normally associated with, however due to the protagonist being a female it could also be primarily aimed at females. From the text we can tell that the audience would be interested in films that include violence and guns because the film includes many scenes of violence. The audience could be consuming this text mainly for entertainment or division; to escape from the reality they are in. The audience are actively engaged in the interpretation of the text therefore they would be decoding the text in ways that relate to their social experience. The film is likely to be aimed at people of all genders and ethnicity in order to target a wide range of audience, in order for the film to be successful, also the film does not contain any particular ethnic groups e.g. whites whereas it includes ethnic groups such as black and white and also other actors e,g, Oded Fehr, an Israeli.
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