Analyse How an Adaptation of Your Choice Deals with Gender - Catwoman
Analyse how an adaptation of your choice deals with gender.
The representation of female super heroes in the media can be said to have had huge institutional, political and social influences that would suggest those in power are favoured at the expense of those without. Female super heroes tend to promote sexualisation and stereotypical gender roles of women, throughout comic books and super hero movies, but why?
In this essay I will look at the character of Catwoman, and her representation as a female, particularly in the 2004 adaptation film “Catwoman”. Originally, she is an iconic character in the batman series. Created in 1940 by Bob Kane (batman creator) and Bill Finger, she has had a strong presence in batman comics and adaptations since then. Her role as a mysterious burglar and jewel thief led her to just miss out on a place in the top ten, ranking 11th in IGN’s ‘Top 100 comic book Villains of all time’ (2009) and 51st in Wizard magazines ‘100 greatest villains of all time’ list (2006). The character has been used in hundreds of comic books, as well as video games, radio stations, TV series, animated series and films. Although she is featured in mostly batman productions and texts, Catwoman was given her first comic book series in 1993, written mostly by Jim Balent. Several years down the line, Catwoman stared as the lead role in the feature film, made in 2004.
The movie was an example of post feminism at its best, as in the 1970’s, only 15% of action adventure movies cast female leads. The movie was directed by Pitof and was released on July 23 by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures. The cast members include Halle Berry, who plays Catwoman, Benjamin Bratt, Sharon Stone and Frances Conroy. I have chosen to analyse this movie because females are not usually given dominant roles in superhero movies, especially as the lead character. There are many stereotypes that surround women, and I believe this movie challenges those.
The film was
The representation of female super heroes in the media can be said to have had huge institutional, political and social influences that would suggest those in power are favoured at the expense of those without. Female super heroes tend to promote sexualisation and stereotypical gender roles of women, throughout comic books and super hero movies, but why?
In this essay I will look at the character of Catwoman, and her representation as a female, particularly in the 2004 adaptation film “Catwoman”. Originally, she is an iconic character in the batman series. Created in 1940 by Bob Kane (batman creator) and Bill Finger, she has had a strong presence in batman comics and adaptations since then. Her role as a mysterious burglar and jewel thief led her to just miss out on a place in the top ten, ranking 11th in IGN’s ‘Top 100 comic book Villains of all time’ (2009) and 51st in Wizard magazines ‘100 greatest villains of all time’ list (2006). The character has been used in hundreds of comic books, as well as video games, radio stations, TV series, animated series and films. Although she is featured in mostly batman productions and texts, Catwoman was given her first comic book series in 1993, written mostly by Jim Balent. Several years down the line, Catwoman stared as the lead role in the feature film, made in 2004.
The movie was an example of post feminism at its best, as in the 1970’s, only 15% of action adventure movies cast female leads. The movie was directed by Pitof and was released on July 23 by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures. The cast members include Halle Berry, who plays Catwoman, Benjamin Bratt, Sharon Stone and Frances Conroy. I have chosen to analyse this movie because females are not usually given dominant roles in superhero movies, especially as the lead character. There are many stereotypes that surround women, and I believe this movie challenges those.
The film was
Bibliography: * Angela McRobbie, (1994). Postmodernism and Popular Culture, Routledge * Catwoman Dialogue, (2004) Warner Bros and Villiage Roadshow. * Judith Butler, (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, Routledge, London. * Kevin Maher, (2005) ‘A hard woman is good to find’ The Times article. * Laura Mulvey, (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema * D.B Dowd Todd * Lillian S Robinson, (2004). Wonder Woman: Feminisms and Superheroes. Pp125. * Richard Reynolds, (1994). ‘Superheroes: A Modern Mythology’, pp 30 * Roger Ebert, (2006) * Simone de Beauvior, (1949) ‘The Second Sex’. Pan Books, London (1988). * Suzan Colon, (2004). ‘The many faces of Catwoman’ documentry * Wizard 177 (July 2006) p88