1. Examine the reasons why some stereotypes within the media have changed over time.
intro: I will give a definition of what stereotype means. In the intro i will also talk about how the media was in the past, and how it is now in representing social groups such as women.
para one: Here i will talk aboutthe fact that women in the past were steortyped to be passive housewives and this was portrayed in many films of the time such as the godfather for instance. Women were seen as weak, and passive and they are very domestic taking care of children whereas the men are bread winners who are more dominant.
para two: this representation of genders have changed completly from the past as women are becoming more independent and take more time in the careers.
para three: however, we can still see male dominance in the media especially in films such as james bond where the male is the powerful one and the active one where as the women is just there for emotinal purposes.
conclusion: here i will pick an argument to agree with wether representations in the media did change or if they didn't.
2. How does the media represent a social group that you have studied?
intro: here i will identify what a 'stereotype' is and i will choose what social group i will focus on which will be women.
para one: one way in which the media represents women is that they are passive and their place in society is the home. we can see this in adverts as in adverts about domestic stuff like the shake and vac ad, there is mainly a female protagonist where as in manly adverts, it is mainly men we see in the mese en scene.
para two: furthermore we see the media representing women in the media as passive and weak as in films like bad boys we see women being portrayed as there just to help the male protagonists in the emotional ways. They are also being represented as sex objects.
para three: Laura mulvie talks about women being represented as there to please a male target audience and a 'male gaze' as they are shown on the screen wearing bikinis and acting promescuisly.
para four: however, there are also films that portray women moving away from these stereotypes as films like domino and erin brokavic portray women as being independent and strong in a male dominant patriarchal society.
3. What is there to be said for or against stereotyping in the media? Answer with refrence to specific examples.
intro: i will define what is meant by 'stereotypes' and i will also identify some advantages of stereotyping and some disadvantages.
para one: oneadvantage is that some stereotypes are positive like asians exeeding in school and black people being excelent athletes.
para two: however, there are also some disadvantages of stereotypes as the cause a moral panic in society for instance the stereotype of black people being criminal cause society to fear them.
para two: however, there are reasons for stereotypes being their in te first place as statistics show that black people do commit lots of crimes.
para three: another stereotype is of women being 'bimbos' which is very degrading and offensive towards women.
conclusion: in the conclusion i will pick the argument of 'against' stereotypes and i will explain why .
Tuesday 19 May 2009
Tuesday 12 May 2009
Independent Study Final
Independent Study
‘Why would a delicate little thing like you wanna be a bounty hunter?’
Title: how and why are women challenging stereotypes given to them by a male dominant society in Domino and other similar films?
“Men were more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimized, supportive, and laughable or 'merely token females' . This quotation by Gunter is seen as old fashion as today’s society has changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightley, "daddy’s little girl" who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes of women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes specified to women by a patriarchal society that degrade and humiliate them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich , Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightley, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexually active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
The main film that focuses on giving a clear image of a female protagonist challenging the negative stereotypes raised in society is Domino. Domino features Keira Knightly, Domino Harvey, who plays a role of a very masculine women who is not afraid of anything and a person who likes action and living by a thread. This automatically challenges women’s stereotypes as women are still seen today as being very submissive and also responsible and careful which is the complete opposite of Knightley’s character as Domino is always living in the dangerous yet exciting side of society where at any point she could end up in prison or even dead. Domino is a great film to analyze and study as it is a film which changes Hollywood cinema for the better as now for a change, society is exposed to the fact that women can be as powerful and dominant as men instead of how they are usually portrayed in contemporary films. Domino’s fight against patriarchy and the way it portrays women puts men back into their place and breathes hope into millions of women. It is also significant and interesting to study as it can be compared to other films in the past and we can easily see how the representation of males and females have differed through recent years.
Another film that will be analysed and a film that gives an example of how women can challenge the labels given to them especially the negative ones is Wanted where Angelina Jolie plays the main female protagonist who is also an assassin. Her character alone identifies one way in which Jolie goes against stereotypes as it’s not often we see women in manly roles such as an assassin as they we are used to seeing women in passive and mortifying roles such as housewives or nurses. We also see Jolie portrayed as a character that rebels against stereotypes that the male dominant society hands women as women are seen today to be uneducated and ‘bimbo’ like. However Jolie is represented as being wise, clever and experienced in Wanted. The quotation ‘I knew your father’ implies Jolie’s knowledge and smartness as she knows more about someone’s family than the guy himself. This change of conventions in films are also seen in the 2000 drama film by Steven Soderbergh Erin Brokavich as Julia Roberts plays a role of a very intelligent and intellectual women who is very hard working. With films like Erin Brockavich we can see that ‘feminism battles have been won’ as in the past women have been marginalized and ignored whereas today unlike the 1950s to 1970s, it is not 50% yet though the speaking roles by females in the media is rapidly increasing.
Erin Brockavich is similar as it is another film which is quite contemporary that features a female protagonist. In Erin Brockavich, Julia Roberts carries the role of protecting a whole town which implies that women are not always seen as passive and that they do take an active action to influence today’s society. The character of Erin is an example of how women are rapidly getting closer to equality in the media as well as in society as Julia quotes, ‘For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me. Please, don't ask me to give it up.’ This implies the changes in society as she speaks for the thousands of women around the world who are also trying to not ‘give up’ and challenge the negative stereotypes that they have to deal with. Nevertheless, in Erin Brockavich Julia Roberts does in fact enforce some typical stereotypes of women as in most of the film, the mise en scene portrays Erin to be very sexual and loose as her costume is very revealing for instance the short skirts and tight tops she wears. Some women would see this representation very demeaning and crushing as Erin is seen as an object used to please and appeal to the male target audience however, in opposition Erin uses her physical appearance for her own advantage as she uses her beauty and charm to seduce men and get things her way. An example of this is when she refers to her ‘boobs’ when asked how she can ‘take whatever she wants’.
Furthermore, one of the first times we see women challenging stereotypes in the media is in Ridley Scott’s Alien where Sigourney Weaver is the first female protagonist in an action film. In this film, female characters such as Weaver challenge the typical 'patriarchal Hollywood system' as she fights for equality in the media between men and women. Weaver is portrayed as very aggressive, fearless yet wise, which are characteristics of men, as well as nurturing and caring which on the other hand are stereotypes of feminine characteristics. Even though the character of Ripley is portrayed as tough and independent, we can see that from the beginning of the film, no matter how much women accomplish in society they will always be in a male dominant and patriarchal society where they are surrounded by the strength and power of men. This ideology is put across in this film right in the beginning of the text as Ripley hands Parker a ‘cornbread’ which can be seen as a phallic symbol that glorifies and praises the males power and Freud’s theory of ‘penis envy’ . We can link this film with Domino as it demonstrates how films that feature female protagonists have changed over the years as the character of Ripley, even though she is very aggressive and manly, she still has a soft and sensitive side whereas Domino Harvey rarely shows her emotional side.
In contrast to films such as Domino which glorifies women’s achievements and rise to equality, Casino Royale is a text that illustrates women to be very submissive and in need of the physical and mental strength of the male characters. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is a prime example of an innocent, passive woman who is very compassionate and tender. She mirrors the stereotypes given to her by society and an example of this is when she asks James Bond ' does it bother you killing all those people', this emphasizes how caring she is and that she does not like the action side of her job. This triggers the stereotype of men being superior and much strong than women, in the meantime women are naïve and ‘symbolically annihilated’ Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd also reinforces negative female stereotypes such as the fact that women are promiscuous and sexually active as she dress up in tight dresses that show lots of cleavage unlike Keira Knightley in Domino who has a costume which is very manly with shirts and jeans as she doesn’t take great care of her physical looks. Moreover, in comparison to Keira in Domino, Eva’s character Lynd is constantly saved and rescued by James Bond which connotes male dominance and how women are always relying on men whereas Keira Knightley’s character supports my title as she does not follow typical gender stereotypes of women being passive and men being active as throughout the film Domino is taking care of herself and living independently. This film implies typical conventions of how women are used in action films as she is there for emotional purposes as James Bond will need his loving and caring women to please him after a hard day at work. Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd is portrayed in this film as the typical sex object and she reflects the labels women in society are handed such as the fact that women are ‘disposable pleasures’.
In addition, Angelina Jolie who plays Fox, a powerful and masculine women, in Wanted does challenge negative degrading stereotypes given by society as she is independent and can take care of herself unlike the traditional ‘Bimbo’ or ‘Housewife’. However, Jolie can never go against all stereotypes thrown her way as she is still portrayed as sexually active and ‘Bimbo’ like which will appeal to Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’ and the male target audience as they would be fascinated and attracted to the cleavage she is frequently showing in the film. An example of this is when we see in one part of the film Jolie coming out of a bath completely naked. This also is disrespectful towards women as it implies that women are just there for the pleasure of men.
Moreover, Domino does not only confront stereotypes such as women being objects of the ‘male gaze’; the character of domino also challenges the stereotype that women are ‘considered with home-making and child care’ as Keira Knightley is neither the ‘Madonna’ nor the ‘Whore’. She is not portrayed as a moral and modest woman as she is regularly seen using guns and swearing meanwhile, at the same time she is very masculine like and doesn’t have promiscuous and licentious characteristics. However, in Domino, Keira Knightley does lean more towards the ‘whore’ as she is seen as a ‘great-looking f**king beauty’ . So does Julia Roberts in Erin Brockavich as throughout the film she is treated differently because of her sex. Nonetheless, Julia Roberts uses this for her own benefit as she uses her ‘tits’ to get information for her case and help thousands of innocent people.
Unlike Domino and other similar texts such as Erin Brockavich and Mr. and Mrs. Smith where women go against the labels they are given, The Godfather is another example of how women used to be represented in the 20th century. In this crime drama film, Diane Keaton is seen as the passive wife who loves and takes care of her kids. She tries her best to stay away from trouble and to keep her family away from it too. This is the opposite of Keira Knightly in Domino even though the genre of the two films are the same as unlike Diane Keaton in The Godfather, Keira Knightly finds trouble herself and wants to be involved in that kind of dangerous lifestyle.
Even though women in the film industry today do challenge negative stereotypes thrown their way such as their weakness and their passiveness, they are still seen as the sexual, male pleasing sex as in Domino, Keira Knightly is shown stripping and lap dancing in one particular scene. This is one of the scenes where Keira Knightly finally meets the stereotypes of women in films. She is seen as a sexually active 'bitch', as the Spanish ‘gangster’ refers to her, and she entertains the male gaze by taking of her clothes and given a lap dance.
A significant concept used in this scene is the non diegetic sound of the heart beat while Keira Knightly is facing all the men with the guns. The heartbeats emphasize the amount of pressure Keira is in and the atmosphere in the room. The non diegetic sound of the heartbeat is then backed by loud, nervous shouting by the men whilst Keira, the only women in the scene was calm and quite. This highlights that even though she meets the stereotypes of woman in this scene by appearing as sexually active, she also confronts stereotypes at the same time as she is, unlike the men, very calm in a very dangerous situation. Women are known to scream and shout when scared however in this scene Tony Scott swaps the role of the men and the women as they are the ones who are shouting anxiously. However, Tasker criticizes this as ‘whilst sole female protagonists remain relatively rare male/female partnerships are increasingly common in American action films’ emphasizing Domino needing the other two male protagonists with her.
When Keira Knightly is confronting the men, she sounds very masculine and strong with sharp sentences; however this is not parallel to her tone of voice as the narrator as she sounds very girly with a slightly squeaky, feminine voice. This could imply the fact that she has to change to impress the men. This underlines the swap in gender roles as the man is known to be trying to impress a girl however in this scene Keira Knightly is talking with a manly voice, carrying guns and smoking to impress the opposite sex. This enforces Charlotte Whitton’s theory that whatever women must do, ‘they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good’ which implies why films such Domino are significant as they underline the progress of women in the media. The mise en scene also backs up my point as she is holding a shot gun a shot gun compared to what the men are holding(hand guns) just so she can feel powerful. In this scene and most of the film, Keira Knightly is always seen with a gun and that connotes her eagerness to be powerful and the fact that she has to have a phallic symbol by her side just so she can feel strong and powerful. Throughout this film, Tony Scott makes sure that Keira challenges the stereotypes given to women however he always reminds the audience that Keira Knightly is still feminine and passively weak. In the non diegetic sound of the narrator, Keira refers to herself as a 'naughty girl' instead of a mature woman as it reminds the audience that she is still no match to the men in the scene and leads them to sympathize with her whilst the whole point of the film is to make the audience see her as an independent strong woman.
What is more, in this film Keira Knightley has a very short haircut which suggests her masculinity however the fact that she has hair covering her eyes; she is represented as a very dark individual who is not that confident. Domino goes against Greer’s quotation that women are ‘infected with the need to conform to certain images of beauty’ as she is not that interested in her physical appearance and she does not follow the crowd by putting on make up or other beauty accessories on. This goes well with the darkness of the setting as it portrays her dark and evil personality. In comparison to the fact that she does fulfill female stereotypes that women are labeled with, Knightley is less and less represented as a woman in this scene as the cigarette she is smoking connotes the ideology of rebelliousness which is mostly linked with ludicrous men. She is also represented as a slut as she offers to give a stranger a lap dance and the dialogue of the man is very insulting to her quoting 'take off your clothes bitch' she still strips and gives him a lap dance which could mean to things; either she is a whore or she is just a workaholic desperate for information to pursue her missions as a bounty hunter.
Even though Knightley does follow labels given to her by the male dominated society as we see her provoking a ‘ male gaze’ when she stripped in the film, from the evidence given in this study, Keira Knightley in Domino extraordinarily challenges demeaning and corrupt stereotypes and labels of women throughout the film. In today’s society, contemporary films such as Domino are very hard to take in as the story is astonishing and the fact that she was a woman adding to the intrigue. On the other hand, society is slowly accepting films such as Domino, Erin Brockavich and Wanted and they are tolerating the fact that women are as equal as men both in the media and in real life. Films such as Domino do highlight how much today’s society has changed as in the 20st century, films that promoted female power and equality, were frowned upon, though after the first and the second wave of feminism, films that glorified women are becoming more and more successful in the media as audiences today are active, therefore receive texts their own way. This is one reason why Tony Scott had Keira as the protagonist as he needs to keep up with the zeitgeist because society is changing, wanting more equality between men and women. However, films that enforce negative labels given to women such as Casino Royale and Godfather prove the fact that the "second-wave of feminism is seen as a product of the past" and that today women need to have alternative qualities to intelligence such as their beauty to be successful and triumphant in society. In conclusion, directors such as Tony Scott do portray their female protagonist as strong challengers of pessimistic female stereotypes as Keira Knightly plays a female character who is the opposite of a regular women who is weak and victimized, instead she is tough and adventurous. This important for the female generation of society today as women need female representatives such as Julia Roberts, Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie to voice their feelings in a male dominated patriarchal society.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Book research:
- Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
- Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
- Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
- ‘Representation of Women’, Gunter, 1995
- Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’, 2000, Totem Books
- Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
Internet:
- www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
- www.wisdomquotes.com Charlotte Whitton
Moving Image:
-‘Alien’, Scott, Ridley, 1979
- ‘Casino Royale’, Campbell, Martin, 2006
- Domino’, Scott, Tony, 2005
- ‘Erin Brockavich’, Soderbergh, Steven, 2000
- The Godfather’, Coppola, Francis Ford, 1972
- ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’, Liman, Doug, 2005
- ‘Wanted’, Bekmambetov, Temur, 2008
Works Consulted
- http://www.mediaguardian.com/, recent articles on domino
- http://www.newline.com/, official site of Domino's institution
- http://www.keiraknightley.com/,Keira Knightley's official site
- http://www.dominomovie.com/,the movies official site
- http://www.variety.com/ Domino reviews
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/, Domino reviews
- http://www.richard-kelly.net/news/news.php?id=79&from=2005, Richard Kelly on Domino
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3671572.stm, article on Domino
- http://www.dominomovie.com/real_domino_harvey.html, information on the real Domoino Harvey
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_(film), Info on Domino
- http://movies.about.com/od/domino/a/domino072005.htm,Richard Kelly Discusses "Domino," Working with Tony Scott, and "Southland Tales"
- http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=8773, Domino Information
refrences
‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995, page 43
Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
Macdonald, ‘Media, Gender, and Identity’, page 76, Routledge, 2002
Laura Mulvey, 1975, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Sigmund Freud, ‘On Narcissism’, 1914
Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’, page 84
www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
Yvonne Tasker, ‘Working girls, gender and sexuality in popular cinema’, Routledge
Paul Kaponya, 1991, ‘The human resource proffisional’,page 133, praeger publishers,
Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
Joanne Hallows, ‘Feminism, Femininity, and Popular Culture’, Manchester University Press
Word Count:3200
‘Why would a delicate little thing like you wanna be a bounty hunter?’
Title: how and why are women challenging stereotypes given to them by a male dominant society in Domino and other similar films?
“Men were more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimized, supportive, and laughable or 'merely token females' . This quotation by Gunter is seen as old fashion as today’s society has changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightley, "daddy’s little girl" who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes of women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes specified to women by a patriarchal society that degrade and humiliate them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich , Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightley, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexually active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
The main film that focuses on giving a clear image of a female protagonist challenging the negative stereotypes raised in society is Domino. Domino features Keira Knightly, Domino Harvey, who plays a role of a very masculine women who is not afraid of anything and a person who likes action and living by a thread. This automatically challenges women’s stereotypes as women are still seen today as being very submissive and also responsible and careful which is the complete opposite of Knightley’s character as Domino is always living in the dangerous yet exciting side of society where at any point she could end up in prison or even dead. Domino is a great film to analyze and study as it is a film which changes Hollywood cinema for the better as now for a change, society is exposed to the fact that women can be as powerful and dominant as men instead of how they are usually portrayed in contemporary films. Domino’s fight against patriarchy and the way it portrays women puts men back into their place and breathes hope into millions of women. It is also significant and interesting to study as it can be compared to other films in the past and we can easily see how the representation of males and females have differed through recent years.
Another film that will be analysed and a film that gives an example of how women can challenge the labels given to them especially the negative ones is Wanted where Angelina Jolie plays the main female protagonist who is also an assassin. Her character alone identifies one way in which Jolie goes against stereotypes as it’s not often we see women in manly roles such as an assassin as they we are used to seeing women in passive and mortifying roles such as housewives or nurses. We also see Jolie portrayed as a character that rebels against stereotypes that the male dominant society hands women as women are seen today to be uneducated and ‘bimbo’ like. However Jolie is represented as being wise, clever and experienced in Wanted. The quotation ‘I knew your father’ implies Jolie’s knowledge and smartness as she knows more about someone’s family than the guy himself. This change of conventions in films are also seen in the 2000 drama film by Steven Soderbergh Erin Brokavich as Julia Roberts plays a role of a very intelligent and intellectual women who is very hard working. With films like Erin Brockavich we can see that ‘feminism battles have been won’ as in the past women have been marginalized and ignored whereas today unlike the 1950s to 1970s, it is not 50% yet though the speaking roles by females in the media is rapidly increasing.
Erin Brockavich is similar as it is another film which is quite contemporary that features a female protagonist. In Erin Brockavich, Julia Roberts carries the role of protecting a whole town which implies that women are not always seen as passive and that they do take an active action to influence today’s society. The character of Erin is an example of how women are rapidly getting closer to equality in the media as well as in society as Julia quotes, ‘For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me. Please, don't ask me to give it up.’ This implies the changes in society as she speaks for the thousands of women around the world who are also trying to not ‘give up’ and challenge the negative stereotypes that they have to deal with. Nevertheless, in Erin Brockavich Julia Roberts does in fact enforce some typical stereotypes of women as in most of the film, the mise en scene portrays Erin to be very sexual and loose as her costume is very revealing for instance the short skirts and tight tops she wears. Some women would see this representation very demeaning and crushing as Erin is seen as an object used to please and appeal to the male target audience however, in opposition Erin uses her physical appearance for her own advantage as she uses her beauty and charm to seduce men and get things her way. An example of this is when she refers to her ‘boobs’ when asked how she can ‘take whatever she wants’.
Furthermore, one of the first times we see women challenging stereotypes in the media is in Ridley Scott’s Alien where Sigourney Weaver is the first female protagonist in an action film. In this film, female characters such as Weaver challenge the typical 'patriarchal Hollywood system' as she fights for equality in the media between men and women. Weaver is portrayed as very aggressive, fearless yet wise, which are characteristics of men, as well as nurturing and caring which on the other hand are stereotypes of feminine characteristics. Even though the character of Ripley is portrayed as tough and independent, we can see that from the beginning of the film, no matter how much women accomplish in society they will always be in a male dominant and patriarchal society where they are surrounded by the strength and power of men. This ideology is put across in this film right in the beginning of the text as Ripley hands Parker a ‘cornbread’ which can be seen as a phallic symbol that glorifies and praises the males power and Freud’s theory of ‘penis envy’ . We can link this film with Domino as it demonstrates how films that feature female protagonists have changed over the years as the character of Ripley, even though she is very aggressive and manly, she still has a soft and sensitive side whereas Domino Harvey rarely shows her emotional side.
In contrast to films such as Domino which glorifies women’s achievements and rise to equality, Casino Royale is a text that illustrates women to be very submissive and in need of the physical and mental strength of the male characters. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is a prime example of an innocent, passive woman who is very compassionate and tender. She mirrors the stereotypes given to her by society and an example of this is when she asks James Bond ' does it bother you killing all those people', this emphasizes how caring she is and that she does not like the action side of her job. This triggers the stereotype of men being superior and much strong than women, in the meantime women are naïve and ‘symbolically annihilated’ Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd also reinforces negative female stereotypes such as the fact that women are promiscuous and sexually active as she dress up in tight dresses that show lots of cleavage unlike Keira Knightley in Domino who has a costume which is very manly with shirts and jeans as she doesn’t take great care of her physical looks. Moreover, in comparison to Keira in Domino, Eva’s character Lynd is constantly saved and rescued by James Bond which connotes male dominance and how women are always relying on men whereas Keira Knightley’s character supports my title as she does not follow typical gender stereotypes of women being passive and men being active as throughout the film Domino is taking care of herself and living independently. This film implies typical conventions of how women are used in action films as she is there for emotional purposes as James Bond will need his loving and caring women to please him after a hard day at work. Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd is portrayed in this film as the typical sex object and she reflects the labels women in society are handed such as the fact that women are ‘disposable pleasures’.
In addition, Angelina Jolie who plays Fox, a powerful and masculine women, in Wanted does challenge negative degrading stereotypes given by society as she is independent and can take care of herself unlike the traditional ‘Bimbo’ or ‘Housewife’. However, Jolie can never go against all stereotypes thrown her way as she is still portrayed as sexually active and ‘Bimbo’ like which will appeal to Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’ and the male target audience as they would be fascinated and attracted to the cleavage she is frequently showing in the film. An example of this is when we see in one part of the film Jolie coming out of a bath completely naked. This also is disrespectful towards women as it implies that women are just there for the pleasure of men.
Moreover, Domino does not only confront stereotypes such as women being objects of the ‘male gaze’; the character of domino also challenges the stereotype that women are ‘considered with home-making and child care’ as Keira Knightley is neither the ‘Madonna’ nor the ‘Whore’. She is not portrayed as a moral and modest woman as she is regularly seen using guns and swearing meanwhile, at the same time she is very masculine like and doesn’t have promiscuous and licentious characteristics. However, in Domino, Keira Knightley does lean more towards the ‘whore’ as she is seen as a ‘great-looking f**king beauty’ . So does Julia Roberts in Erin Brockavich as throughout the film she is treated differently because of her sex. Nonetheless, Julia Roberts uses this for her own benefit as she uses her ‘tits’ to get information for her case and help thousands of innocent people.
Unlike Domino and other similar texts such as Erin Brockavich and Mr. and Mrs. Smith where women go against the labels they are given, The Godfather is another example of how women used to be represented in the 20th century. In this crime drama film, Diane Keaton is seen as the passive wife who loves and takes care of her kids. She tries her best to stay away from trouble and to keep her family away from it too. This is the opposite of Keira Knightly in Domino even though the genre of the two films are the same as unlike Diane Keaton in The Godfather, Keira Knightly finds trouble herself and wants to be involved in that kind of dangerous lifestyle.
Even though women in the film industry today do challenge negative stereotypes thrown their way such as their weakness and their passiveness, they are still seen as the sexual, male pleasing sex as in Domino, Keira Knightly is shown stripping and lap dancing in one particular scene. This is one of the scenes where Keira Knightly finally meets the stereotypes of women in films. She is seen as a sexually active 'bitch', as the Spanish ‘gangster’ refers to her, and she entertains the male gaze by taking of her clothes and given a lap dance.
A significant concept used in this scene is the non diegetic sound of the heart beat while Keira Knightly is facing all the men with the guns. The heartbeats emphasize the amount of pressure Keira is in and the atmosphere in the room. The non diegetic sound of the heartbeat is then backed by loud, nervous shouting by the men whilst Keira, the only women in the scene was calm and quite. This highlights that even though she meets the stereotypes of woman in this scene by appearing as sexually active, she also confronts stereotypes at the same time as she is, unlike the men, very calm in a very dangerous situation. Women are known to scream and shout when scared however in this scene Tony Scott swaps the role of the men and the women as they are the ones who are shouting anxiously. However, Tasker criticizes this as ‘whilst sole female protagonists remain relatively rare male/female partnerships are increasingly common in American action films’ emphasizing Domino needing the other two male protagonists with her.
When Keira Knightly is confronting the men, she sounds very masculine and strong with sharp sentences; however this is not parallel to her tone of voice as the narrator as she sounds very girly with a slightly squeaky, feminine voice. This could imply the fact that she has to change to impress the men. This underlines the swap in gender roles as the man is known to be trying to impress a girl however in this scene Keira Knightly is talking with a manly voice, carrying guns and smoking to impress the opposite sex. This enforces Charlotte Whitton’s theory that whatever women must do, ‘they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good’ which implies why films such Domino are significant as they underline the progress of women in the media. The mise en scene also backs up my point as she is holding a shot gun a shot gun compared to what the men are holding(hand guns) just so she can feel powerful. In this scene and most of the film, Keira Knightly is always seen with a gun and that connotes her eagerness to be powerful and the fact that she has to have a phallic symbol by her side just so she can feel strong and powerful. Throughout this film, Tony Scott makes sure that Keira challenges the stereotypes given to women however he always reminds the audience that Keira Knightly is still feminine and passively weak. In the non diegetic sound of the narrator, Keira refers to herself as a 'naughty girl' instead of a mature woman as it reminds the audience that she is still no match to the men in the scene and leads them to sympathize with her whilst the whole point of the film is to make the audience see her as an independent strong woman.
What is more, in this film Keira Knightley has a very short haircut which suggests her masculinity however the fact that she has hair covering her eyes; she is represented as a very dark individual who is not that confident. Domino goes against Greer’s quotation that women are ‘infected with the need to conform to certain images of beauty’ as she is not that interested in her physical appearance and she does not follow the crowd by putting on make up or other beauty accessories on. This goes well with the darkness of the setting as it portrays her dark and evil personality. In comparison to the fact that she does fulfill female stereotypes that women are labeled with, Knightley is less and less represented as a woman in this scene as the cigarette she is smoking connotes the ideology of rebelliousness which is mostly linked with ludicrous men. She is also represented as a slut as she offers to give a stranger a lap dance and the dialogue of the man is very insulting to her quoting 'take off your clothes bitch' she still strips and gives him a lap dance which could mean to things; either she is a whore or she is just a workaholic desperate for information to pursue her missions as a bounty hunter.
Even though Knightley does follow labels given to her by the male dominated society as we see her provoking a ‘ male gaze’ when she stripped in the film, from the evidence given in this study, Keira Knightley in Domino extraordinarily challenges demeaning and corrupt stereotypes and labels of women throughout the film. In today’s society, contemporary films such as Domino are very hard to take in as the story is astonishing and the fact that she was a woman adding to the intrigue. On the other hand, society is slowly accepting films such as Domino, Erin Brockavich and Wanted and they are tolerating the fact that women are as equal as men both in the media and in real life. Films such as Domino do highlight how much today’s society has changed as in the 20st century, films that promoted female power and equality, were frowned upon, though after the first and the second wave of feminism, films that glorified women are becoming more and more successful in the media as audiences today are active, therefore receive texts their own way. This is one reason why Tony Scott had Keira as the protagonist as he needs to keep up with the zeitgeist because society is changing, wanting more equality between men and women. However, films that enforce negative labels given to women such as Casino Royale and Godfather prove the fact that the "second-wave of feminism is seen as a product of the past" and that today women need to have alternative qualities to intelligence such as their beauty to be successful and triumphant in society. In conclusion, directors such as Tony Scott do portray their female protagonist as strong challengers of pessimistic female stereotypes as Keira Knightly plays a female character who is the opposite of a regular women who is weak and victimized, instead she is tough and adventurous. This important for the female generation of society today as women need female representatives such as Julia Roberts, Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie to voice their feelings in a male dominated patriarchal society.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Book research:
- Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
- Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
- Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
- ‘Representation of Women’, Gunter, 1995
- Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’, 2000, Totem Books
- Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
Internet:
- www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
- www.wisdomquotes.com Charlotte Whitton
Moving Image:
-‘Alien’, Scott, Ridley, 1979
- ‘Casino Royale’, Campbell, Martin, 2006
- Domino’, Scott, Tony, 2005
- ‘Erin Brockavich’, Soderbergh, Steven, 2000
- The Godfather’, Coppola, Francis Ford, 1972
- ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’, Liman, Doug, 2005
- ‘Wanted’, Bekmambetov, Temur, 2008
Works Consulted
- http://www.mediaguardian.com/, recent articles on domino
- http://www.newline.com/, official site of Domino's institution
- http://www.keiraknightley.com/,Keira Knightley's official site
- http://www.dominomovie.com/,the movies official site
- http://www.variety.com/ Domino reviews
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/, Domino reviews
- http://www.richard-kelly.net/news/news.php?id=79&from=2005, Richard Kelly on Domino
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3671572.stm, article on Domino
- http://www.dominomovie.com/real_domino_harvey.html, information on the real Domoino Harvey
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_(film), Info on Domino
- http://movies.about.com/od/domino/a/domino072005.htm,Richard Kelly Discusses "Domino," Working with Tony Scott, and "Southland Tales"
- http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=8773, Domino Information
refrences
‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995, page 43
Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
Macdonald, ‘Media, Gender, and Identity’, page 76, Routledge, 2002
Laura Mulvey, 1975, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Sigmund Freud, ‘On Narcissism’, 1914
Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’, page 84
www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
Yvonne Tasker, ‘Working girls, gender and sexuality in popular cinema’, Routledge
Paul Kaponya, 1991, ‘The human resource proffisional’,page 133, praeger publishers,
Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
Joanne Hallows, ‘Feminism, Femininity, and Popular Culture’, Manchester University Press
Word Count:3200
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Essay plans
Genere texts have sometimes been cricised for being predictable and unimagiatve. Discuss
Intro:
I will talk about the typical conventions that genres have and what conventions films usually have. Then i will talk about the fact that directors often change these conventions due to the audiences and society changing.
Para 1:
In this paragraph i would mention the zeitgiest and how it changes frequently and the fact that films need to change too to keep up with the changes in society and appeal to more of their target audience and make money.
Para 2:
Films are not predictable and unimagineative and this is ideal as they are aiming at a active audience therefore they would need to change and come up with conventions to keep the audience attracted. An example of this is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Here i will talk about the changes we can see between the old and new version of the film.
Para 3:
In this paragraph i will agree with the statement by saying that some films are seen as predictable however, it is important to have the same iconographies and conventions in a genre as you need to meet with the audiences expectaions for instance, if an individual watches a horror film, he would want to see blood, a knife and some helpless victims screaming.
Conclusion:
I would conclude this essay by disagreeing with the statement to an extent as it is not the case that films are predictable, is just that films have certain parts of the film very repetative and predictable but it will also have some twists that their target audiences would not expect which makes it that much more imagineble.
Genre must adapt in rder to survive. Discuss
Intro:
I will start this essay by stating that genre conventions are seen to be repeatative but they need to be to meet witht the audiences expectations. A text does not want to disappeal with itsaudience just because they do noot offer what the audience want to see. Then i will mention the fact that texts still need to innovateto attract the audience even more and they do that by twists and turning points in the film.
Para 1:
In this paragrah i will agree with the statement by saying that genre do need to adapt in order to survive because society is hastly changing and the media need to keep up with it in order to attract more and more audiences.
Para 2:
Here i will imply that the zeitgeist plays a big part in media and films as films need to appeal to the existing zeitgeist and the new changes in society.
Para 3:
In this paragraph i will then go against the statement by saying how audiences have certain expectations of what a genre would provide them and thats what they want to see, there fore genres do not need to adapt that much because the conventions they have are exactly what their target audiences are looking for.
Outline recent significant developments in one genre of your choice. Illustrate your answer with examples.
Intro:
In the introduction i will name the genre i will talk about which is horror and i will talk about how it developed over the years.
Para 1:
I will say that horror films have changed throughout the years as they need to keep up with the changes of society. An example of a horror film that shows the changes in scream.
Para 2:
Horror films also have become much more scary and gory as todays audience want to see more blood and deaths. An example of this is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Para 3:
In this paragraph i will disagree with the fact that horror films have developed alot throughout recent years and i will say that films are relativly the same using practically the same conventions.
Conclusion:
I will then conclude this essay by saying that its not only horror films that changed over the years, its every genre as all of them need to change with the times and appeal to their target audience or they will lose a lot of money from audiences disliking their films.
Intro:
I will talk about the typical conventions that genres have and what conventions films usually have. Then i will talk about the fact that directors often change these conventions due to the audiences and society changing.
Para 1:
In this paragraph i would mention the zeitgiest and how it changes frequently and the fact that films need to change too to keep up with the changes in society and appeal to more of their target audience and make money.
Para 2:
Films are not predictable and unimagineative and this is ideal as they are aiming at a active audience therefore they would need to change and come up with conventions to keep the audience attracted. An example of this is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Here i will talk about the changes we can see between the old and new version of the film.
Para 3:
In this paragraph i will agree with the statement by saying that some films are seen as predictable however, it is important to have the same iconographies and conventions in a genre as you need to meet with the audiences expectaions for instance, if an individual watches a horror film, he would want to see blood, a knife and some helpless victims screaming.
Conclusion:
I would conclude this essay by disagreeing with the statement to an extent as it is not the case that films are predictable, is just that films have certain parts of the film very repetative and predictable but it will also have some twists that their target audiences would not expect which makes it that much more imagineble.
Genre must adapt in rder to survive. Discuss
Intro:
I will start this essay by stating that genre conventions are seen to be repeatative but they need to be to meet witht the audiences expectations. A text does not want to disappeal with itsaudience just because they do noot offer what the audience want to see. Then i will mention the fact that texts still need to innovateto attract the audience even more and they do that by twists and turning points in the film.
Para 1:
In this paragrah i will agree with the statement by saying that genre do need to adapt in order to survive because society is hastly changing and the media need to keep up with it in order to attract more and more audiences.
Para 2:
Here i will imply that the zeitgeist plays a big part in media and films as films need to appeal to the existing zeitgeist and the new changes in society.
Para 3:
In this paragraph i will then go against the statement by saying how audiences have certain expectations of what a genre would provide them and thats what they want to see, there fore genres do not need to adapt that much because the conventions they have are exactly what their target audiences are looking for.
Outline recent significant developments in one genre of your choice. Illustrate your answer with examples.
Intro:
In the introduction i will name the genre i will talk about which is horror and i will talk about how it developed over the years.
Para 1:
I will say that horror films have changed throughout the years as they need to keep up with the changes of society. An example of a horror film that shows the changes in scream.
Para 2:
Horror films also have become much more scary and gory as todays audience want to see more blood and deaths. An example of this is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Para 3:
In this paragraph i will disagree with the fact that horror films have developed alot throughout recent years and i will say that films are relativly the same using practically the same conventions.
Conclusion:
I will then conclude this essay by saying that its not only horror films that changed over the years, its every genre as all of them need to change with the times and appeal to their target audience or they will lose a lot of money from audiences disliking their films.
Thursday 2 April 2009
Comparing TCM re-make with the older version
The main similarity between the two films is the iconography of the leather face. This iconograhy is used in both films as it is one detail in the film that is recognised by the target audience and it also is unique and different from other horror films as it is typical to have a masked killer in the film but in this film the killer takes the faces of his victims in exchange for his.
However, the editing is a bit different in the remake as it is more graphic than the older version. In the remake we see the killers actual deformed face unlike in the 974 version where the killers face is anonymous. This might be because the target audience and society has changed throughout the years as society today are used to scary jumpy bits in horror films therefore they need more graphical and gory films to catch them and make them horrorfied.
Also, another similarity between the two films is the typical cliche narative where a group of kids get stuck in a suburban, -in the middle of nowhere- enviroment where nobody can hear them, help them or save them from the ruthless killer. This is a typical generic convention of horror films as it keeps audiences on their feet as they know that the victims are by themselves and have only themselves to save them.
Once again these two films are similar as they both have the traditional generic convention of horror movies which is the final girl. The final girl is the only surviving girl and the one who is usually getting rid of the killer.
The characters in these two films are practically the same as we have the two protagonists which are arguably the killer, leatherface, and the final girl which is played by jessica beil. There is also a sherrif, leatherface's family and the group of young adults trapped in the van.
The narrative is also seen to be very identical near the end of the film as the final girl once again runs into the meat factory in the remake in 2003.
the binary opposition of good vs evil is also shown in the two films as constantly the final girl and leatherface are put together to show the girls fight for freedom.
However, the editing is a bit different in the remake as it is more graphic than the older version. In the remake we see the killers actual deformed face unlike in the 974 version where the killers face is anonymous. This might be because the target audience and society has changed throughout the years as society today are used to scary jumpy bits in horror films therefore they need more graphical and gory films to catch them and make them horrorfied.
Also, another similarity between the two films is the typical cliche narative where a group of kids get stuck in a suburban, -in the middle of nowhere- enviroment where nobody can hear them, help them or save them from the ruthless killer. This is a typical generic convention of horror films as it keeps audiences on their feet as they know that the victims are by themselves and have only themselves to save them.
Once again these two films are similar as they both have the traditional generic convention of horror movies which is the final girl. The final girl is the only surviving girl and the one who is usually getting rid of the killer.
The characters in these two films are practically the same as we have the two protagonists which are arguably the killer, leatherface, and the final girl which is played by jessica beil. There is also a sherrif, leatherface's family and the group of young adults trapped in the van.
The narrative is also seen to be very identical near the end of the film as the final girl once again runs into the meat factory in the remake in 2003.
the binary opposition of good vs evil is also shown in the two films as constantly the final girl and leatherface are put together to show the girls fight for freedom.
Wednesday 1 April 2009
Scary movie franchise
Scary movie is a film that was released by Wayans Bros. Entertainment in 2000. It is a spoof directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and mocks film such as Scream, I know what you did last summer, the usual suspects and many more.
The first scary movie film is a spoof of both Scream and I know what you did last summer put together and it tells the story of a masked killer on a killing spree and the final girl in this horror film is Cindy Cambpell, a parody of the charcter Sydney in Scream. Scary movie was then followed by the sequel Scary Movie 2 (2001) then by Scary Movie 3 in 2003. The latest sequel of Scary movie is the 4th which was released in 2006 by dimension films and internationally by miramax.
Spoof: Nonsense; tomfoolery.
A hoax.
A gentle satirical imitation; a light parody.
tr.v., spoofed, spoof·ing, spoofs.
To deceive.
To do a spoof of; satirize gently.
this relates to scary movie as the film is an actual spoof mocking various horror films at one time such as usual suspects, scream, i know what you did last summer, the sixth sense and many many more.
The first scary movie film is a spoof of both Scream and I know what you did last summer put together and it tells the story of a masked killer on a killing spree and the final girl in this horror film is Cindy Cambpell, a parody of the charcter Sydney in Scream. Scary movie was then followed by the sequel Scary Movie 2 (2001) then by Scary Movie 3 in 2003. The latest sequel of Scary movie is the 4th which was released in 2006 by dimension films and internationally by miramax.
Spoof: Nonsense; tomfoolery.
A hoax.
A gentle satirical imitation; a light parody.
tr.v., spoofed, spoof·ing, spoofs.
To deceive.
To do a spoof of; satirize gently.
this relates to scary movie as the film is an actual spoof mocking various horror films at one time such as usual suspects, scream, i know what you did last summer, the sixth sense and many many more.
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Scream Franchise
This film consists of a male dressed in a haloween costume who murders people and not anyone but people he knows. The masked man is not identified till the end of the film which raises the tension and keeps the audience wondering who it is. The first film of the sequel was very successful and critics had alot of positives comments to say about it. The film was one of the highest grossing films out in 1996.
The Scream sequel makes refrences to lots of different films and shows and they are:
Halloween
Scream (in scream 2)
Friends
Party of five
The second sequel is based on the first film as they use the story of Scream in the second film but they change the name of the film to Stab. It is based on the real events of the first film and can be seen as a parody. The logo of Stab is also the same as the logo of Scream.
The third sequel of scream is based on sydney living in the suburbs away from safety and trying to forget about the past that haunts her everyday. She now works as a helpline women who helps and advices people in crisis. However, as we all guessed, the phone rings and it is an anonymous voice once again. It all starts over again as the killer is on a killing spree once again.
Definition.
Pastiche: a literary work composed from elements borrowed either from various other writers or from a particular earlier author. The term can be used in a derogatory sense to indicate lack of originality, or more neutrally to refer to works that involve a deliberate and playfully imitative tribute to other writers. Pastiche differs from parody in using imitation as a form of flattery rather than mockery, and from plagiarism in its lack of deceptive intent.
Irony:
A The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
B An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
C A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect.
Intertextuality: a term coined by Julia Kristeva to designate the various relationships that a given text may have with other texts. These intertextual relationships include anagram, allusion, adaptation, translation, parody, pastiche, imitation, and other kinds of transformation.
Post-mordern: relating to art, architecture, or literature that reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classical elements of style or by carrying modernist styles or practices to extremes
The Scream sequel makes refrences to lots of different films and shows and they are:
Halloween
Scream (in scream 2)
Friends
Party of five
The second sequel is based on the first film as they use the story of Scream in the second film but they change the name of the film to Stab. It is based on the real events of the first film and can be seen as a parody. The logo of Stab is also the same as the logo of Scream.
The third sequel of scream is based on sydney living in the suburbs away from safety and trying to forget about the past that haunts her everyday. She now works as a helpline women who helps and advices people in crisis. However, as we all guessed, the phone rings and it is an anonymous voice once again. It all starts over again as the killer is on a killing spree once again.
Definition.
Pastiche: a literary work composed from elements borrowed either from various other writers or from a particular earlier author. The term can be used in a derogatory sense to indicate lack of originality, or more neutrally to refer to works that involve a deliberate and playfully imitative tribute to other writers. Pastiche differs from parody in using imitation as a form of flattery rather than mockery, and from plagiarism in its lack of deceptive intent.
Irony:
A The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
B An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
C A literary style employing such contrasts for humorous or rhetorical effect.
Intertextuality: a term coined by Julia Kristeva to designate the various relationships that a given text may have with other texts. These intertextual relationships include anagram, allusion, adaptation, translation, parody, pastiche, imitation, and other kinds of transformation.
Post-mordern: relating to art, architecture, or literature that reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classical elements of style or by carrying modernist styles or practices to extremes
A nightmare on elm street
A nightmare on elm street is a film that focuses on the main characteter who is Freddie Krueger. You can say that Freddie is an iconography of the film A nightmare on elm street himself as he is very famous and recognisable in hollywood cinema. The first film of a nightmare on elm street was originally directed by Craven and also the New Nightmare (1994) was also written and directed by him however, The second sequel was only co-scrited by him.
In the first film the story focuses on Freddie as we see him attempting to kill Nancy Thompson though he ironicly kills everyone but nancy. In the second sequel, freddie kills the new family in nancy's house and he also possesses Jesse walsh and uses him to kill people. Lisa then helps Jesse to fight the curse that made him a killer. Freddie comes back in the third sequel which was released in 1987 where he murders the remaining elm street children.
In the 4th sequel, the spot light moves slightly from Krueger and focuses more on Kristen and Alice. Alice place the role of the hero and rescues all her friends that freddy killed and kills him in the process as they rip out of his body.
The New nightmare by Craven in 1994 is one of the films were reality comes in play as Craven Langenkamp, and Englund all play themselves in this post-mordern film.##
This clip shows how Craven uses some of the same ideas in this film in his sequel Scream. One example is the mask the girl is making in the opening sequence as the main iconography in Scream is the mask and it is one of the most recognisable images in the horror genre of cinema. He also uses the same tense, slow music that builds up every now and again and goes back to being slow in his film Scream. This is a great convention to use as it raise the audiences heart beat and gets their adrlanin running through out the film.
In the first film the story focuses on Freddie as we see him attempting to kill Nancy Thompson though he ironicly kills everyone but nancy. In the second sequel, freddie kills the new family in nancy's house and he also possesses Jesse walsh and uses him to kill people. Lisa then helps Jesse to fight the curse that made him a killer. Freddie comes back in the third sequel which was released in 1987 where he murders the remaining elm street children.
In the 4th sequel, the spot light moves slightly from Krueger and focuses more on Kristen and Alice. Alice place the role of the hero and rescues all her friends that freddy killed and kills him in the process as they rip out of his body.
The New nightmare by Craven in 1994 is one of the films were reality comes in play as Craven Langenkamp, and Englund all play themselves in this post-mordern film.##
This clip shows how Craven uses some of the same ideas in this film in his sequel Scream. One example is the mask the girl is making in the opening sequence as the main iconography in Scream is the mask and it is one of the most recognisable images in the horror genre of cinema. He also uses the same tense, slow music that builds up every now and again and goes back to being slow in his film Scream. This is a great convention to use as it raise the audiences heart beat and gets their adrlanin running through out the film.
Halween:UK
The new Halaween would have only some changes as it was very successful. I would keep the iconographies such as the knives and contenious use of blood. However, more blood wouldn't harm anyone as today's society are more into a gory, gothik film. I would also keep the masked killer as it is a recognised image in today's society and it is one of the main iconagraphies in the film. I would also make sure that the mask is visible in the front cover of the film advert as it will appeal and attract the target audience to watch the film.
Another thing from the halaween film that i would make sure i have in the remake in 2010 is the tense, building up music as it creats tension and makes the target audience want to watch the film more and more. It also creates some sort of enigma as people are wondering what the music is leading up to, maybe another murder. The generic conventions of this film are very good so i would find it hard to change a lot however, it is still very cliche and its not fully appealing to the zietgeist. I might for instance change the typical ending of a horror film and surprise the target audience by having a final boy instead of a final girl. I dont think the film will get much criticism if this happens as society today is becoming more and more equal. Another thing i might have for instance is a little bit more sci- fi in it as science today is growing and the interest in science is increasing greatly.
Another thing from the halaween film that i would make sure i have in the remake in 2010 is the tense, building up music as it creats tension and makes the target audience want to watch the film more and more. It also creates some sort of enigma as people are wondering what the music is leading up to, maybe another murder. The generic conventions of this film are very good so i would find it hard to change a lot however, it is still very cliche and its not fully appealing to the zietgeist. I might for instance change the typical ending of a horror film and surprise the target audience by having a final boy instead of a final girl. I dont think the film will get much criticism if this happens as society today is becoming more and more equal. Another thing i might have for instance is a little bit more sci- fi in it as science today is growing and the interest in science is increasing greatly.
Blog Targets
www.
- Demonstrates awareness of wider context and some theory.
- Good use of evidence to support evidence.
- Used many key concepts as well as wider context.
- Talked alot about representations
ebi.
- Explain why you chose this text and why it is significant and worth studying.
- restructure essay so you can talk about your main text more in the beginning
- Demonstrates awareness of wider context and some theory.
- Good use of evidence to support evidence.
- Used many key concepts as well as wider context.
- Talked alot about representations
ebi.
- Explain why you chose this text and why it is significant and worth studying.
- restructure essay so you can talk about your main text more in the beginning
2nd draft of independent study
Independent Study
Title: HOW and WHY are women CHALLENGING stereotypes given to them by a male dominant society in DOMINO and other similar films?
“Men were more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimized, supportive, and laughable or 'merely token females' (Gunter, 1995)." Today’s society has changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightley, "daddy’s little girl" who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes of women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes specified to women by a patriarchal society that degrade and humiliate them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich, Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightley, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexually active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
The main film that this study is focusing on gives a clear image of a female protagonist challenging the negative stereotypes raised through her character is Domino. “My name is Domino Harvey. I am a bounty hunter. You're probably wondering how a girl like me arrived here. What I say will determine whether or not I spend the rest of my life in prison. Let's start at the beginning.” Domino features Keira Knightly, Domino Harvey, who plays a role of a very masculine women who is not afraid of anything and a person who likes action and living by a thread. This automatically challenges women’s stereotypes as women are still seen today as being very submissive and also responsible and careful which is the complete opposite of Knightley’s character as Domino is always living in the dangerous yet exciting side of society where at any point she could end up in prison or even dead. Domino is a great film to analyze and study as it is a film which changes Hollywood cinema forever. It’s fight against patriarchy and it’s portrayal of women puts men back into their place and breathes hope into millions of women. It is also significant and interesting to study as it can be compared to other films in the past and we can easily see how the representation of males and females have differed through recent years.
Another film that will be analysed and a film that gives a great example of how women can challenge the labels given to them especially the negative ones is Wanted where Angelina Jolie plays the main female protagonist who is also an assassin. Her character alone identifies one way in which Jolie goes against stereotypes as it’s not often we see women in manly roles such as an assassin as they we are used to see women in passive mortifying roles such as housewives or nurses. Another way in which we see Jolie portrayed as a character that rebels against stereotypes that the male dominant society hands women as women are seen today to be uneducated and ‘bimbo’ like. However Jolie is represented as being wise, clever and experienced as in one part of the film she quotes ‘I knew your father’ which implies her knowledge and smartness as she knows more about someone’s family than the guy himself. This change of conventions in films are also seen in the 2000 drama film by Steven Soderbergh Erin Brokavich as Julia Roberts plays a role of a very intelligent and intellectual women who is very hard working.
Erin brockavich is similar as it is another film which is quite contemporary that features a female protagonist. In Erin Brockavich, Julia Roberts carries the role of protecting a whole town which implies that women are not always seen as passive and that they do take an active action to influence today’s society. The character of Erin is an example of how women are rapidly getting closer to equality in the media as well as in society as Julia quotes, ‘For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me. Please, don't ask me to give it up.’ This implies the changes in society as she speaks for the thousands of women around the world who are also trying to not ‘give up’ and challenge the negative stereotypes that they have to deal with. Nevertheless, in Erin Brockavich Julia Roberts does in fact enforces some typical stereotypes of women as in most of the film, the mese en scene portrays Erin to be very sexual and loose as her costume is very revealing for instance the short skirts and tight tops she wears. Some women would see this representation very demeaning and crushing as Erin is seen as an object used to please and appeal to the male target audience however, in opposition Erin uses her physical appearance for her own advantage as she uses her beauty and charm to seduce men and get things her way. An example of this is when she refers to her ‘boobs’ when asked how she can ‘take whatever she wants’.
Furthermore, the first time we see women challenging stereotypes in TV screens is in Ridley Scott’s Alien where Sigourney Weaver is the first female protagonist in an action film. In this film, Female Characters such as Weaver challenge the typical 'patriarchal Hollywood system' as she fights for equality in the media between men and women. Weaver is portrayed as very aggressive, fearless yet wise, which are characteristics of men, as well as nurturing and caring which on the other hand are stereotypes of feminine characteristics. Even thought the character of Ripley is portrayed as tough and independent, we can see that from the beginning of the film, no matter how much women accomplish in society they will always be in a male dominant and patriarchal society where they are surrounded by the strength and power of men. This ideology is put across in this film right in the beginning of the text as Ripley hands Parker a ‘cornbread’ which can be seen as a phallic symbol that glorifies and praises the males power and Freud’s theory of ‘penis envy’. We can link this film with Domino as it demonstrates how films that feature female protagonists have changed over the years as the character of Ripley, even though she is very aggressive and manly, she still has a soft and sensitive side whereas Domino Harvey does not show any emotion at all throughout the film.
In contrast to films such as Domino which glorifies women’s achievements and rise to equality, Casino Royale is a text that illustrates women to be very submissive and in need of the physical and mental strength of the male characters. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is a prime example of an innocent, passive woman who is very compassionate and tender. She mirrors the stereotypes given to her by society and an example of this is when she asks James Bond ' does it bother you killing all those people', this emphasizes how caring she is and that she does not like the action side of her job. This triggers the stereotype of men being superior and much strong than women, in the meantime women are naïve and ‘symbolically annihilated’ Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd also reinforces negative female stereotypes such as the fact that women are promiscuous and sexually active as she dress up in tight dresses that show lots of cleavage unlike Keira Knightley in Domino who has a costume which is very manly with shirts and jeans as she doesn’t take great care of her physical looks. Moreover, in comparison to Keira in Domino, Eva’s character Lynd is constantly saved and rescued by James Bond which connotes male dominance and how women are always relying on men whereas Keira Knightley’s character supports my title as she does not follow typical gender stereotypes of women being passive and men being active as throughout the film Domino is taking care of herself and living independently. This film carry’s out typical conventions of how women are used in action films as she is there for emotional purposes as James Bond will need his loving and caring women to please him after a hard day at work. Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd is portrayed in this film as the typical sex object and she reflects the labels women in society are handed such as the fact that women are ‘disposable pleasures’.
In addition, Angelina Jolie who plays Fox, a powerful and masculine women, in Wanted does challenge negative degrading stereotypes given by society as she is independent and can take care of herself unlike the traditional ‘Bimbo’ or ‘Housewife’. However, Jolie can never go against all stereotypes thrown her way as she is still portrayed as sexually active and ‘Bimbo’ like which will appeal to Laura Mulvie’s ‘male gaze’ and the male target audience as they would be fascinated and attracted to the cleavage she is frequently showing in the film. An example of this is when we see in one part of the film Jolie coming out of a bath completely naked. This also is disrespectful towards women as it implies that women are just there for the pleasure of men.
Moreover, Domino doesn’t only confront stereotypes such as women being objects of the ‘male gaze’; the character of domino also challenges the stereotype that women are ‘considered with home-making and child care’ as Keira Knightley is neither the ‘Madonna’ nor the ‘Whore’. She is not portrayed as a moral and modest woman as she is regularly seen using guns and swearing meanwhile, at the same time she is very masculine like and doesn’t have promiscuous and licentious characteristics. However, in Domino, Keira Knightley does lean more towards the ‘whore’ as she is seen as a ‘great-looking f**king beauty’. So does Julia Roberts in Erin Brockavich as throughout the film she is treated differently because of her sex. Nonetheless, Julia Roberts uses this for her own benefit as she uses her ‘tits’ to get information for her case and help thousands of innocent people.
Unlike Domino and other similar texts such as Erin Brockavich and Mr. and Mrs. Smith where women go against the labels they are given, The Godfather is another example of how women used to be represented in the 20th century. In this crime drama film, Diane Keaton is seen as the passive wife who loves and takes care of her kids. She tries her best to stay away from trouble and to keep her family away from it too. This is the opposite of Keira Knightly in Domino even though the genre of the two films are the same as unlike Diane Keaton in The Godfather, Keira Knightly finds trouble herself and wants to be involved in that kind of dangerous lifestyle.
Even though women in the film industry today do challenge negative stereotypes thrown their way such as their weakness and their passiveness, they are still seen as the sexual, male pleasing sex as in Domino, Keira Knightly is shown stripping and lap dancing in one particular scene.
This is one of the scenes where Keira Knightly finally meets the stereotypes of women in films. She is seen as a sexually active 'bitch', as the Spanish ‘gangster’ refers to her, and she entertains the male gaze by taking of her clothes and given a lap dance.
The first thing that catches my attention in this scene is the non digetic sound of the heart beat while Keira Knightly is facing all the men with the guns. The heartbeats emphasize the amount of pressure Keira is in and the atmosphere in the room. The non digetic sound of the heartbeat is then backed by loud, nervous shouting by the men whilst Keira, the only women in the scene was calm and quite. This highlights that even though she meets the stereotypes of woman in this scene by appearing as sexually active, she also confronts stereotypes at the same time as she is, unlike the men, very calm in a very dangerous situation. Women are known to scream and shout when scared however in this scene Tony Scott swaps the role of the men and the women as they are the ones who are shouting anxiously.
When Keira Knightly is confronting the men, she sounds very masculine and strong with sharp sentences; however this is not parallel to her tone of voice as the narrator as she sounds very girly with a slightly squeaky, feminine voice. This could imply the fact that she has to change to impress the men. This underlines the swap in gender roles as the man is known to be trying to impress a girl however in this scene Keira Knightly is talking with a manly voice, carrying guns and smoking to impress the opposite sex. This enforces Charlotte Whitton’s theory that whatever women must do, ‘they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good’ which implies why films such Domino are significant as they underline the progress of women in the media. The mese en scene also backs up my point as she is holding a shot gun a shot gun compared to what the men are holding(hand guns) just so she can feel powerful. In this scene and most of the film, Keira Knightly is always scene with a gun and that connotes her eagerness to be powerful and the fact that she has to have a phallic symbol by her side just so she can feel strong and powerful. Throughout this film, Tony Scott makes sure that Keira challenges the stereotypes given to women however he always reminds the audience that Keira Knightly is still feminine and passively weak. In the non digetic sound of the narrator, Keira refers to herself as a 'naughty girl' instead of a mature woman as it reminds the audience that she is still no match to the men in the scene and leads them to sympathies with her whilst the whole point of the film is to make the audience see her as an independent strong woman.
What is more, in this film keira Knightley has a very short haircut which suggests her masculinity however the fact that she has hair covering her eyes; she is represented as a very dark individual who is not that confident. This goes well with the darkness of the setting as it portrays her dark and evil personality. In comparison to the fact that she does fulfill female stereotypes that women are labeled with, Knightley is less and less represented as a woman in this scene as the cigarette she is smoking connotes the ideology of rebelliousness which is mostly linked with ludicrous men. She is also represented as a slut as she offers to give a stranger a lap dance and the dialogue of the man is very insulting to her quoting 'take off your clothes bitch' she still strips and gives him a lap dance which could mean to things; either she is a whore or she is just a workaholic desperate for information to pursue her missions as a bounty hunter.
Even though Knightley does follow labels given to her by the male dominated society as we see her provoking a ‘male gaze’ when she stripped in the film, from the evidence given in this study, Keira Knightley in Domino extraordinarily challenges demeaning and corrupt stereotypes and labels of women throughout the film. In today’s society, contemporary films such as Domino are very hard to take in as the story is astonishing, ‘the fact she was a woman adding to the intrigue’; on the other hand, society is slowly accepting films such as Domino, Erin Brockavich and Wanted and they are tolerating the fact that women are as equal as men both in the media and in real life. Films such as Domino do highlight how much today’s society has changed as in the 20st century, films that promoted female power and equality, were frowned upon, though after the first and the second wave of feminism, films that glorified women are becoming more and more successful in the media as audiences today are active, therefore receive texts their own way. However, films that enforce negative labels given to women such as Casino Royale and Godfather prove the fact that the "second-wave of feminism is seen as a product of the past" and that today women need to have alternative qualities to intelligence such as their beauty to be successful and triumphant in society. In conclusion, Directors such as Tony Scott do portray their female protagonist as strong challengers of pessimistic female stereotypes as Keira Knightly plays a female character who is the opposite of a regular women who is weak and victimized, instead she is tough and adventurous. This important for the female generation of society today as women need female representatives such as Julia Roberts, Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie to voice their feelings in a male dominated patriarchal society.
Refrences:
[1]www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
[2]Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
[3]Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
[4]Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
[5]Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
[6]Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
[7]Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
[8]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[9]Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
[10]Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
[11]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[12]Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’
[13]www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
[14]Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
[15]Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
[16]www.wisdomquotes.com, Charlotte Whitton
[17]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[18]News.bbc.co.uk
[19]www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
Bibliography
Works Cited
Book research:
- Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’, 2000, Totem Books
- Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
- Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
- ‘Representation of Women’, Gunter, 1995
- Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
- Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Internet:
- News.bbc.co.uk
- www.wisdomquotes.com Charlotte Whitton
- www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
- www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
Moving Image:
- Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
- Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
- Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
- Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
- Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
- Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
- Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
Works Consulted
- http://www.mediaguardian.com/, recent articles on domino
- http://www.newline.com/, official site of Domino's institution
- http://www.keiraknightley.com/,Keira Knightley's official site
- http://www.dominomovie.com/,the movies official site
- http://www.variety.com/ Domino reviews
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/, Domino reviews
- http://www.richard-kelly.net/news/news.php?id=79&from=2005, Richard Kelly on Domino
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3671572.stm, article on Domino
- http://www.dominomovie.com/real_domino_harvey.html, information on the real Domoino Harvey
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_(film), Info on Domino
- http://movies.about.com/od/domino/a/domino072005.htm,Richard Kelly Discusses "Domino," Working with Tony Scott, and "Southland Tales"
- http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=8773, Domino Information
Word Count:3000
Title: HOW and WHY are women CHALLENGING stereotypes given to them by a male dominant society in DOMINO and other similar films?
“Men were more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimized, supportive, and laughable or 'merely token females' (Gunter, 1995)." Today’s society has changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightley, "daddy’s little girl" who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes of women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes specified to women by a patriarchal society that degrade and humiliate them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich, Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightley, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexually active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
The main film that this study is focusing on gives a clear image of a female protagonist challenging the negative stereotypes raised through her character is Domino. “My name is Domino Harvey. I am a bounty hunter. You're probably wondering how a girl like me arrived here. What I say will determine whether or not I spend the rest of my life in prison. Let's start at the beginning.” Domino features Keira Knightly, Domino Harvey, who plays a role of a very masculine women who is not afraid of anything and a person who likes action and living by a thread. This automatically challenges women’s stereotypes as women are still seen today as being very submissive and also responsible and careful which is the complete opposite of Knightley’s character as Domino is always living in the dangerous yet exciting side of society where at any point she could end up in prison or even dead. Domino is a great film to analyze and study as it is a film which changes Hollywood cinema forever. It’s fight against patriarchy and it’s portrayal of women puts men back into their place and breathes hope into millions of women. It is also significant and interesting to study as it can be compared to other films in the past and we can easily see how the representation of males and females have differed through recent years.
Another film that will be analysed and a film that gives a great example of how women can challenge the labels given to them especially the negative ones is Wanted where Angelina Jolie plays the main female protagonist who is also an assassin. Her character alone identifies one way in which Jolie goes against stereotypes as it’s not often we see women in manly roles such as an assassin as they we are used to see women in passive mortifying roles such as housewives or nurses. Another way in which we see Jolie portrayed as a character that rebels against stereotypes that the male dominant society hands women as women are seen today to be uneducated and ‘bimbo’ like. However Jolie is represented as being wise, clever and experienced as in one part of the film she quotes ‘I knew your father’ which implies her knowledge and smartness as she knows more about someone’s family than the guy himself. This change of conventions in films are also seen in the 2000 drama film by Steven Soderbergh Erin Brokavich as Julia Roberts plays a role of a very intelligent and intellectual women who is very hard working.
Erin brockavich is similar as it is another film which is quite contemporary that features a female protagonist. In Erin Brockavich, Julia Roberts carries the role of protecting a whole town which implies that women are not always seen as passive and that they do take an active action to influence today’s society. The character of Erin is an example of how women are rapidly getting closer to equality in the media as well as in society as Julia quotes, ‘For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me. Please, don't ask me to give it up.’ This implies the changes in society as she speaks for the thousands of women around the world who are also trying to not ‘give up’ and challenge the negative stereotypes that they have to deal with. Nevertheless, in Erin Brockavich Julia Roberts does in fact enforces some typical stereotypes of women as in most of the film, the mese en scene portrays Erin to be very sexual and loose as her costume is very revealing for instance the short skirts and tight tops she wears. Some women would see this representation very demeaning and crushing as Erin is seen as an object used to please and appeal to the male target audience however, in opposition Erin uses her physical appearance for her own advantage as she uses her beauty and charm to seduce men and get things her way. An example of this is when she refers to her ‘boobs’ when asked how she can ‘take whatever she wants’.
Furthermore, the first time we see women challenging stereotypes in TV screens is in Ridley Scott’s Alien where Sigourney Weaver is the first female protagonist in an action film. In this film, Female Characters such as Weaver challenge the typical 'patriarchal Hollywood system' as she fights for equality in the media between men and women. Weaver is portrayed as very aggressive, fearless yet wise, which are characteristics of men, as well as nurturing and caring which on the other hand are stereotypes of feminine characteristics. Even thought the character of Ripley is portrayed as tough and independent, we can see that from the beginning of the film, no matter how much women accomplish in society they will always be in a male dominant and patriarchal society where they are surrounded by the strength and power of men. This ideology is put across in this film right in the beginning of the text as Ripley hands Parker a ‘cornbread’ which can be seen as a phallic symbol that glorifies and praises the males power and Freud’s theory of ‘penis envy’. We can link this film with Domino as it demonstrates how films that feature female protagonists have changed over the years as the character of Ripley, even though she is very aggressive and manly, she still has a soft and sensitive side whereas Domino Harvey does not show any emotion at all throughout the film.
In contrast to films such as Domino which glorifies women’s achievements and rise to equality, Casino Royale is a text that illustrates women to be very submissive and in need of the physical and mental strength of the male characters. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is a prime example of an innocent, passive woman who is very compassionate and tender. She mirrors the stereotypes given to her by society and an example of this is when she asks James Bond ' does it bother you killing all those people', this emphasizes how caring she is and that she does not like the action side of her job. This triggers the stereotype of men being superior and much strong than women, in the meantime women are naïve and ‘symbolically annihilated’ Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd also reinforces negative female stereotypes such as the fact that women are promiscuous and sexually active as she dress up in tight dresses that show lots of cleavage unlike Keira Knightley in Domino who has a costume which is very manly with shirts and jeans as she doesn’t take great care of her physical looks. Moreover, in comparison to Keira in Domino, Eva’s character Lynd is constantly saved and rescued by James Bond which connotes male dominance and how women are always relying on men whereas Keira Knightley’s character supports my title as she does not follow typical gender stereotypes of women being passive and men being active as throughout the film Domino is taking care of herself and living independently. This film carry’s out typical conventions of how women are used in action films as she is there for emotional purposes as James Bond will need his loving and caring women to please him after a hard day at work. Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd is portrayed in this film as the typical sex object and she reflects the labels women in society are handed such as the fact that women are ‘disposable pleasures’.
In addition, Angelina Jolie who plays Fox, a powerful and masculine women, in Wanted does challenge negative degrading stereotypes given by society as she is independent and can take care of herself unlike the traditional ‘Bimbo’ or ‘Housewife’. However, Jolie can never go against all stereotypes thrown her way as she is still portrayed as sexually active and ‘Bimbo’ like which will appeal to Laura Mulvie’s ‘male gaze’ and the male target audience as they would be fascinated and attracted to the cleavage she is frequently showing in the film. An example of this is when we see in one part of the film Jolie coming out of a bath completely naked. This also is disrespectful towards women as it implies that women are just there for the pleasure of men.
Moreover, Domino doesn’t only confront stereotypes such as women being objects of the ‘male gaze’; the character of domino also challenges the stereotype that women are ‘considered with home-making and child care’ as Keira Knightley is neither the ‘Madonna’ nor the ‘Whore’. She is not portrayed as a moral and modest woman as she is regularly seen using guns and swearing meanwhile, at the same time she is very masculine like and doesn’t have promiscuous and licentious characteristics. However, in Domino, Keira Knightley does lean more towards the ‘whore’ as she is seen as a ‘great-looking f**king beauty’. So does Julia Roberts in Erin Brockavich as throughout the film she is treated differently because of her sex. Nonetheless, Julia Roberts uses this for her own benefit as she uses her ‘tits’ to get information for her case and help thousands of innocent people.
Unlike Domino and other similar texts such as Erin Brockavich and Mr. and Mrs. Smith where women go against the labels they are given, The Godfather is another example of how women used to be represented in the 20th century. In this crime drama film, Diane Keaton is seen as the passive wife who loves and takes care of her kids. She tries her best to stay away from trouble and to keep her family away from it too. This is the opposite of Keira Knightly in Domino even though the genre of the two films are the same as unlike Diane Keaton in The Godfather, Keira Knightly finds trouble herself and wants to be involved in that kind of dangerous lifestyle.
Even though women in the film industry today do challenge negative stereotypes thrown their way such as their weakness and their passiveness, they are still seen as the sexual, male pleasing sex as in Domino, Keira Knightly is shown stripping and lap dancing in one particular scene.
This is one of the scenes where Keira Knightly finally meets the stereotypes of women in films. She is seen as a sexually active 'bitch', as the Spanish ‘gangster’ refers to her, and she entertains the male gaze by taking of her clothes and given a lap dance.
The first thing that catches my attention in this scene is the non digetic sound of the heart beat while Keira Knightly is facing all the men with the guns. The heartbeats emphasize the amount of pressure Keira is in and the atmosphere in the room. The non digetic sound of the heartbeat is then backed by loud, nervous shouting by the men whilst Keira, the only women in the scene was calm and quite. This highlights that even though she meets the stereotypes of woman in this scene by appearing as sexually active, she also confronts stereotypes at the same time as she is, unlike the men, very calm in a very dangerous situation. Women are known to scream and shout when scared however in this scene Tony Scott swaps the role of the men and the women as they are the ones who are shouting anxiously.
When Keira Knightly is confronting the men, she sounds very masculine and strong with sharp sentences; however this is not parallel to her tone of voice as the narrator as she sounds very girly with a slightly squeaky, feminine voice. This could imply the fact that she has to change to impress the men. This underlines the swap in gender roles as the man is known to be trying to impress a girl however in this scene Keira Knightly is talking with a manly voice, carrying guns and smoking to impress the opposite sex. This enforces Charlotte Whitton’s theory that whatever women must do, ‘they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good’ which implies why films such Domino are significant as they underline the progress of women in the media. The mese en scene also backs up my point as she is holding a shot gun a shot gun compared to what the men are holding(hand guns) just so she can feel powerful. In this scene and most of the film, Keira Knightly is always scene with a gun and that connotes her eagerness to be powerful and the fact that she has to have a phallic symbol by her side just so she can feel strong and powerful. Throughout this film, Tony Scott makes sure that Keira challenges the stereotypes given to women however he always reminds the audience that Keira Knightly is still feminine and passively weak. In the non digetic sound of the narrator, Keira refers to herself as a 'naughty girl' instead of a mature woman as it reminds the audience that she is still no match to the men in the scene and leads them to sympathies with her whilst the whole point of the film is to make the audience see her as an independent strong woman.
What is more, in this film keira Knightley has a very short haircut which suggests her masculinity however the fact that she has hair covering her eyes; she is represented as a very dark individual who is not that confident. This goes well with the darkness of the setting as it portrays her dark and evil personality. In comparison to the fact that she does fulfill female stereotypes that women are labeled with, Knightley is less and less represented as a woman in this scene as the cigarette she is smoking connotes the ideology of rebelliousness which is mostly linked with ludicrous men. She is also represented as a slut as she offers to give a stranger a lap dance and the dialogue of the man is very insulting to her quoting 'take off your clothes bitch' she still strips and gives him a lap dance which could mean to things; either she is a whore or she is just a workaholic desperate for information to pursue her missions as a bounty hunter.
Even though Knightley does follow labels given to her by the male dominated society as we see her provoking a ‘male gaze’ when she stripped in the film, from the evidence given in this study, Keira Knightley in Domino extraordinarily challenges demeaning and corrupt stereotypes and labels of women throughout the film. In today’s society, contemporary films such as Domino are very hard to take in as the story is astonishing, ‘the fact she was a woman adding to the intrigue’; on the other hand, society is slowly accepting films such as Domino, Erin Brockavich and Wanted and they are tolerating the fact that women are as equal as men both in the media and in real life. Films such as Domino do highlight how much today’s society has changed as in the 20st century, films that promoted female power and equality, were frowned upon, though after the first and the second wave of feminism, films that glorified women are becoming more and more successful in the media as audiences today are active, therefore receive texts their own way. However, films that enforce negative labels given to women such as Casino Royale and Godfather prove the fact that the "second-wave of feminism is seen as a product of the past" and that today women need to have alternative qualities to intelligence such as their beauty to be successful and triumphant in society. In conclusion, Directors such as Tony Scott do portray their female protagonist as strong challengers of pessimistic female stereotypes as Keira Knightly plays a female character who is the opposite of a regular women who is weak and victimized, instead she is tough and adventurous. This important for the female generation of society today as women need female representatives such as Julia Roberts, Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie to voice their feelings in a male dominated patriarchal society.
Refrences:
[1]www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
[2]Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
[3]Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
[4]Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
[5]Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
[6]Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
[7]Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
[8]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[9]Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
[10]Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
[11]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[12]Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’
[13]www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
[14]Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
[15]Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
[16]www.wisdomquotes.com, Charlotte Whitton
[17]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[18]News.bbc.co.uk
[19]www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
Bibliography
Works Cited
Book research:
- Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’, 2000, Totem Books
- Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
- Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
- ‘Representation of Women’, Gunter, 1995
- Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
- Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Internet:
- News.bbc.co.uk
- www.wisdomquotes.com Charlotte Whitton
- www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
- www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
Moving Image:
- Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
- Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
- Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
- Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
- Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
- Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
- Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
Works Consulted
- http://www.mediaguardian.com/, recent articles on domino
- http://www.newline.com/, official site of Domino's institution
- http://www.keiraknightley.com/,Keira Knightley's official site
- http://www.dominomovie.com/,the movies official site
- http://www.variety.com/ Domino reviews
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/, Domino reviews
- http://www.richard-kelly.net/news/news.php?id=79&from=2005, Richard Kelly on Domino
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3671572.stm, article on Domino
- http://www.dominomovie.com/real_domino_harvey.html, information on the real Domoino Harvey
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_(film), Info on Domino
- http://movies.about.com/od/domino/a/domino072005.htm,Richard Kelly Discusses "Domino," Working with Tony Scott, and "Southland Tales"
- http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=8773, Domino Information
Word Count:3000
Friday 13th franchise
The original Friday the 13th film was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, who had previously worked with filmmaker Wes Craven on the film The Last House on the Left (1972). Cunningham was inspired by John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) and films by Mario Bava. Friday the 13th did not even have a completed script when Sean S. Cunningham took out this ad in International Variety magazineThe first film was meant to be really scary and at the same time make the audience laugh. Friday the 13th began with the title "Long Night at Camp Blood" but Cunningham believed in his "Friday the 13th" name and rushed to place an ad in International Variety. Worried that someone else owned the rights to the title and wanting to avoid potential lawsuits, Cunningham thought it would be best to find out immediately. Cunningham commissioned a New York advertising agency to develop his concept of the Friday the 13th , which consisted of big block letters bursting through a pane of glass.
Following the success of Friday the 13th in 1980, Paramount Pictures began plans to make a sequel. The initial ideas for a sequel involved the Friday the 13th title being used for a series of films, released once a year, that would not have direct continuity with each other, but be a separate scary movie of their own right. Steve Miner, associate producer on the first film, believed in the idea and would go on to direct the first two sequels, after Cunningham opted not to return to the director's chair. Miner would use many of the same crew members from the first film while working on the sequels.[20]
After the success from the friday 13th, the sequel had to be a little different with something that would grab the audiences attetion so they would come back and watch the film. The directer thought of filming the film in 3-D. It was also able to have the most recognisable image in cinema histroy, the hockey mask. In the 8 th film, the setting changed as they moved Jason New York City.
when Jason Takes Manhattan failed to be successful, Sean Cunningham moved to new line cinema and chose to start work on Freddy vs. Jason. The New Blood. After Jason Takes Manhattan was released in 1989. Jason and freddy finally met in 2003 as the two horror icons clashed together.Potential stories varied widely from Freddy having molested and drowned Jason as a child, to a cult of Freddy worshippers called the "Fred Heads", before settling on the story actually used.
Following the success of Friday the 13th in 1980, Paramount Pictures began plans to make a sequel. The initial ideas for a sequel involved the Friday the 13th title being used for a series of films, released once a year, that would not have direct continuity with each other, but be a separate scary movie of their own right. Steve Miner, associate producer on the first film, believed in the idea and would go on to direct the first two sequels, after Cunningham opted not to return to the director's chair. Miner would use many of the same crew members from the first film while working on the sequels.[20]
After the success from the friday 13th, the sequel had to be a little different with something that would grab the audiences attetion so they would come back and watch the film. The directer thought of filming the film in 3-D. It was also able to have the most recognisable image in cinema histroy, the hockey mask. In the 8 th film, the setting changed as they moved Jason New York City.
when Jason Takes Manhattan failed to be successful, Sean Cunningham moved to new line cinema and chose to start work on Freddy vs. Jason. The New Blood. After Jason Takes Manhattan was released in 1989. Jason and freddy finally met in 2003 as the two horror icons clashed together.Potential stories varied widely from Freddy having molested and drowned Jason as a child, to a cult of Freddy worshippers called the "Fred Heads", before settling on the story actually used.
List of spoofs in scary movie
Scream
I know what you did last summer
The Blair Witch Project
The Usual Suspects
The Shining
Titanic
Amistad
Thinner
The Matrix
Drop Dead Gorgeous
I know what you did last summer
The Blair Witch Project
The Usual Suspects
The Shining
Titanic
Amistad
Thinner
The Matrix
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Monday 23 February 2009
Asians In The Media
1. Shilpa complains of racism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jan/18/bigbrother.raceintheuk
2. New Asian family for Eastenders
http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/1628
3. Slumdog Millionaire is Bafta's best movie
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/feb/08/bafta-awards-2009-winners
4. Goodness gracious me: let everyone wear our saris
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991014/ai_n14279839
5. Jade Goody Admits: ‘Shilpa was a victim of racism and bullying.’
http://www.theinsider.com/news/19353_Jade_Goody_Admits_Shilpa_was_a_victim_of_racism_and_bullying.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jan/18/bigbrother.raceintheuk
2. New Asian family for Eastenders
http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/1628
3. Slumdog Millionaire is Bafta's best movie
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/feb/08/bafta-awards-2009-winners
4. Goodness gracious me: let everyone wear our saris
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991014/ai_n14279839
5. Jade Goody Admits: ‘Shilpa was a victim of racism and bullying.’
http://www.theinsider.com/news/19353_Jade_Goody_Admits_Shilpa_was_a_victim_of_racism_and_bullying.
Monday 2 February 2009
1st Draft of Independent Study
Independent Study
Title: HOW and WHY are women CHALLENGING their stereotypes in DOMINO and other similar films?
“Men were more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimized, supportive, and laughable or 'merely token females' (Gunter, 1995)." Today’s society have changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightly, "daddy’s little girl" who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes of women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes specified to women by a patriarchal society that degrades and humiliates them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich, Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightly, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexually active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
The main film I am going to talk about in this study which gives a clear image of a female protagonist challenging the negative stereotypes raised through her character is Domino. “My name is Domino Harvey. I am a bounty hunter. You're probably wondering how a girl like me arrived here. What I say will determine whether or not I spend the rest of my life in prison. Let's start at the beginning.” Domino features Keira Knightly, Domino Harvey, who plays a role of a very masculine women who is not afraid of anything and a person who likes action and living by a thread. This automatically challenges women’s stereotypes as women are still seen today as being very submissive and also responsible and careful which is the complete opposite of Knightley’s character as Domino is always living in the dangerous yet exciting side of society where at any point she could end up in prison or even dead.
Another film I am going to analyse that gives a great example of how women can challenge the labels given to them especially the negative ones is Wanted where Angelina Jolie plays the main female protagonist who is also an assassin. Her character alone identify one way in which Jolie goes against stereotypes as it’s not often we see women in manly roles such as an assassin as they we are used to see women in passive mortifying roles such as housewives or nurses. Another way in which we see Jolie portrayed as a character that rebels against stereotypes that the male dominant society hands women as women are seen today to be uneducated and ‘bimbo’ like. However Jolie is represented as being wise, clever and experienced as in one part of the film she quotes ‘I knew your father’ which implies her knowledge and smartness as she knows more about someone’s family than the guy himself. This change of conventions in films are also seen in the 2000 drama film by Steven Soderbergh Erin Brokavich as Julia Roberts plays a role of a very intelligent and intellectual women who is very hard working.
Erin brockavich is similar as it is another film which is quite contemporary that features a female protagonist. In Erin Brockavich, Julia Roberts carries the role of protecting a whole town which implies that women are not always seen as passive and that they do take an active action to influence today’s society. The character of Erin is an example of how women are rapidly getting closer to equality in the media as well as in society as Julia quotes, ‘For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me. Please, don't ask me to give it up.’ This implies the changes in society as she speaks for the thousands of women around the world who are also trying to not ‘give up’ and challenge the negative stereotypes that they have to deal with. Nevertheless, in Erin Brockavich Julia Roberts does in fact enforces some typical stereotypes of women as in most of the film, the mese en scene portrays Erin to be very sexual and loose as her costume is very revealing for instance the short skirts and tight tops she wears. Some women would see this representation very demeaning and crushing as Erin is seen as an object used to please and appeal to the male target audience however, in opposition Erin uses her physical appearance for her own advantage as she uses her beauty and charm to seduce men and get things her way. An example of this is when she refers to her ‘boobs’ when asked how she can ‘take whatever she wants’.
Furthermore, the first time we see women challenging stereotypes in TV screens is in Ridley Scott’s Alien where Sigourney Weaver is the first female protagonist in an action film. In this film, Female Characters such as Weaver challenge the typical 'patriarchal Hollywood system' as she fights for equality in the media between men and women. Weaver is portrayed as very aggressive, fearless yet wise, which are characteristics of men, as well as nurturing and caring which on the other hand are stereotypes of feminine characteristics. Even thought the character of Ripley is portrayed as tough and independent, we can see that from the beginning of the film, no matter how much women accomplish in society they will always be in a male dominant and patriarchal society where they are surrounded by the strength and power of men. This ideology is put across in this film right in the beginning of the text as Ripley hands Parker a ‘cornbread’ which can be seen as a phallic symbol that glorifies and praises the males power and Freud’s theory of ‘penis envy’. We can link this film with Domino as it demonstrates how films that feature female protagonists have changed over the years as the character of Ripley, even though she is very aggressive and manly, she still has a soft and sensitive side whereas Domino Harvey does not show any emotion at all throughout the film.
In contrast to films such as Domino which glorifies women’s achievements and rise to equality, Casino Royale is a text that illustrates women to be very submissive and in need of the physical and mental strength of the male characters. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is a prime example of an innocent, passive woman who is very compassionate and tender. She mirrors the stereotypes given to her by society and an example of this is when she asks James Bond ' does it bother you killing all those people', this emphasizes how caring she is and that she does not like the action side of her job. This triggers the stereotype of men being superior and much strong than women, in the meantime women are naïve and ‘symbolically annihilated’ Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd also reinforces negative female stereotypes such as the fact that women are promiscuous and sexually active as she dress up in tight dresses that show lots of cleavage unlike Keira Knightley in Domino who has a costume which is very manly with shirts and jeans as she doesn’t take great care of her physical looks. Moreover, in comparison to Keira in Domino, Eva’s character Lynd is constantly saved and rescued by James Bond which connotes male dominance and how women are always relying on men whereas Keira Knightley’s character supports my title as she does not follow typical gender stereotypes of women being passive and men being active as throughout the film Domino is taking care of herself and living independently. This film carry’s out typical conventions of how women are used in action films as she is there for emotional purposes as James Bond will need his loving and caring women to please him after a hard day at work. Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd is portrayed in this film as the typical sex object and she reflects the labels women in society are handed such as the fact that women are ‘disposable pleasures’.
In addition, Angelina Jolie who plays Fox, a powerful and masculine women, in Wanted does challenge negative degrading stereotypes given by society as she is independent and can take care of herself unlike the traditional ‘Bimbo’ or ‘Housewife’. However, Jolie can never go against all stereotypes thrown her way as she is still portrayed as sexually active and ‘Bimbo’ like which will appeal to Laura Mulvie’s ‘male gaze’ and the male target audience as they would be fascinated and attracted to the cleavage she is frequently showing in the film. An example of this is when we see in one part of the film Jolie coming out of a bath completely naked. This also is disrespectful towards women as it implies that women are just there for the pleasure of men.
Moreover, Domino doesn’t only confront stereotypes such as women being objects of the ‘male gaze’; the character of domino also challenges the stereotype that women are ‘considered with home-making and child care’ as Keira Knightley is neither the ‘Madonna’ nor the ‘Whore’. She is not portrayed as a moral and modest woman as she is regularly seen using guns and swearing meanwhile, at the same time she is very masculine like and doesn’t have promiscuous and licentious characteristics. However, in Domino, Keira Knightley does lean more towards the ‘whore’ as she is seen as a ‘great-looking f**king beauty’. So does Julia Roberts in Erin Brockavich as throughout the film she is treated differently because of her sex. Nonetheless, Julia Roberts uses this for her own benefit as she uses her ‘tits’ to get information for her case and help thousands of innocent people.
Unlike Domino and other similar texts such as Erin Brockavich and Mr. and Mrs. Smith where women go against the labels they are given, The Godfather is another example of how women used to be represented in the 20th century. In this crime drama film, Diane Keaton is seen as the passive wife who loves and takes care of her kids. She tries her best to stay away from trouble and to keep her family away from it too. This is the opposite of Keira Knightly in Domino even though the genre of the two films are the same as unlike Diane Keaton in The Godfather, Keira Knightly finds trouble herself and wants to be involved in that kind of dangerous lifestyle.
Even though women in the film industry today do challenge negative stereotypes thrown their way such as their weakness and their passiveness, they are still seen as the sexual, male pleasing sex as in Domino, Keira Knightly is shown stripping and lap dancing in one particular scene.
This is one of the scenes where Keira Knightly finally meets the stereotypes of women in films. She is seen as a sexually active 'bitch', as the Spanish ‘gangster’ refers to her, and she entertains the male gaze by taking of her clothes and given a lap dance.
The first thing that catches my attention in this scene is the non digetic sound of the heart beat while Keira Knightly is facing all the men with the guns. The heartbeats emphasize the amount of pressure Keira is in and the atmosphere in the room. The non digetic sound of the heartbeat is then backed by loud, nervous shouting by the men whilst Keira, the only women in the scene was calm and quite. This highlights that even though she meets the stereotypes of woman in this scene by appearing as sexually active, she also confronts stereotypes at the same time as she is, unlike the men, very calm in a very dangerous situation. Women are known to scream and shout when scared however in this scene Tony Scott swaps the role of the men and the women as they are the ones who are shouting anxiously.
When Keira Knightly is confronting the men, she sounds very masculine and strong with sharp sentences; however this is not parallel to her tone of voice as the narrator as she sounds very girly with a slightly squeaky, feminine voice. This could imply the fact that she has to change to impress the men. This underlines the swap in gender roles as the man is known to be trying to impress a girl however in this scene Keira Knightly is talking with a manly voice, carrying guns and smoking to impress the opposite sex. This enforces Charlotte Whitton’s theory that whatever women must do, ‘they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good’ which implies why films such Domino are significant as they underline the progress of women in the media. The mese en scene also backs up my point as she is holding a shot gun a shot gun compared to what the men are holding(hand guns) just so she can feel powerful. In this scene and most of the film, Keira Knightly is always scene with a gun and that connotes her eagerness to be powerful and the fact that she has to have a phallic symbol by her side just so she can feel strong and powerful. Throughout this film, Tony Scott makes sure that Keira challenges the stereotypes given to women however he always reminds the audience that Keira Knightly is still feminine and passively weak. In the non digetic sound of the narrator, Keira refers to herself as a 'naughty girl' instead of a mature woman as it reminds the audience that she is still no match to the men in the scene and leads them to sympathies with her whilst the whole point of the film is to make the audience see her as an independent strong woman.
What is more, in this film keira Knightly has a very short haircut which suggests her masculinity however the fact that she has hair covering her eyes; she is represented as a very dark individual who is not that confident. This goes well with the darkness of the setting as it portrays her dark and evil personality. In comparison to the fact that she does fulfill female stereotypes that women are labeled with, Knightley is less and less represented as a woman in this scene as the cigarette she is smoking connotes the ideology of rebelliousness which is mostly linked with ludicrous men. She is also represented as a slut as she offers to give a stranger a lap dance and the dialogue of the man is very insulting to her quoting 'take off your clothes bitch' she still strips and gives him a lap dance which could mean to things; either she is a whore or she is just a workaholic desperate for information to pursue her missions as a bounty hunter.
Even though Knightley does follow labels given to her by the male dominated society as we see her provoking a ‘male gaze’ when she stripped in the film, from the evidence given in this study, Keira Knightley in Domino extraordinarily challenges demeaning and corrupt stereotypes and labels of women throughout the film. In today’s society, contemporary films such as Domino are very hard to take in as the story is astonishing, ‘the fact she was a woman adding to the intrigue’; on the other hand, society is slowly accepting films such as Domino, Erin Brockavich and Wanted and they are tolerating the fact that women are as equal as men both in the media and in real life. Films such as Domino do highlight how much today’s society has changed as in the 20st century, films that promoted female power and equality, were frowned upon, though after the first and the second wave of feminism, films that glorified women are becoming more and more successful in the media as audiences today are active, therefore receive texts their own way. However, films that enforce negative labels given to women such as Casino Royale and Godfather prove the fact that the "second-wave of feminism is seen as a product of the past" and that today women need to have alternative qualities to intelligence such as their beauty to be successful and triumphant in society. In conclusion, Directors such as Tony Scott do portray their female protagonist as strong challengers of pessimistic female stereotypes as Keira Knightly plays a female character who is the opposite of a regular women who is weak and victimized, instead she is tough and adventurous. This important for the female generation of society today as women need female representatives such as Julia Roberts, Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie to voice their feelings in a male dominated patriarchal society.
Refrences:
[1]www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
[2]Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
[3]Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
[4]Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
[5]Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
[6]Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
[7]Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
[8]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[9]Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
[10]Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
[11]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[12]Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’
[13]www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
[14]Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
[15]Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
[16]www.wisdomquotes.com, Charlotte Whitton
[17]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[18]News.bbc.co.uk
[19]www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
Bibliography
Works Cited
Book research:
- Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’, 2000, Totem Books
- Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
- Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
- ‘Representation of Women’, Gunter, 1995
- Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
- Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Internet:
- News.bbc.co.uk
- www.wisdomquotes.com Charlotte Whitton
- www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
- www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
Moving Image:
- Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
- Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
- Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
- Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
- Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
- Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
- Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
Works Consulted
- http://www.mediaguardian.com/, recent articles on domino
- http://www.newline.com/, official site of Domino's institution
- http://www.keiraknightley.com/,Keira Knightley's official site
- http://www.dominomovie.com/,the movies official site
- http://www.variety.com/ Domino reviews
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/, Domino reviews
- http://www.richard-kelly.net/news/news.php?id=79&from=2005, Richard Kelly on Domino
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3671572.stm, article on Domino
- http://www.dominomovie.com/real_domino_harvey.html, information on the real Domoino Harvey
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_(film), Info on Domino
- http://movies.about.com/od/domino/a/domino072005.htm,Richard Kelly Discusses "Domino," Working with Tony Scott, and "Southland Tales"
- http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=8773, Domino Information
Word Count:3000
Title: HOW and WHY are women CHALLENGING their stereotypes in DOMINO and other similar films?
“Men were more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimized, supportive, and laughable or 'merely token females' (Gunter, 1995)." Today’s society have changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightly, "daddy’s little girl" who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes of women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes specified to women by a patriarchal society that degrades and humiliates them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich, Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightly, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexually active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
The main film I am going to talk about in this study which gives a clear image of a female protagonist challenging the negative stereotypes raised through her character is Domino. “My name is Domino Harvey. I am a bounty hunter. You're probably wondering how a girl like me arrived here. What I say will determine whether or not I spend the rest of my life in prison. Let's start at the beginning.” Domino features Keira Knightly, Domino Harvey, who plays a role of a very masculine women who is not afraid of anything and a person who likes action and living by a thread. This automatically challenges women’s stereotypes as women are still seen today as being very submissive and also responsible and careful which is the complete opposite of Knightley’s character as Domino is always living in the dangerous yet exciting side of society where at any point she could end up in prison or even dead.
Another film I am going to analyse that gives a great example of how women can challenge the labels given to them especially the negative ones is Wanted where Angelina Jolie plays the main female protagonist who is also an assassin. Her character alone identify one way in which Jolie goes against stereotypes as it’s not often we see women in manly roles such as an assassin as they we are used to see women in passive mortifying roles such as housewives or nurses. Another way in which we see Jolie portrayed as a character that rebels against stereotypes that the male dominant society hands women as women are seen today to be uneducated and ‘bimbo’ like. However Jolie is represented as being wise, clever and experienced as in one part of the film she quotes ‘I knew your father’ which implies her knowledge and smartness as she knows more about someone’s family than the guy himself. This change of conventions in films are also seen in the 2000 drama film by Steven Soderbergh Erin Brokavich as Julia Roberts plays a role of a very intelligent and intellectual women who is very hard working.
Erin brockavich is similar as it is another film which is quite contemporary that features a female protagonist. In Erin Brockavich, Julia Roberts carries the role of protecting a whole town which implies that women are not always seen as passive and that they do take an active action to influence today’s society. The character of Erin is an example of how women are rapidly getting closer to equality in the media as well as in society as Julia quotes, ‘For the first time in my life, I got people respecting me. Please, don't ask me to give it up.’ This implies the changes in society as she speaks for the thousands of women around the world who are also trying to not ‘give up’ and challenge the negative stereotypes that they have to deal with. Nevertheless, in Erin Brockavich Julia Roberts does in fact enforces some typical stereotypes of women as in most of the film, the mese en scene portrays Erin to be very sexual and loose as her costume is very revealing for instance the short skirts and tight tops she wears. Some women would see this representation very demeaning and crushing as Erin is seen as an object used to please and appeal to the male target audience however, in opposition Erin uses her physical appearance for her own advantage as she uses her beauty and charm to seduce men and get things her way. An example of this is when she refers to her ‘boobs’ when asked how she can ‘take whatever she wants’.
Furthermore, the first time we see women challenging stereotypes in TV screens is in Ridley Scott’s Alien where Sigourney Weaver is the first female protagonist in an action film. In this film, Female Characters such as Weaver challenge the typical 'patriarchal Hollywood system' as she fights for equality in the media between men and women. Weaver is portrayed as very aggressive, fearless yet wise, which are characteristics of men, as well as nurturing and caring which on the other hand are stereotypes of feminine characteristics. Even thought the character of Ripley is portrayed as tough and independent, we can see that from the beginning of the film, no matter how much women accomplish in society they will always be in a male dominant and patriarchal society where they are surrounded by the strength and power of men. This ideology is put across in this film right in the beginning of the text as Ripley hands Parker a ‘cornbread’ which can be seen as a phallic symbol that glorifies and praises the males power and Freud’s theory of ‘penis envy’. We can link this film with Domino as it demonstrates how films that feature female protagonists have changed over the years as the character of Ripley, even though she is very aggressive and manly, she still has a soft and sensitive side whereas Domino Harvey does not show any emotion at all throughout the film.
In contrast to films such as Domino which glorifies women’s achievements and rise to equality, Casino Royale is a text that illustrates women to be very submissive and in need of the physical and mental strength of the male characters. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is a prime example of an innocent, passive woman who is very compassionate and tender. She mirrors the stereotypes given to her by society and an example of this is when she asks James Bond ' does it bother you killing all those people', this emphasizes how caring she is and that she does not like the action side of her job. This triggers the stereotype of men being superior and much strong than women, in the meantime women are naïve and ‘symbolically annihilated’ Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd also reinforces negative female stereotypes such as the fact that women are promiscuous and sexually active as she dress up in tight dresses that show lots of cleavage unlike Keira Knightley in Domino who has a costume which is very manly with shirts and jeans as she doesn’t take great care of her physical looks. Moreover, in comparison to Keira in Domino, Eva’s character Lynd is constantly saved and rescued by James Bond which connotes male dominance and how women are always relying on men whereas Keira Knightley’s character supports my title as she does not follow typical gender stereotypes of women being passive and men being active as throughout the film Domino is taking care of herself and living independently. This film carry’s out typical conventions of how women are used in action films as she is there for emotional purposes as James Bond will need his loving and caring women to please him after a hard day at work. Eva Green who plays Vesper Lynd is portrayed in this film as the typical sex object and she reflects the labels women in society are handed such as the fact that women are ‘disposable pleasures’.
In addition, Angelina Jolie who plays Fox, a powerful and masculine women, in Wanted does challenge negative degrading stereotypes given by society as she is independent and can take care of herself unlike the traditional ‘Bimbo’ or ‘Housewife’. However, Jolie can never go against all stereotypes thrown her way as she is still portrayed as sexually active and ‘Bimbo’ like which will appeal to Laura Mulvie’s ‘male gaze’ and the male target audience as they would be fascinated and attracted to the cleavage she is frequently showing in the film. An example of this is when we see in one part of the film Jolie coming out of a bath completely naked. This also is disrespectful towards women as it implies that women are just there for the pleasure of men.
Moreover, Domino doesn’t only confront stereotypes such as women being objects of the ‘male gaze’; the character of domino also challenges the stereotype that women are ‘considered with home-making and child care’ as Keira Knightley is neither the ‘Madonna’ nor the ‘Whore’. She is not portrayed as a moral and modest woman as she is regularly seen using guns and swearing meanwhile, at the same time she is very masculine like and doesn’t have promiscuous and licentious characteristics. However, in Domino, Keira Knightley does lean more towards the ‘whore’ as she is seen as a ‘great-looking f**king beauty’. So does Julia Roberts in Erin Brockavich as throughout the film she is treated differently because of her sex. Nonetheless, Julia Roberts uses this for her own benefit as she uses her ‘tits’ to get information for her case and help thousands of innocent people.
Unlike Domino and other similar texts such as Erin Brockavich and Mr. and Mrs. Smith where women go against the labels they are given, The Godfather is another example of how women used to be represented in the 20th century. In this crime drama film, Diane Keaton is seen as the passive wife who loves and takes care of her kids. She tries her best to stay away from trouble and to keep her family away from it too. This is the opposite of Keira Knightly in Domino even though the genre of the two films are the same as unlike Diane Keaton in The Godfather, Keira Knightly finds trouble herself and wants to be involved in that kind of dangerous lifestyle.
Even though women in the film industry today do challenge negative stereotypes thrown their way such as their weakness and their passiveness, they are still seen as the sexual, male pleasing sex as in Domino, Keira Knightly is shown stripping and lap dancing in one particular scene.
This is one of the scenes where Keira Knightly finally meets the stereotypes of women in films. She is seen as a sexually active 'bitch', as the Spanish ‘gangster’ refers to her, and she entertains the male gaze by taking of her clothes and given a lap dance.
The first thing that catches my attention in this scene is the non digetic sound of the heart beat while Keira Knightly is facing all the men with the guns. The heartbeats emphasize the amount of pressure Keira is in and the atmosphere in the room. The non digetic sound of the heartbeat is then backed by loud, nervous shouting by the men whilst Keira, the only women in the scene was calm and quite. This highlights that even though she meets the stereotypes of woman in this scene by appearing as sexually active, she also confronts stereotypes at the same time as she is, unlike the men, very calm in a very dangerous situation. Women are known to scream and shout when scared however in this scene Tony Scott swaps the role of the men and the women as they are the ones who are shouting anxiously.
When Keira Knightly is confronting the men, she sounds very masculine and strong with sharp sentences; however this is not parallel to her tone of voice as the narrator as she sounds very girly with a slightly squeaky, feminine voice. This could imply the fact that she has to change to impress the men. This underlines the swap in gender roles as the man is known to be trying to impress a girl however in this scene Keira Knightly is talking with a manly voice, carrying guns and smoking to impress the opposite sex. This enforces Charlotte Whitton’s theory that whatever women must do, ‘they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good’ which implies why films such Domino are significant as they underline the progress of women in the media. The mese en scene also backs up my point as she is holding a shot gun a shot gun compared to what the men are holding(hand guns) just so she can feel powerful. In this scene and most of the film, Keira Knightly is always scene with a gun and that connotes her eagerness to be powerful and the fact that she has to have a phallic symbol by her side just so she can feel strong and powerful. Throughout this film, Tony Scott makes sure that Keira challenges the stereotypes given to women however he always reminds the audience that Keira Knightly is still feminine and passively weak. In the non digetic sound of the narrator, Keira refers to herself as a 'naughty girl' instead of a mature woman as it reminds the audience that she is still no match to the men in the scene and leads them to sympathies with her whilst the whole point of the film is to make the audience see her as an independent strong woman.
What is more, in this film keira Knightly has a very short haircut which suggests her masculinity however the fact that she has hair covering her eyes; she is represented as a very dark individual who is not that confident. This goes well with the darkness of the setting as it portrays her dark and evil personality. In comparison to the fact that she does fulfill female stereotypes that women are labeled with, Knightley is less and less represented as a woman in this scene as the cigarette she is smoking connotes the ideology of rebelliousness which is mostly linked with ludicrous men. She is also represented as a slut as she offers to give a stranger a lap dance and the dialogue of the man is very insulting to her quoting 'take off your clothes bitch' she still strips and gives him a lap dance which could mean to things; either she is a whore or she is just a workaholic desperate for information to pursue her missions as a bounty hunter.
Even though Knightley does follow labels given to her by the male dominated society as we see her provoking a ‘male gaze’ when she stripped in the film, from the evidence given in this study, Keira Knightley in Domino extraordinarily challenges demeaning and corrupt stereotypes and labels of women throughout the film. In today’s society, contemporary films such as Domino are very hard to take in as the story is astonishing, ‘the fact she was a woman adding to the intrigue’; on the other hand, society is slowly accepting films such as Domino, Erin Brockavich and Wanted and they are tolerating the fact that women are as equal as men both in the media and in real life. Films such as Domino do highlight how much today’s society has changed as in the 20st century, films that promoted female power and equality, were frowned upon, though after the first and the second wave of feminism, films that glorified women are becoming more and more successful in the media as audiences today are active, therefore receive texts their own way. However, films that enforce negative labels given to women such as Casino Royale and Godfather prove the fact that the "second-wave of feminism is seen as a product of the past" and that today women need to have alternative qualities to intelligence such as their beauty to be successful and triumphant in society. In conclusion, Directors such as Tony Scott do portray their female protagonist as strong challengers of pessimistic female stereotypes as Keira Knightly plays a female character who is the opposite of a regular women who is weak and victimized, instead she is tough and adventurous. This important for the female generation of society today as women need female representatives such as Julia Roberts, Keira Knightley and Angelina Jolie to voice their feelings in a male dominated patriarchal society.
Refrences:
[1]www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
[2]Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
[3]Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
[4]Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
[5]Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
[6]Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
[7]Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
[8]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[9]Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
[10]Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
[11]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[12]Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’
[13]www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
[14]Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
[15]Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
[16]www.wisdomquotes.com, Charlotte Whitton
[17]Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
[18]News.bbc.co.uk
[19]www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
Bibliography
Works Cited
Book research:
- Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’, 2000, Totem Books
- Mulvey, Laura, 1975, ‘Visual Pleasure And Narrative Cinema’
- Tuchman, Gaye, ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’, 1978
- ‘Representation of Women’, Gunter, 1995
- Image And Representation, Nick Lacey, 1998
- Laura Mulvey, 1989, 'Visual and other pleasures', Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Internet:
- News.bbc.co.uk
- www.wisdomquotes.com Charlotte Whitton
- www.hollywood.com, Domino interview, Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez
- www.bb8-kiran.blogspot.com, ‘Representation Of Women’, Gunter, 1995
Moving Image:
- Scott, Tony, ‘Domino’, 2005
- Soderbergh, Steven, ‘Erin Brockavich’, 2000
- Bekmambetov, Temur, ‘Wanted’, 2008
- Scott, Ridley, ‘Alien’, 1979
- Campbell, Martin, ‘Casino Royale’, 2006
- Liman, Doug, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’, 2005
- Coppola, Francis Ford, ‘The Godfather’ 1972
Works Consulted
- http://www.mediaguardian.com/, recent articles on domino
- http://www.newline.com/, official site of Domino's institution
- http://www.keiraknightley.com/,Keira Knightley's official site
- http://www.dominomovie.com/,the movies official site
- http://www.variety.com/ Domino reviews
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/, Domino reviews
- http://www.richard-kelly.net/news/news.php?id=79&from=2005, Richard Kelly on Domino
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3671572.stm, article on Domino
- http://www.dominomovie.com/real_domino_harvey.html, information on the real Domoino Harvey
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_(film), Info on Domino
- http://movies.about.com/od/domino/a/domino072005.htm,Richard Kelly Discusses "Domino," Working with Tony Scott, and "Southland Tales"
- http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=8773, Domino Information
Word Count:3000
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Re-write of first paragraph
Title: HOW and WHY are women CHALLENGING their stereotypes in DOMINO and other similar films?
Today’s society have changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightly, "daddys little girl" who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes given to women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes given to women by a patriarchal society that degrades and humiliates them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich, Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightly, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexual active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
Today’s society have changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightly, "daddys little girl" who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes given to women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes given to women by a patriarchal society that degrades and humiliates them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich, Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightly, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexual active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
Monday 26 January 2009
Evaluation 2
Attainment - 2
Ive been working very hard the past term and i think my writing has improved drastically.
Effort - 2
I also think my effort was in a high level this term as i have as the amount of work in my blog proves so.
Punctuality - 1
I have been in for nearly all the lessons including my tutorial which helped me improve and achieve more.
Submission and quality of homework - 1
I have done every task thrown my way in my blog especially the homework we had to do over the Christmas holidays which was very long and tedious.
Ability to work independently - 4
One problem I'm finding with doing this study is the fact that i work horribly by myself. I understand texts more when i discuss it with classmates.
Quality of writing - 2
I think my writing skills are gettin much better as i had more practice during the med 1 exam revision
Organisation of Media folder - 2
I have a folder with lots of papers inside it however it is not organised in order.
Oral contributions in class - 1
I talk the most in class and i like to argue all the time trying to prove my point and also learning from other students.
Standard of Module 5 blog - 1
I think my blog is up to standards as it has a high amount of posts with lots of in-depth information and analysis.
Standard of Module 6 blog - 1
Even though we have not been set much work to do in the module 6 blog, i have doe all the work that was set to us and up to standards aswell.
WWW.
My writing skills improved a lot
Lots of useful posts on my blog which will help my independant study
Been attending classes more often
EBI.
Need to work more independantly
Need to work more on my book research
Use more quotes in my independant study
Ive been working very hard the past term and i think my writing has improved drastically.
Effort - 2
I also think my effort was in a high level this term as i have as the amount of work in my blog proves so.
Punctuality - 1
I have been in for nearly all the lessons including my tutorial which helped me improve and achieve more.
Submission and quality of homework - 1
I have done every task thrown my way in my blog especially the homework we had to do over the Christmas holidays which was very long and tedious.
Ability to work independently - 4
One problem I'm finding with doing this study is the fact that i work horribly by myself. I understand texts more when i discuss it with classmates.
Quality of writing - 2
I think my writing skills are gettin much better as i had more practice during the med 1 exam revision
Organisation of Media folder - 2
I have a folder with lots of papers inside it however it is not organised in order.
Oral contributions in class - 1
I talk the most in class and i like to argue all the time trying to prove my point and also learning from other students.
Standard of Module 5 blog - 1
I think my blog is up to standards as it has a high amount of posts with lots of in-depth information and analysis.
Standard of Module 6 blog - 1
Even though we have not been set much work to do in the module 6 blog, i have doe all the work that was set to us and up to standards aswell.
WWW.
My writing skills improved a lot
Lots of useful posts on my blog which will help my independant study
Been attending classes more often
EBI.
Need to work more independantly
Need to work more on my book research
Use more quotes in my independant study
Sunday 4 January 2009
First Paragraph. .!!
Title: HOW and WHY are women CHALLENGING their stereotypes in DOMINO and other similar films?
Today’s society have changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightly, who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes given to women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes given to women by a patriarchal society that degrades and humiliates them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich, Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightly, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexual active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
Today’s society have changed so much throughout the years and we can see this from the development of film production as directors are now making films that would have been frowned upon in the 20th century. An example of this is Domino which was directed by Tony Scott as it features a female protagonist, Keira Knightly, who challenges negative stereotypes given to women. Stereotypes given to women can be positive such as the fact that they are supportive and nurturing however, there are some stereotypes given to women by a patriarchal society that degrades and humiliates them such as their weakness and passiveness. Films such as Erin Brockavich, Wanted and Alien as well as Domino go against these stereotypes as they portray women as being strong, violent and active which highlights the change women have achieved and their sudden equality with men. Nonetheless, there are still some negative stereotypes that female actors such as Keira Nightly, Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie carry out and portray such as their promiscuity and how sexual active they are. Their 'slutty' clothing and the amount of cleavage they show connote Laura Mulvey's ‘male gaze’ and the fact that the female characters, no matter how much equality they achieve, they will still be on the screen to please the male target audience.
Saturday 3 January 2009
Essay plan
Title: How and why are women challenging their stereotypes in Domino and other similar films?
My topic is basically about how modern films in Hollywood today feature masculine women who challenge their given stereotypes in society. I will counter that with the fact that women are still there to appeal to the 'male gaze' and that refers to the sexually active stereotype women are given these days.[T] The main film I am going to talk about which gives a clear image of a female protagonist challenging the stereotypes given to her is Domino. Domino features Keira Knightly as a very masculine women who is not afraid of nothing and a person who like action and living by a thread. Other films that I would use which give a clear example of women challenging stereotypes are Wanted, where I will be focusing on Angelina Jolie and Erin Brockovic where I will be focusing on Julia Roberts. Another film that I will be talking about in my study is Casino Royale however I will be using the female protagonist in this film to counter the fact that women challenge their stereotypes as in Casino Royale the women, like any other women is pictured to be, is passive, fragile and in need of male protection.
The films
This study is based on the change in the roles of women in the media compared to the 20th century where women were always seen as the weaker second sex. The film that I am focusing on, Domino, proves the change that women have achieved over the years as firstly, for a change, the main protagonist is a female and she is portrayed as fearless and violent.
The films that I will include in this study are:
Domino
Erin Brockavich
Wanted
Casino Royale
Alien
This list of films that will be in my study are either similar or different to the main film which is Domino. Erin brockavich is similar as it is another film which is quite contemporary that features a female protagonist. In Erin Brockavich, Julia Roberts carries the role of protecting a whole town which implies that women are not always seen as passive and that they do take an active action to influence today’s society. Similarly, Wanted is a film which portrays Angelina Jolie as very powerful and playing a male’s role. On the other hand, we have Casino Royale a film which carries a negative image of women and degrades the female population as women in this film are seen as very weak and passive. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is a prime example of an innocent, passive woman who is very caring and loving. She mirrors the stereotypes given to her by society. One example of this in the film is when she asks James Bond ' does it bother you killing all those people', this emphasizes how caring she is and that she does not like the action side of her job.[ML] The woman is usually wearing very promiscuous clothing in this trailer which also represents her as a sex object.[ML][R] This is the complete opposite to Keira Knightly’s dress sense in Domino as she is dressed very manly and she doesn’t take great care of her looks. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is highlighted to being constantly saved and rescued which connotes the male dominance and how women rely on men.
I will use Alien, a film released in 1979, as it was the first action film which featured a female protagonist.[HI] This is because of the second phase of feminism and from then on women have slowly been achieving and becoming more and more equal to men.[Id] I will link this film with Domino as it shows how films that feature female protagonists have changed over the years as the character of Ripley, even though she is very aggressive and manly, she still has a soft and sensitive side whereas Domino Harvey does not show any emotion at all throughout the film.[M]
The main characters
The characters that I picked out from the films mentioned above and the ones I am going to focus on are:
Domino Harvey (Keira Knightly)
Erin Brocckavich (Julia Roberts)
Fox (Angelina Jolie)
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)
Vesper Lynd (Eva Green)
The character of Domino is very rare and is not seen that often in society as Keira Knightly acts as a disturbed young woman who is very violent yet down to earth. She challenges nearly all stereotypes of women as she is not passive yet active, she is not seen as a sex object as she does not pay attention to her looks and least but not least she is not very feminine at all as she plays with guns and is seen frequently with ammunition over her soldiers. [ML][R] The target audience for Domino will relate to Keira Knightly according to the uses and gratification theory as they would identify with her character as a lot of young teenagers are feeling depressed with ‘daddy issues’ which leads to them feeling violent and aggressive like Keira Knightly in Domino.[A]
Julia Roberts character Erin Brockavich is quite similar to Keira Knightly’s as she is also passive and take things into her own hands however, she is not seen as violent and aggressive as Keira as she uses her brain and will to beat a big company and save thousands. However, even though Julia Roberts is challenging stereotypes in this film, she is still trapped in a patriarchal society and is seen as a sex object because she is wearing very revealing n promiscuous. Nonetheless, in this film, Julia Roberts is represented as very clever because she is using her image for her own good as in this film she is seen to get into confidential places by acting promiscuously. [R]
The character Angelina Jolie is playing in Wanted is a very powerful n manly woman called Fox who is an expert with guns. Just like Keira Nightly in Domino, Jolie challenges negative degrading stereotypes given by society as she is independent and can take care of herself unlike the traditional ‘Bimbo’ or ‘Housewife’. However, Jolie can never go against all stereotypes thrown her way as she is still portrayed as sexual active and ‘Bimbo’ like which will appeal to Laura Mulvie’s male gaze and the male target audience as they would be attracted to the cleavage she is constantly showing in the film. [T][A] This also is disrespectful towards women as it implies that women are just there for the pleasure of men.
It was hard for the target audience to relate or identify with Weaver in Alien as at the time society didn’t expect a female protagonist in an action packed film. [A]The character of Ripley in Alien was very new at the time as women in the screen were usually shown to be caring and supportive yet very weak n insecure however, Ripley is two types of people in one as she is caring and nurturing as well as a tough aggressive independent women. Nonetheless the character of Ripley was a breakthrough in society as it underlined the sudden change in a male dominant, patriarchal society. [Id]
Eva Green is the odd one out as her character, Lynd, is the opposite of the female characters mentioned previously as she does in fact go with the stereotypes given to woman, positive and negative. The positive stereotypes that she portrays are the once circling caring and supportive characteristics which many of the female audiences can identify with as women are biologically nurturing and emotional. [R]The negative stereotypes on the other hand are the fact that she is weak and is in need of being saved by the opposite, much stronger sex. This could link with the effects theory of audiences and the hypodermic needle as women that are watching the film can unconsciously believe that they are the second and weak sex in a patriarchal society and the one which is being rescued. [A][Id]
Researching different texts
Casino Royale-2006
Films such as casino Royale show exactly the opposite representations of women in Domino. In this film women are seen as passive where they do not get their hands dirty and they wear dresses which show a lot of cleavage whereas in Domino, Keira Knightly is the complete opposite. [R] Another difference between Domino and Casino Royale and the representation of woman is the fact that in Domino Keira Knightly is an independent woman who doesn't need anyone taking care of her however, In casino royale, Eva Green is represented as very week and dependent on a manly power as she is saved at the end of the film by Daniel Graig (James Bond) [R]
The Godfather-1972
The Godfather is another example of how women used to be represented in the 20th century. In this crime drama film, Diane Keaton is seen as the passive wife who loves and takes care of her kids. She tries her best to stay away from trouble and to keep her family away from it too. This is the opposite of Keira Knightly in Domino even though the genre of the two films are the same as unlike Diane Keaton in The Godfather, Keira Knightly finds trouble herself and wants to be involved in that kind of dangerous lifestyle. [R][G]
Researching other similar texts.
Erin Brokovich-2000
'Erin Brokovich' is a film about an unemployed single mother who is having trouble finding a job. She has also recently been a victim of a failed lawsuit against a doctor in a car accident. Her lawyer provided a job for her as compensation for the loss. Because of her trashy and promiscuous clothing, no one takes her seriously nevertheless all this changes when she illegally investigates a suspicious real estate case involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. [ML]
In this dramatic film, Julia Roberts almost single-handedly save the day which is already challenging female stereotypes as it is very rare that we see a woman taking a lead role as 'the savior', their normally the ones being saved. This is significant as it shows the postmodern society we are living in where new ideas of film making have been introduced and different types of films are appreciated by society because before films such as domino and erin brokovich would have been frowned upon as patriarchy and male dominance was very important however, today with the introduction of the new man and woman being more powerful than ever before films such as these who give woman power and independence are the new generation of films. [SI][Id] We can see this as new films such as Wanted and Mr. and Mrs. Smith as today there are more and more films with female power and equality.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith-2005
This film portrays Angelina Jolie as a very secretive yet violent woman who kills people for a living. This description automatically connotes a male however, Angelina Jolie is challenging nearly all the stereotypes a woman is given as she is not passive yet active, she is not the talkative gossipy type but she is very secretive about her identity. Just like Keira Knightly in Domino, in this film Jolie is always armed with dangerous weapons which could also raise social and political issues such as the rise of gun crime in America. [PI] Politicians can argue that films such as Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Domino are the reason for the increase of gun crime in America as guns are glorified in these films and being equipped with a gun is portrayed as power in these films. [PI]
Wanted-2008
Wanted is another movie that stars Angelina Jolie as an assassin. There are more and more films today that represent women as manly, aggressive and deadly. The days of a women being a housewife are over, today women take on jobs that men usually do. It can also be argues that the roles of men and women has slightly become more symmetrical and we can see this from the introduction of the new man as it is alright for man to be seen taken care of children and cooking them dinner at home today and women are starting to care more about their careers. [T][SI] We can see the change of gender roles in Wanted as the man is seen as the passive one who doesn't want any trouble whereas the woman (Jolie) is the one who trains him to become a top assassin.
Criticizing my title
Even though I have proved how women in the film industry today challenge negative stereotypes thrown their way such as their weakness and their passiveness, they are still seen as the sexual, male pleasing sex as in Domino, Keira Knightly is shown stripping and lap dancing in one particular scene.
This is one of the scenes where Keira Knightly finally meets the stereotypes of women in films. She is seen as a sexually active 'bitch', as the Spanish gangster refers to her, and she entertains the male gaze by taking of her clothes and given a lap dance. [R][Th]
The first thing that catches me in this scene is the non digetic sound of the heart beat while Keira Knightly is facing all the men with the guns. [ML] The heartbeats emphasize the amount of pressure Keira is in and the atmosphere in the room. The non digetic sound of the heartbeat is then backed by loud, nervous shouting by the men whilst Keira, the only women in the scene was calm and quite. [ML]This shows that even though she meets the stereotypes of woman in this scene by appearing as sexually active, she also challenges stereotypes at the same time as she is, unlike the men, very calm in a very dangerous situation. Women are known to scream and shout when scared however in this scene Tony Scott swaps the role of the men and the women as they are the ones who are shouting anxiously.
When Keira Knightly is confronting the men, she sounds very masculine and strong with sharp sentences; however this is not parallel to her tone of voice as the narrator as she sounds very girly with a slightly squeaky, feminine voice. [ML]This could imply the fact that she has to change to impress the men. This is a change in gender roles as the man is known to be trying to impress a girl however in this scene Keira Knightly is talking with a manly voice, carrying guns and smoking to impress the opposite sex. The mese en scene also backs up my point as she is holding a shot gun a shot gun compared to what the men are holding(hand guns) just so she can feel powerful. In this scene and most of the film, Keira Knightly is always scene with a gun and that connotes her eagerness to be powerful and the fact that she has to have a phallic symbol by her side just so she can feel strong and powerful. [Id]Throughout this film, Tony Scott makes sure that Keira challenges the stereotypes given to women however he always reminds the audience that Keira Knightly is still feminine and passively weak. In the non digetic sound of the narrator, Keira refers to herself as a 'naughty girl' instead of a mature woman as it reminds the audience that she is still no match to the men in the scene and leads them to sympathies with her whilst the whole point of the film is to make the audience see her as an independent strong woman. [ML][A]
In this film keira Knightly has a very short haircut which suggests her masculinity however the fact that she has hair covering her eyes, she is represented as a very dark individual who is not that confident. This goes well with the darkness of the setting as it portrays her dark and evil personality. [R]She is less and less represented as a woman in this scene as the cigarette she is smoking connotes the ideology of rebelliousness which is mostly linked with ludicrous men. [R][Id]She is also represented as a slut as she offers to give a stranger a lap dance and the dialogue of the man is very insulting to her quoting 'take off your clothes bitch' she still strip and gives him a lap dance which could mean to things, either she is a whore or she is just a workaholic desperate for information to pursue her missions as a bounty hunter. [ML]
Conclusion
I will end this essay by answering my title and sayin if my prediction was right. I think my prediction will be right as i proved through out my essay that women in contemprary films such as Domino keep challenging typical stereotypes given to them such as being sensitive and passive
Books to Include:
Mulvey, Laura, (1975), 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema'
Ziauddin, Sardar, and Borin, Van Loon, 'Representaion of Women'
Gauntlett, David, (2002), 'Media, gender and identity' (published by Routlage)
Tasker, Yvonne, 'Working Girls: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema'
Phillips, Patrick, 'Understanding Film Texts'
Macdonald, Myra, 'Representing Women'
Bibliography
http://www.wikipedia.com/
http://www.mediagaurdian.com/
http://www.newline.com/
http://www.keiraknightley.com/
http://www.dominomovie.com/
http://www.variety.com/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/
http://www.richard-kelly.net/news/news.php?id=79&from=2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3671572.stm
http://www.dominomovie.com/real_domino_harvey.html
http://movies.about.com/od/domino/a/domino072005.htm
http://www.hollywood.com/feature/Domino_Interviews_Mickey_Rourke_and_Edgar_Ramirez/2446166
http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=8773
My topic is basically about how modern films in Hollywood today feature masculine women who challenge their given stereotypes in society. I will counter that with the fact that women are still there to appeal to the 'male gaze' and that refers to the sexually active stereotype women are given these days.[T] The main film I am going to talk about which gives a clear image of a female protagonist challenging the stereotypes given to her is Domino. Domino features Keira Knightly as a very masculine women who is not afraid of nothing and a person who like action and living by a thread. Other films that I would use which give a clear example of women challenging stereotypes are Wanted, where I will be focusing on Angelina Jolie and Erin Brockovic where I will be focusing on Julia Roberts. Another film that I will be talking about in my study is Casino Royale however I will be using the female protagonist in this film to counter the fact that women challenge their stereotypes as in Casino Royale the women, like any other women is pictured to be, is passive, fragile and in need of male protection.
The films
This study is based on the change in the roles of women in the media compared to the 20th century where women were always seen as the weaker second sex. The film that I am focusing on, Domino, proves the change that women have achieved over the years as firstly, for a change, the main protagonist is a female and she is portrayed as fearless and violent.
The films that I will include in this study are:
Domino
Erin Brockavich
Wanted
Casino Royale
Alien
This list of films that will be in my study are either similar or different to the main film which is Domino. Erin brockavich is similar as it is another film which is quite contemporary that features a female protagonist. In Erin Brockavich, Julia Roberts carries the role of protecting a whole town which implies that women are not always seen as passive and that they do take an active action to influence today’s society. Similarly, Wanted is a film which portrays Angelina Jolie as very powerful and playing a male’s role. On the other hand, we have Casino Royale a film which carries a negative image of women and degrades the female population as women in this film are seen as very weak and passive. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is a prime example of an innocent, passive woman who is very caring and loving. She mirrors the stereotypes given to her by society. One example of this in the film is when she asks James Bond ' does it bother you killing all those people', this emphasizes how caring she is and that she does not like the action side of her job.[ML] The woman is usually wearing very promiscuous clothing in this trailer which also represents her as a sex object.[ML][R] This is the complete opposite to Keira Knightly’s dress sense in Domino as she is dressed very manly and she doesn’t take great care of her looks. The female protagonist in Casino Royale is highlighted to being constantly saved and rescued which connotes the male dominance and how women rely on men.
I will use Alien, a film released in 1979, as it was the first action film which featured a female protagonist.[HI] This is because of the second phase of feminism and from then on women have slowly been achieving and becoming more and more equal to men.[Id] I will link this film with Domino as it shows how films that feature female protagonists have changed over the years as the character of Ripley, even though she is very aggressive and manly, she still has a soft and sensitive side whereas Domino Harvey does not show any emotion at all throughout the film.[M]
The main characters
The characters that I picked out from the films mentioned above and the ones I am going to focus on are:
Domino Harvey (Keira Knightly)
Erin Brocckavich (Julia Roberts)
Fox (Angelina Jolie)
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver)
Vesper Lynd (Eva Green)
The character of Domino is very rare and is not seen that often in society as Keira Knightly acts as a disturbed young woman who is very violent yet down to earth. She challenges nearly all stereotypes of women as she is not passive yet active, she is not seen as a sex object as she does not pay attention to her looks and least but not least she is not very feminine at all as she plays with guns and is seen frequently with ammunition over her soldiers. [ML][R] The target audience for Domino will relate to Keira Knightly according to the uses and gratification theory as they would identify with her character as a lot of young teenagers are feeling depressed with ‘daddy issues’ which leads to them feeling violent and aggressive like Keira Knightly in Domino.[A]
Julia Roberts character Erin Brockavich is quite similar to Keira Knightly’s as she is also passive and take things into her own hands however, she is not seen as violent and aggressive as Keira as she uses her brain and will to beat a big company and save thousands. However, even though Julia Roberts is challenging stereotypes in this film, she is still trapped in a patriarchal society and is seen as a sex object because she is wearing very revealing n promiscuous. Nonetheless, in this film, Julia Roberts is represented as very clever because she is using her image for her own good as in this film she is seen to get into confidential places by acting promiscuously. [R]
The character Angelina Jolie is playing in Wanted is a very powerful n manly woman called Fox who is an expert with guns. Just like Keira Nightly in Domino, Jolie challenges negative degrading stereotypes given by society as she is independent and can take care of herself unlike the traditional ‘Bimbo’ or ‘Housewife’. However, Jolie can never go against all stereotypes thrown her way as she is still portrayed as sexual active and ‘Bimbo’ like which will appeal to Laura Mulvie’s male gaze and the male target audience as they would be attracted to the cleavage she is constantly showing in the film. [T][A] This also is disrespectful towards women as it implies that women are just there for the pleasure of men.
It was hard for the target audience to relate or identify with Weaver in Alien as at the time society didn’t expect a female protagonist in an action packed film. [A]The character of Ripley in Alien was very new at the time as women in the screen were usually shown to be caring and supportive yet very weak n insecure however, Ripley is two types of people in one as she is caring and nurturing as well as a tough aggressive independent women. Nonetheless the character of Ripley was a breakthrough in society as it underlined the sudden change in a male dominant, patriarchal society. [Id]
Eva Green is the odd one out as her character, Lynd, is the opposite of the female characters mentioned previously as she does in fact go with the stereotypes given to woman, positive and negative. The positive stereotypes that she portrays are the once circling caring and supportive characteristics which many of the female audiences can identify with as women are biologically nurturing and emotional. [R]The negative stereotypes on the other hand are the fact that she is weak and is in need of being saved by the opposite, much stronger sex. This could link with the effects theory of audiences and the hypodermic needle as women that are watching the film can unconsciously believe that they are the second and weak sex in a patriarchal society and the one which is being rescued. [A][Id]
Researching different texts
Casino Royale-2006
Films such as casino Royale show exactly the opposite representations of women in Domino. In this film women are seen as passive where they do not get their hands dirty and they wear dresses which show a lot of cleavage whereas in Domino, Keira Knightly is the complete opposite. [R] Another difference between Domino and Casino Royale and the representation of woman is the fact that in Domino Keira Knightly is an independent woman who doesn't need anyone taking care of her however, In casino royale, Eva Green is represented as very week and dependent on a manly power as she is saved at the end of the film by Daniel Graig (James Bond) [R]
The Godfather-1972
The Godfather is another example of how women used to be represented in the 20th century. In this crime drama film, Diane Keaton is seen as the passive wife who loves and takes care of her kids. She tries her best to stay away from trouble and to keep her family away from it too. This is the opposite of Keira Knightly in Domino even though the genre of the two films are the same as unlike Diane Keaton in The Godfather, Keira Knightly finds trouble herself and wants to be involved in that kind of dangerous lifestyle. [R][G]
Researching other similar texts.
Erin Brokovich-2000
'Erin Brokovich' is a film about an unemployed single mother who is having trouble finding a job. She has also recently been a victim of a failed lawsuit against a doctor in a car accident. Her lawyer provided a job for her as compensation for the loss. Because of her trashy and promiscuous clothing, no one takes her seriously nevertheless all this changes when she illegally investigates a suspicious real estate case involving the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. [ML]
In this dramatic film, Julia Roberts almost single-handedly save the day which is already challenging female stereotypes as it is very rare that we see a woman taking a lead role as 'the savior', their normally the ones being saved. This is significant as it shows the postmodern society we are living in where new ideas of film making have been introduced and different types of films are appreciated by society because before films such as domino and erin brokovich would have been frowned upon as patriarchy and male dominance was very important however, today with the introduction of the new man and woman being more powerful than ever before films such as these who give woman power and independence are the new generation of films. [SI][Id] We can see this as new films such as Wanted and Mr. and Mrs. Smith as today there are more and more films with female power and equality.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith-2005
This film portrays Angelina Jolie as a very secretive yet violent woman who kills people for a living. This description automatically connotes a male however, Angelina Jolie is challenging nearly all the stereotypes a woman is given as she is not passive yet active, she is not the talkative gossipy type but she is very secretive about her identity. Just like Keira Knightly in Domino, in this film Jolie is always armed with dangerous weapons which could also raise social and political issues such as the rise of gun crime in America. [PI] Politicians can argue that films such as Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Domino are the reason for the increase of gun crime in America as guns are glorified in these films and being equipped with a gun is portrayed as power in these films. [PI]
Wanted-2008
Wanted is another movie that stars Angelina Jolie as an assassin. There are more and more films today that represent women as manly, aggressive and deadly. The days of a women being a housewife are over, today women take on jobs that men usually do. It can also be argues that the roles of men and women has slightly become more symmetrical and we can see this from the introduction of the new man as it is alright for man to be seen taken care of children and cooking them dinner at home today and women are starting to care more about their careers. [T][SI] We can see the change of gender roles in Wanted as the man is seen as the passive one who doesn't want any trouble whereas the woman (Jolie) is the one who trains him to become a top assassin.
Criticizing my title
Even though I have proved how women in the film industry today challenge negative stereotypes thrown their way such as their weakness and their passiveness, they are still seen as the sexual, male pleasing sex as in Domino, Keira Knightly is shown stripping and lap dancing in one particular scene.
This is one of the scenes where Keira Knightly finally meets the stereotypes of women in films. She is seen as a sexually active 'bitch', as the Spanish gangster refers to her, and she entertains the male gaze by taking of her clothes and given a lap dance. [R][Th]
The first thing that catches me in this scene is the non digetic sound of the heart beat while Keira Knightly is facing all the men with the guns. [ML] The heartbeats emphasize the amount of pressure Keira is in and the atmosphere in the room. The non digetic sound of the heartbeat is then backed by loud, nervous shouting by the men whilst Keira, the only women in the scene was calm and quite. [ML]This shows that even though she meets the stereotypes of woman in this scene by appearing as sexually active, she also challenges stereotypes at the same time as she is, unlike the men, very calm in a very dangerous situation. Women are known to scream and shout when scared however in this scene Tony Scott swaps the role of the men and the women as they are the ones who are shouting anxiously.
When Keira Knightly is confronting the men, she sounds very masculine and strong with sharp sentences; however this is not parallel to her tone of voice as the narrator as she sounds very girly with a slightly squeaky, feminine voice. [ML]This could imply the fact that she has to change to impress the men. This is a change in gender roles as the man is known to be trying to impress a girl however in this scene Keira Knightly is talking with a manly voice, carrying guns and smoking to impress the opposite sex. The mese en scene also backs up my point as she is holding a shot gun a shot gun compared to what the men are holding(hand guns) just so she can feel powerful. In this scene and most of the film, Keira Knightly is always scene with a gun and that connotes her eagerness to be powerful and the fact that she has to have a phallic symbol by her side just so she can feel strong and powerful. [Id]Throughout this film, Tony Scott makes sure that Keira challenges the stereotypes given to women however he always reminds the audience that Keira Knightly is still feminine and passively weak. In the non digetic sound of the narrator, Keira refers to herself as a 'naughty girl' instead of a mature woman as it reminds the audience that she is still no match to the men in the scene and leads them to sympathies with her whilst the whole point of the film is to make the audience see her as an independent strong woman. [ML][A]
In this film keira Knightly has a very short haircut which suggests her masculinity however the fact that she has hair covering her eyes, she is represented as a very dark individual who is not that confident. This goes well with the darkness of the setting as it portrays her dark and evil personality. [R]She is less and less represented as a woman in this scene as the cigarette she is smoking connotes the ideology of rebelliousness which is mostly linked with ludicrous men. [R][Id]She is also represented as a slut as she offers to give a stranger a lap dance and the dialogue of the man is very insulting to her quoting 'take off your clothes bitch' she still strip and gives him a lap dance which could mean to things, either she is a whore or she is just a workaholic desperate for information to pursue her missions as a bounty hunter. [ML]
Conclusion
I will end this essay by answering my title and sayin if my prediction was right. I think my prediction will be right as i proved through out my essay that women in contemprary films such as Domino keep challenging typical stereotypes given to them such as being sensitive and passive
Books to Include:
Mulvey, Laura, (1975), 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema'
Ziauddin, Sardar, and Borin, Van Loon, 'Representaion of Women'
Gauntlett, David, (2002), 'Media, gender and identity' (published by Routlage)
Tasker, Yvonne, 'Working Girls: Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema'
Phillips, Patrick, 'Understanding Film Texts'
Macdonald, Myra, 'Representing Women'
Bibliography
http://www.wikipedia.com/
http://www.mediagaurdian.com/
http://www.newline.com/
http://www.keiraknightley.com/
http://www.dominomovie.com/
http://www.variety.com/
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/
http://www.richard-kelly.net/news/news.php?id=79&from=2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3671572.stm
http://www.dominomovie.com/real_domino_harvey.html
http://movies.about.com/od/domino/a/domino072005.htm
http://www.hollywood.com/feature/Domino_Interviews_Mickey_Rourke_and_Edgar_Ramirez/2446166
http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=8773
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