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