Post-modernism
"The state, condition, or period subsequent to that which is modern; spec. in architecture, the arts, literature, politics, etc., any of various styles, concepts, or points of view involving a conscious departure from modernism, esp. when characterized by a rejection of ideology and theory in favour of a plurality of values and techniques"
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Examples:
Inception
Leonardo DiCaprio stars in this science fiction/thriller, as Dom Cobb, a professional skilled thief who steals valuable, secretive information from the subconscious's of others, during it deep and vulnerable dream state. In exchange for Dom's rare abilities put to use, he is offered a chance at redemption and have his fugitive criminal history erased. He becomes a coveted player in a treacherous game of corporate espionage and embarks on a seemingly impossible journey of inception. However, instead of pulling off a perfect heist Dom and his team must plant an idea, the perfect crime if they get away with it, and fatal danger if they don't. However, no amount of planning can prepare the team for the journey, with a treacherous enemy that seems to know their every move. Someone, that only Dom could see coming. |
Blade Runner:
Another great example of a Postmodern film is Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner, in which technology, science and social development is shown to have failed in some way. The Blade Runner world is corrupted by industrialization and overpopulation, where only the upper class richer class can escape to the "off-worlds". And one of the most apparent key themes in Blade Runner is the blurring of reality and the artificial, among humans and replicants. This brings up the theme of what it means to be "human". Critics have now heralded the film as a "classic" piece of dystopian science fiction. It is postmodern film because it can viewed through a postmodern lens in its style, reception and subject matter. The film even has a postmodern aesthetic that contains several textual references and images. According to critics, "the film-noir voice-over of the original release is juxtaposed with the futuristic, dystopian images" with a displacement in time that showcases a 1950's film in a futuristic portrayal of the world. Moreover, the constant abundance of rain and the film-noir style creates a neo-noir visual style and thematic range. Los Angles in the future is depicted through a mise-en-scene of decay and decline, and this is in itself, a pastiche of our ideas of the East, West and what the would will look like in the future. The story revolves around humans and replicants (people who feel human but are synthetic) striving for an extension to their lifespan. The films constantly asks the question: how do we cope with a world where the image overrides the actual individual themselves. The film, like other postmodern films, forces its audience to confront the way in which the modern world is constructed through a set of binary constructs (Levi-Strauss' binary opposites): good/bad, reality/fiction, human/machine, life/death, etc. The postmodern reading of Blade Runner focuses on how these binary opposites that we hold so close to our morals are undermined and exposed as vulnerable. |
The Hunger Games:
The Hunger Games trilogy represents a hyperreality of a post-apocalyptic world, where Postmodernism attempted to eradicate the divisions within culture and acted as a "specific reaction against the established forms of high modernism, against this or that dominant high modernism". The actual Games themselves bear much resemblance to modern Television and culture, such as "Big Brother", "I'm a celebrity get me out of her" and "Utopia". In shows like "Big Brother" the audience sees the groups of people live with each other in a controlled environment, deriving entertainment from the conflict of survival and emotional breakdowns the people may suffer. Similarly, in the Hunger Games we see competitors pitted against each other for survival in dangerous situations, making it engaging and entertaining for the viewers in living lavishly in the Capitol of Panem. The Capitol represents a dictatorship that holds complete political , economic, environmental and social dominance over the Districts. It is, in some ways, similar to mass media today: that often tricks us into believing that fiction is reality through reality TV, advertisements, etc. The impact mass media can have on its audience is demonstrated by the audience of the Hunger Games that is for the most part passive, who will blindly accept whatever the media feeds to them and stimulates them with. |
Marxism
"The ideas, theories, and methods of Karl Marx; esp. the political and economic theories propounded by Marx together with Friedrich Engels, later developed by their followers to form the basis for the theory and practice of communism.
Central to Marxist theory is an explanation of social change in terms of economic factors, according to which the means of production provide the economic base which determines or influences the political and ideological superstructure. The history of society can be viewed as showing progressive stages in the ownership of the means of production and, hence, the control of political power. Marx and Engles predicted the final revolutionary overthrow of capitalism by the proletariat and the eventual attainment of a classless communist society."
Central to Marxist theory is an explanation of social change in terms of economic factors, according to which the means of production provide the economic base which determines or influences the political and ideological superstructure. The history of society can be viewed as showing progressive stages in the ownership of the means of production and, hence, the control of political power. Marx and Engles predicted the final revolutionary overthrow of capitalism by the proletariat and the eventual attainment of a classless communist society."
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These are the 4 most important principles of this theory:
- Bisection of menial work on the fabrication of resources (Everyone working together with equal opportunity and equal roles in society)
- rank formation (ensemble cast)
- rapid pace of technological extemporization on the manner of fabrication
- product trade
Examples:
Matrix:
Neo (Keanu Reeves) believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question -- What is the Matrix? Neo is contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a beautiful stranger who leads him into an underworld where he meets Morpheus. They fight a brutal battle for their lives against a cadre of viciously intelligent secret agents. It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life. |
The Grapes of Wrath:
Based upon the Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, this John Ford film explores the arduous journey of an Oklahoma family, who after losing their farm during the Great Depression in the 1930s become migrant workers, eventually ending up in California. The story revolves around the protagonist Joads, as he and his family try to find opportunities and work. The Grapes of Wrath can be viewed through a critical lens of Marxism as the film presents a narrative wherein a capitalist society seems to create several problems for the working class population. Even though the farmers have worked hard on the land they inherited from their ancestors, they don't own the property, and so they lose their societal value along with their land. This theme of lack of ownership plagues the characters including Joads throughout the novel. By the end of the film, Joads and his family are living at a workers' camp, homeless and working under the wealthy land owners like Hooper ranch owners, all of whom have a large amount of secured wealth through the means of paying their workers unlivable wages, forcing the workers to depend heavily on them. This could be seen as, through a critical Marxist lens as a socioeconomic relationship between the bourgeoisie, the haves and the proletariat, where the banks and landowners are representative of the bourgeoisie, and Joads is symbolic of proletariats. In the eyes of Steinbeck, the bourgeoisie are guilty of inhumanity due to their treatment of the proletariats. |
Modern Times:
Charlie Chaplin starts as a the Tramp playing a worker in a massive, industrialized assembly-line factory. As the story progress, Chaplin gets involved in labour struggles, falls in love, has run-ins with the law and is accidentally mistaken for a communist. He represents the proletariat in the early 20th century. Looking at this film through a critical Marxist lens highlights two very important messages in this film: the importance of the capitalist's control of a laborer's time, and the relation of the laborer with the machine. The Marxist theory states that the only way for the Capitalists to create profit or surplus value (which is their biggest goal) is through utilization and controlling of labor power. The laborer works to reproduce his/her own value; hence, the less the Capitalist pays the laborer, the longer he/she can force the laborer to work for, and the more efficiency is harvested. |
Auteurism
"A film director whose personal influence and artistic control over his or her films are so great that he or she may be regarded as a body of work, sharing common themes or techniques and expressing an individual style or vision."
The Cahiers Group: Also reffered to "filmoholics", this group of people also known as "cinephiles" were obsessed with filmmaking. One of the leading memebers, Francois Truffaut published the text "Une Certaine Tendance du Cinema Francais" which signaled a radical change in the auteur debate. While he never intended for his work to form the basis of a theory, he put forward two principal ideas: firstly, the mise-en-scene was crucial to the reading of cinema and is essential in film analysis and criticism; and secondly, the director's personal expression is key in distinguishing whether they should be afforded the title of auteur.
Mise-en-scene: describes everything that is in the frame: the set design (props and decor), lighting (and shadows), acting (movement and gesture, not dialogue), costume and make up. This is important in regards to the Auteur theory because the mise en scene is crucial when identifying consistent stylistic traits across films to decide whether or not a director can be classified as an auteur.
Personal Filmmaking: Another part of the theory is the notion that directors pursue topics and objects that have some kind of personal significance, of the political, social or cultural kind. A great example is Spike Lee, who is typically drawn to narratives about race, and Martin Scorsese is frequently drawn to Catholicism.
Cast and Crew: Some auteurs are distinguished by their collaborations with certain actors, cinematographer, writers and composers. Since the cast and crew plays a crucial in the making of a film, a director may often choose to work with a certain chosen group of people to help them execute their visions. A great example is Tim Burton, who has featured actor Johnny Depp in 7 of his films.
Mise-en-scene: describes everything that is in the frame: the set design (props and decor), lighting (and shadows), acting (movement and gesture, not dialogue), costume and make up. This is important in regards to the Auteur theory because the mise en scene is crucial when identifying consistent stylistic traits across films to decide whether or not a director can be classified as an auteur.
Personal Filmmaking: Another part of the theory is the notion that directors pursue topics and objects that have some kind of personal significance, of the political, social or cultural kind. A great example is Spike Lee, who is typically drawn to narratives about race, and Martin Scorsese is frequently drawn to Catholicism.
Cast and Crew: Some auteurs are distinguished by their collaborations with certain actors, cinematographer, writers and composers. Since the cast and crew plays a crucial in the making of a film, a director may often choose to work with a certain chosen group of people to help them execute their visions. A great example is Tim Burton, who has featured actor Johnny Depp in 7 of his films.
Examples:
Wes Anderson
Most of Anderson's films tend to share common theme and genres; a mix of drama, fantasy, romance, adventure and comedy. The directors tends to focus more on the writing and storytelling in his films - his dialogue is often quite heavy and often past-paced. Hence, his films often subvert conventions of classic Hollywood screenwriting. Most of his films also feature the theme of families, and dysfunctional families. He also likes to employ a lot of symmetry and colours in his films, and the latter holds much significance throughout his films and their narratives.
Alfred Hitchcock
He often collaborated with the same people when make many of his films, which is a consistency within his filmography that is necessary for auteurism. Hitchcock’s films are all very psychological in nature, exploring and manipulating the deepest psyches of the characters’ as well as the audiences’ minds. He is also known as a visionary due to his use of camera angles and motion to reveal a voyeuristic experience.
Tim Burton
Most of Burton's films tend to fit into the fantasy genre, incorporating unconventional characters that would not typically be seen in the real world, such as a resurrected dog, or Edward Scissorhands. His work features things that don't really exist, but they are centered around themes that are very human and relatable. His film also have a child-like innocence that explore the delicate, contrasting balance of innocence/darkness and good/bad. Moreover, most of the protagonists in his films are outlaws or outsiders, which may stem from the director's experiences as a child.
Realism
"In reference to art, film and literature: close resemblance to what is real; fidelity of representation, rendering the precise details of the real thing or scene: while realism in art is often used in the same contexts as naturalism, implying a concern with accurate and objective representation, it also suggests a deliberate rejection of conventionally attractive or appropriate subjects in favour of sincerity and a focus on the unidealized treatment of contemporary life. Specifically, the term is applied to a late 19th-century movemnt in French painting and literature."
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- Today realism in cinema is considered to be neither a genre, nor a movement; it is without rigid formal criteria, nor specific subject matter. Cinematic realism is a term that refers to the verisimilitude of a film regarding the believability of the characters and events; and this is most apparent in Hollywood cinema.
Bill Nichols: Modes of Documentary
- Poetic: strongly subjective and inspired by avant-garde films of the 1920s. With disregard for continuity editing and temporal/spatial relations. The mood and aesthetics are more important than knowledge and persuasion. The characters often lack in psychological development, eg: "Life out of Balance" and "Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation".
- Expository: Based on rhetoric and arguments, where the film constructs a forceful argument in need of a solution; often accompanied by a "voice-of-god" perspective, where the information is relayed to the audience. Expository documentaries often adapt this feature, eg: "Why We Fight" series and most news broadcasts.
- Observational: This trend emerged through the development of technology, as lightweight cameras entered the market. The camera follows the movement of the action, often resulting in shaky, amateur footage that is unobtrusive and non-interventionist, with the filmmaker being disregarded as a neutral observer, eg: "The Last Waltz".
- Participatory: This often takes the form interviews, with a questions and answers format; this allows for direct engagement between the filmmaker and the viewers. Here the filmmaker becomes actively involved in the documentary, instigating the action, eg: "Bowling for Columbine".
- Reflexive: This is a more stylized form of documentary, making the audience aware of the artifice of the film and drawing attention to the editing, narrative construction, audience manipulation, etc. This type of film challenges the conventions of realism and truthfullness that frequently associated with documentaries, eg: "Man with a Movie Camera".
Key common traits of realistic filmmaking:
- Location shooting
- Naturalistic lighting
- Long takes
- Handheld cameras
- Unscripted dialogue
- Documentary influence
- Focus on the working class
- A political agenda
Example:
Man on Wire:
This 2008 documentary explores the life of tightrope-walking Frenchman, Philippe Petit and his work and passion for walking on cables. This is a realistic film because it features the real protagonist. not a French actor hired to reenact the events that took place. The film also shows Petit actually doing his dangerous acts, showing him in action; also exploring his relationships and friendships. The documentary also uses natural lighting, handheld camera shots, unscripted dialogue, and location shooting. The film's non-linear narrative also enables it to achieve realism - since life is a non-linear narrative, and the narrative of this film mirrors that. |
The Imitation Game:
This is a historical drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley is a realistic insight into the life of Alana Turning, a brilliant mathematician, with savant talent with mathematics and logical thinking. This film portrays a slightly dramatized version of true events with a cinematic lens, weaving together 3 separate parts of Turning's life. This film most adheres to realism through its political agenda, including themes of War, and homosexuality. |
Young Victoria:
Emily Blunt stars as Queen Victoria, in this realistic period drama. While there is an obvious dramatization of events, the costumes, set design and mise en scene matches that of the real Victorian era, quite closely. The film explores the personal, political and social life of Victoria, adapting a dramatic narrative, while basing it upon real events that took place, hence adhering to realism. |
DEEPER RESEARCH - FEMINISM
A Brief History
“Advocacy of the rights of women, based on the theory of equality of the sexes."
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- 1st Wave: Voting Rights
- 2nd Wave: Equal Pay & Reproductive Rights
- 3rd Wave: Media Portrayal; Gender Roles; Sex Positivity; Equal Pay; Glass Ceiling; Sexual harassment;/Domestic Abuse; Reproductive Rights/Women's Choice; The Prioritization of Men.
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Key Elements of The Feminist Film Theory:
Psychoanalysis and Feminism:
- In the 1960s, several feminists deemed psychoanalysis an antagonist to the feminist theory, primarily due to it's "phallocentric order". Laura Mulvey wanted to discover the "beauty" of this concept, and the way in which it chalks up the frustrations often suffered by women to the "phallocentric order". The feminist theory is juxtaposed against psychoanalysis, which states: "in Freud's view, when they [females] see the boy's genitals are different from their own, they are overcome with envy for the penis and wish to be boys themselves"; castration being a major part of the concept. Psychoanalysis also focuses on the unconscious (different forms of consciences), and feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey wanted to uncover how "the unconscious of patriarchal society has structured film form", stating that "unconscious is structured like a language".
Male Gaze:
- Laura Mulvey is a famous feminist film theorist, infamously known for her essay titled “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, discussing the portrayal of women in media and the idea of the "male gaze", among other topics.
- This concept is a part of the feminist theory, developed by Laura Mulvey who argues that the dominant, controlling gaze of cinema is nearly always heteronormativily male, with the audience being encouraged to identify with the male hero alongside the heroine who is often, for the most part, passive and an objectified commodity of erotic spectacle. Even though the male gaze is a part of this theory, it has over the years become the main talking point for the feminist film debate.
- Mulvey asserts that films are often structured according to the male fantasies regarding voyeurism, scopophilia, narcissism and fetishism.
- Voyeurism focuses on (sexual) pleasure from the object (objectified female) of the gaze being unaware, also known informally as the "Peeping Tom". This term also refers to film and photography viewing the activities of others unbeknownst to them, with forbidden and illicit connotations. This is important seeing as in films, the audience are voyeurs, deriving pleasure from the camera, which is also voyeuristic. It is the practice of gaining sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity.
- Scopophilia is Freudian term that denotes the taking of pleasure from looking. However, this differentiates slightly form voyeurism because the person or image is viewed as an erotic object. For Freud, scopophilia became a perversion, connected to defiant behavior, as seen in voyeurism.
- Fetishism is wherein an object becomes a fetish when it is the focus of sexual desire. A fetishist idealizes an object most often associated with women to displace sexual anxiety. The regular sexual object is returned by another which looks similar to it. This is often substituted for a certain part of the body, eg: images of hair, shoes and hands, can all take on sexual connotations. Audiences may notice a more blatantly intense sexualization and objectification of the female body, eg: breasts, legs, lips, etc. This extreme level of focus on female body parts is a perfect example of fetishism in film.
- Narcissism is erotic pleasure derived from looking at one's own body. Freud and Lacan state that this is a natural stage of childhood, and the audience's ability to identify (Blumler and Katz) with the characters on screen in films can be explained by Lacan's "mirror stage".
Female Voice:
- The female voice is a concept explored by art historian Kaja Silverman, in her book "The Acoustic Mirror", where she points out that the female critique of films has been largely focused upon the image track: the ways in which women in film are constructed as objects for the pleasure of the male gaze.
- Silverman first tackles the literal female voice to talk about how the female voice in cinema is often associated with the stereotypical "damsel in distress". She says that the most common conventions of two-dimensional female characters is their voice which is loudest when they are "crying, panting, or screaming", in need to help, in pain or sensually charged. Therefore, Silverman suggests that females in classic cinema are portrayed to be weak, in need of rescuing and objectified and over-sexualized for the male characters by the male gaze.
- Silverman then deconstructs the metaphorical female voice, talking about the concept of the "disembodied voice" that female characters often posses. This translates to how female characters are often subjugated and objectified for the pleasure of the male, regardless of the their consent.
- Silverman extends Laura Mulvey's ideas through the psychoanalytical method, arguing that the psychoanalysis theory traditionally bows down to the male father-figure. She follows Lacan, starting by questioning one of Freud's most controversial ideas called the Oedipal stage complex, a part of the psychoanalytical theory. Just before the complex is the "Mirror stage", wherein the child learns that a number of objects that it initially believed to belong to its own flesh (eg: a comforting blanket, the mother voice and breast, faeces) are actually separate objects. This stage is crucial as it is where the infant first comes across the "experience of lack". And through this splitting, the infant begins to apprehend itself in the external world of objects. The experience retrospectively acquires the significance of castration when the child enters the Oedipal stage.
- Lacan's interpretations of the Oedipal complex, "the taboo of incest is turned into a function of language: the father says 'no' to the child's incestuous desire for the mother", this is called "the Name of the Father", identifying the father with the law. And "the Name of the Father" positions the infant as a subject in the Symbolic order, the realm of language and social codes, characterized by absence and desire (activated by loss). Through this, the imaginary unity of mother and child is broken up forever."
- The Oepidal complex, therefore, creates a structure for patriarchal social stability by urging the boy to identify with the father and objectify the mother.
- Women were traditionally viewed at the "damsel in distress" and so Silverman, in her work, is literally freeing them from the physical representation of woman/victim on screen. She does so, by deconstructing traditional narratives of Hollywood cinema, analyzing and deconstructing the female voice in a metaphysical way.
Technologies of Gender:
- Teresa de Lauretis, her 1987 landmark essay "The Technology of Gender" analyzes the "paradox of a woman".
- She talks about the way in which the women are simultaneously absent and present in dominant culture. de Lauretis remarks on how this paradox is the first task to unravel for feminist thinkers; this paradox of woman as "constantly spoken of" while she herself remains inaudible, displayed as a spectacle, yet unrepresented. And she explains that this paradox has grounded women in a "real contradiction". Women are, as real social beings, not the same as "the Woman", still they are caught experientially and conceptually between the two; Women everyday, are blasted by these images of "the Woman" in media and advertising, and women refers to those that are expected to live up to those images of the Woman.
- The image of Woman, moreover casts a male shadow. And for de Lauretis, it is imperative that for film analysis to address the non-coincidence between women as historically-specific individuals and "the Woman" produced by dominant discourses (discourses is a key Foucault term that roughly means a "power system").
- The film theorist (influenced by his Marxist mentor, Althusser ), Michel Foucault explores how power is exercised in society through a network of forces and institutions. He focuses on the local forms of power, rather than the state structures such as, the government or police.
- Foucault believed that there are several discourses in society that are internalized by individuals, shaping their perceptions and realities; and power in society often operates through these discourses. This is applied to the feminist theory through the representation of the "Woman" at the top of the hierarchy, facing resistance from the historic-specific women, who are social beings in society and are expected to look up to the Woman.
- This aspirational figure of the "Woman" has been shaped by the technologies of gender, such as, mainstream cinema, radical theories, intellectual communities, the media, schools, law courts and domestic values and morals.
- de Lauretis argues that gender is a social construct that is perpetuated by the technologies of gender in society, with mainstream cinema undoubtedly playing a huge role in the way in which gender is internalized and constructed by individuals; she also states that our individual self-representations impact on the broader, social construction of gender.
- "Thus in addition to the media, schools, law courts, and the family, de Lauretis discusses practices that exist within the margins of hegemonic discourses. For radical theories and avant-garde practices within the academy and the intellectual community - in including feminism - are also technologies of gender." And therefore, at the local, subjective level or level of self-representation, Feminism and other radical theories and practices (called the "technologies" of gender), form a resistance (consisting of women) to dominant representations (of the Woman).
- And due to this existence of the "Woman", formed by a patriarchal society created by men, and most often enforced upon others by women, the Woman is often depicted the object of the male protagonist's desire, or an obstacle to be traversed, culturally coded as "an element of plot-space, a topos, a resistance, matrix and matter" (de Lauretis). She further argues that in the narrative trajectory of typical Hollywood romances, an active masculine subject conquers a reluctant or hesitant female object. Many narratives take the form of an investigation, or a riddle, to be solved. And these narratives are structured by males, to appeal to the male desire, as often the Woman is enigma to be solved and unriddled by the male subject, eg: the femme fatale of film noir.
- Even f the mystery and questions are about what Woman most desires, women are not allowed to ask the question themselves, or to articulate their own desires; instead she is placed as the space at the end of the male hero's journey, where she waits for him, like in Sleeping Beauty, to come and live his "happily ever after" with her. Here the female subject is the figure of narrative closure, which confirms the male oedipal trajectory of such narratives. The Oepidal contract, therefore, lays the foundations for patriarchal social stability by urging the boy to identify with the father and objectify the mother.
Monstrous-Feminine:
- Barbara Creed's “The Monstrous Feminine: film, feminism, psychoanalysis”, looks at the types of monster women play in horror films, exploring and examining archaic mothers, and mythological adaptations of characters. Horror is about the manifestation of all that we repress in our culture.
- Canadian film critic Robin Wood, in a discussion of Hollywood films of the 1970’s, allied the monster in films to demonized aspects of society which included female sexuality.
- Moreover, older feminist texts used the theory of abjection (the state of being cast off). This is a Freudian theory regarding rejected and disgraced matter in society, such as blood, vomit, sweat, corpses, etc. in order to emphasize the link between the monstrous in horror films and women.
- Barbara Creed’s influential work, analyses multiple horror films that contain aspect of female abjection, such as Carrie (with the presence of menstrual blood), Alien (enveloping mother), The Exorcist (bodily fluids from the girl’s body), and I Spit On Your Grave (female rage).
- According to Else Thomas, Creed’s essay shows “Possessed or psychotic mothers in horror are commonplace, as seen in Rosemary’s Baby, Carrie and the Exorcist, whereas with the Babadook (Jennifer Kent 2014) it’s the single mother who is dangerous, one day a simple, wholesome mum, next minute a screaming wreck with messed up hair. It is not only the mother who can be abject, the teenage girl as seen in Carrie, signifies the horror, shame and humiliation of female menstruation, undoubtedly a taboo about her burgeoning sexuality. An obsession with blood is one of the central concerns of the horror /slasher genre, according to Creed used in the construction of monstrosity and directly linked to women’s bodies.”
- Carol Clover, film Professor, also proposed audiences of horror films are “effectively constructed as feminine by masochistically identifying with the female victim of the monster in the film.” Clover also suggests that this revenge is due to feminism which “has given language to her victimization and a new force to the anger that subsidizes her own act of horrific revenge”
- In most critical writings of horror films, the female is portrayed as the victim. However, the Monstrous Feminine challenges this patriarchal view of women, which argues that “the prototype of all definitions of the monstrous is the female reproductive body.”
- Creed explores the 7 `faces' of the monstrous-feminine: archaic mother, monstrous womb, vampire, witch, possessed body, monstrous mother and castrator.
- Her provocative reading suggests that the man fears woman as castrator, rather than as castrated, which challenges not only Freudian theories of “Sexual Difference”, but also the theories of spectatorship and fetishism.
The Bechdel Test:
"a way of evaluating whether or not a film or other work of fiction portrays women in a way that is sexist or characterized by gender stereotyping. To pass the Bechdel test a work must feature at least two women [with character names], these women must talk to each other, and their conversation must concern something other than a man." This test is named after the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel; and was inspired by her "tongue-in-cheek" comic strip called "The Rule". Bechdel credited the idea to her friend Liz Wallace, and the writings of Virginia Woolf. This test is now used as a measure of women are fairly represented in the media. And according to bechdeltest.com, only about 57.6% of recorded films pass the test.
"a way of evaluating whether or not a film or other work of fiction portrays women in a way that is sexist or characterized by gender stereotyping. To pass the Bechdel test a work must feature at least two women [with character names], these women must talk to each other, and their conversation must concern something other than a man." This test is named after the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel; and was inspired by her "tongue-in-cheek" comic strip called "The Rule". Bechdel credited the idea to her friend Liz Wallace, and the writings of Virginia Woolf. This test is now used as a measure of women are fairly represented in the media. And according to bechdeltest.com, only about 57.6% of recorded films pass the test.
Case Study: Thelma and Louise
Synopsis:
"Meek housewife Thelma (Geena Davis) joins her friend Louise (Susan Sarandon), an independent waitress, on a short fishing trip. However, their trip becomes a flight from the law when Louise shoots and kills a man who tries to rape Thelma at a bar. Louise decides to flee to Mexico, and Thelma joins her. On the way, Thelma falls for sexy young thief J.D. (Brad Pitt) and the sympathetic Detective Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) tries to convince the two women to surrender before their fates are sealed." ~ Tribune Media Service Directed by: Ridley Scott Written by: Callie Khouri Starring: Susan Sarandon; Geena Davis; Harvey Keitel; Michael Madsen; Christopher McDonald; Brad Pitt |
Callie Khouri on the making of Thelma and Louise
Khouri, novice female screenwriter and Ridley Scott famous male director joined together to create this film, with this being the writer's first screenplay; and although Khouri admits that she would have preferred to direct it herself, and if failing to do so, would have liked a female director. Although she knew that Scott's industry clout would certainly push the film into production. When Scott offered to produce and direct, he signed a contract that contained an agreement between the two that the ending of the film would not be altered.
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Khouri was inspired to write this screenplay by her negative past experiences as an actress and video producer. She said she was frustrated by the constantly stereotypical portrayals of women in cinema as: "the girlfriend, the wife, the moll, the prostitute, the rape victim, the woman dying of cancer." She wanted to do something different and think outside of the compressed box of Hollywood and its guidelines, representing women as passive and supportive, or evil and over-sexualized: "It is such a rare thing to go to a movie and think, God, that was a really interesting female character". Khouri says she set out to write a story about "two average women who were not criminals, who were only outlaws in that the society that we were asked to lived in was so insane that you could not help but break the law, if you were yourself."
Khouri talking about creating the character of Louise: "When I first started thinking of Louise, I started thinking of her as this woman who no one can see. They have these faces that go on over their face that completely changes it, you have no idea what their real face looks like. That was so fascinating to me because to me that is like a woman mask, its a way of absolutely hiding who you are; and people judge you about that too, or they assign things to you that don't have anything to do with you. She was a character who completely hid. You've no idea what their life, but they're there to present a very specific kind of face, not give you any personality"
"But I also realized that I wanted Thelma to have not so many options. You're expected to be less than you were, you were expected to be happy about it. That was supposed to somehow be success. She was just doing her job, what was expected of her, which was get married and probably have kids" ... "She went about her day trying to figure out what it was he want, without ever really thinking about herself very much."
"But I also realized that I wanted Thelma to have not so many options. You're expected to be less than you were, you were expected to be happy about it. That was supposed to somehow be success. She was just doing her job, what was expected of her, which was get married and probably have kids" ... "She went about her day trying to figure out what it was he want, without ever really thinking about herself very much."
Rough Notes: Thelma and Louise
- Thelma: submissive, housewife, weaker partner in her marriage, disorganized, indecisive, craves freedom and is restricted by her husband Darryl (dominant male presence with toxic masculinity);
- Thelma is a foil to Louise: a workingwoman who is seemingly in control of her life, as seen through her neatly packing all her belongings needed for the trip, and leaving no dishes in the spotless kitchen. Her clean, pulled together appearance also proves her to be put together and in control.
- Thelma has a gun: a weapon to protect herself with, however she is scared to even touch the gun and to use it. This connotes that while Thelma has the power to take control in her life and defend herself, she is afraid to do so and doesn't particularly know how to either.
- Darryl, the husband is the only prominent male figure in Thelma’s life, and he restricts her from going out, communicating with other people and expressing herself in any way. He views his wife as an object to his satisfaction, and whenever she acts as her own person, or tries to exercise even the slightest bit of control over anything, he evokes within himself emotions of anger, irritation and contempt, stemming from the base of his insecurities, fragile ego and toxic masculinity.
- Thelma clearly looks up to Louise like a big sister, as she even pretends to be her while a cigarette dangles from her lips, “I’m Louise”. This not only proves the character’s fatal naivety, but also her lack of awareness and knowledge about society and people in general. More this becomes evident as Thelma continues to trust the wrong people and misjudge their intensions, acting as a catalyst for the plot of the film.
- Thelma wants to have fun, freedom and liberty, but this is what leads her to the first of many misfortunes, her sexual assault. This scene is particularity significant because it highlights how society treats and judges women. Thelma wants to enjoy her freedom but her husband has restricted her; however when she finally enjoys herself without any shame or remorse she is punished by men. Her naivety is proven yet again as she falls prey to Harlan’s charms, reiterating her ability to constantly misjudge people. We see her do the same thing when she decides to place her trust in J.D who later steals money from her after having slept with her.
- Louise on the other hand doesn't trust Harlan or J.D, refusing to cater to them in the first place; evident as she blows smoke into Harlan’s face and refusing to drive J.D. This shows that Louise is more capable than Thelma when it comes to judging people by their true hidden natures and intentions, seeing easily through people and their facades, unlike Thelma.
- When Harlan is trying to force Thelma, he says he just wants to kiss her, however, after having done so he physically and sexually assaults her. This is representative of men in society who believe a kiss to be complete permission to do as they wish to the woman, and view it as granted passage to engage in sexual intercourse with them.
- Thelma is verbally, emotionally and mentally abused at home, and physically abused outside by men in society.
- Louise is the one who rescues Thelma from her rape. This subverts the gender conventions of society as the women rescues the other woman, not a male knight in shining armor recusing the damsel in distress. This is symbolic of a more realistic society, where women raise other women up and save each other and themselves without having to wait around for a man to come to their aid. This portrays women as strong and capable, subverting their gender roles in society to always submit and bear the pain, instead standing up for themselves and through around them.
- Louise tells Thelma that no one will believe her story of Harlan trying to rape her because everyone in the bar saw the both of them dancing “cheek to cheek”, making concrete assumptions about their relationship. As Louise says, “we don't live in that kind of a world Thelma” where society takes the word of a woman over that of a man. This also highlights the expectations associated with women in society: if a man dances with another woman in society, she is obliged to engage in any and all sexual activities with him, regardless of her changing her mind, she must not reject his advances, since she already gave him permission by dancing with him. This parades the notion that women in society are not allowed to change their minds and make decisions concerning their own bodies and welfare; instead men must make these decisions for them, as they seemingly tend to hold more power in society, however this is a more extreme point of view often taken by extremist feminists, or employed by critics evaluating the intensions of the film.