Gender Stereotypes In Film Analysis
‘What we watch on the screen could and should be interpreted as bearing a latent, and partly hidden, meaning, reflecting the profound concerns of the culture it emerges from, thus eliciting emotions, pleasure and pain.’ (Sassatelli, 2011)
Introduction
Through this essay, I will attempt to examine various codes and character portrayals that contribute to the representation of women within the domain of film fiction. My intention is to review exactly how women are represented and investigate whether fictional characters play a part in perpetuating harmful stereotypes. Laura Mulvey will be intermittently mentioned as a pioneering figure of feminist film theory, her discourse will be applied and challenged within the following pages.
The variety of films mentioned aims to provide an extensive inquiry into both modern and traditional films. To substantiate this inquiry, an article by Paste Magazine has been supplemented, containing some of the most well-known and endorsed films of the 21st century. The logic behind including an article of this nature is to examine mainstream/dominant culture as it communicates the disposition and context of …show more content…
(Sampson 2015: online) In her essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975: 63), Mulvey reveals how films are structured in a way that facilitate the viewer to objectify female characters and to identify with an “ideal ego” (Freud 1991: 397) of the male protagonist. Mulvey identifies this phallocentric structure of cinema as a byproduct of a patriarchal society. Essentially stating that a male-orientated society will undoubtedly create male-orientated art. (1975: 57) Within this patriarchal realm, it is argued that cinema thus far has been constructed for the pleasure of a male audience, and as Mulvey states, “pleasure in looking has been split between active/male (subject) and passive/female (object).” (1975:
Introduction
Through this essay, I will attempt to examine various codes and character portrayals that contribute to the representation of women within the domain of film fiction. My intention is to review exactly how women are represented and investigate whether fictional characters play a part in perpetuating harmful stereotypes. Laura Mulvey will be intermittently mentioned as a pioneering figure of feminist film theory, her discourse will be applied and challenged within the following pages.
The variety of films mentioned aims to provide an extensive inquiry into both modern and traditional films. To substantiate this inquiry, an article by Paste Magazine has been supplemented, containing some of the most well-known and endorsed films of the 21st century. The logic behind including an article of this nature is to examine mainstream/dominant culture as it communicates the disposition and context of …show more content…
(Sampson 2015: online) In her essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975: 63), Mulvey reveals how films are structured in a way that facilitate the viewer to objectify female characters and to identify with an “ideal ego” (Freud 1991: 397) of the male protagonist. Mulvey identifies this phallocentric structure of cinema as a byproduct of a patriarchal society. Essentially stating that a male-orientated society will undoubtedly create male-orientated art. (1975: 57) Within this patriarchal realm, it is argued that cinema thus far has been constructed for the pleasure of a male audience, and as Mulvey states, “pleasure in looking has been split between active/male (subject) and passive/female (object).” (1975: