Contemporary adverts

Advert for Calvin Klein - Secret Obsession

Click to view:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wQr1ka_YG6c

The advert portrays Eva sexually, through the distorted camera vision. The way she moves her limbs, pouts her lips and generally moves the duvet, implies she is having an orgasim, because of the product- perfume. She is shown to be an object of male gaze [Laura mulvey]. This advert, as a result of the sexual connotations, was banned from showing on TV.


Kinder Beueno


The 20 second advert shows the female is portraying herself as a 'ditzy blonde' to get the males attention. The advert suggests the male and the chocolate- with its phallic shape are the same things, hence suggesting the female is eating a phallus.
It also suggests the female has to get the males attention by showing herself as a victim- she has fallen of her bicycle.

Paris Hilton in Burger King ad



Paris Hilton is shown to be a stereotypical blonde, who has fun. She is an object of male desire because of her clothing- or the lack of, she is wearing a black swimsuit. She is advertising for Burger King, but is washing a car, whilst eating a burger. The advert also implies she is having sexual fantasies, because of eating the burger, which distracts her from washing the car, She is also in a variety of positions which connotes sex.


Microsoft XP






Senstitive Teeth- Sensodyne



Two GHD adverts





The two GHD adverts portrays the females negatively, because they are shown to be 'whores' and not Madonnas. In the first advert they are stealing the males away from other women, showing them to be 'bad'. Because they would do anything to get the man.
In the 2nd one, they are shown to be a variety of things.
1- Jealous
2-In considerate
3-Whore/Promiscuous
4- Gold diggers
Overall, both adverts show them to be image obsessed.
It can support Greer's theory of young girls being persuaded into being image obsessed, because they would think it is the only way to find a man.

Historical Adverts

This Twix advert implies that all females love chocolate, particularly Twix , because of its phallic shape. They also want a "break from the Norm" therefore are going against society and wearing short clothes, objectifying themselves.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=TudE9SC77Do

In this clip, the female is seen as a 'whore', becasue she is having an affair, and the first male is dominant and the 2nd is stylish, and is not seen as 'bad'.

"She" as the male voice over keeps referring to her as - suggests she has no identity, portrays her as a stereotypical housewife. However they do try to oppose it by saying "She" forgot to clean.

Website

I found this site that objectifies and dehumanizes females....etc


http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/sea0361l.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/b/big_breasts.asp&usg=__82JoNUYHDwXuVTeNKIawuvLAfWM=&h=400&w=354&sz=29&hl=en&start=43&um=1&tbnid=urIBowDJyopwUM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfeminist%2Bchanged%2Badverts%26start%3D36%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DHPEA,HPEA:2008-49,HPEA:en%26sa%3DN

Ways to improve female representation of screen...

1) Encourage current producers or actresses even to start directing, as it will benefit themselves and encourage young girls to want to do the same. This has happened to many males so why cant it happen to females? eg. George Clooney, Robert Redford, Sean Penn and Clint Eastwood

2) Female directors can try and doing joint directing with males, to gain knowledge in the field.

3) Encourage males to participate with household and family duties- challenge the stereotype of females being housewives!

4) Make more film festivals for females, to celebrate their success, and encourage them to direct more

Why are women directors such a rare sight?

1- According to Sarah Radclyffe, thinks it might have something to do with children. She says when you've had a child its not easy to go back to making films.

2- Its about who you know- to get into the industry you need to have links, and there is already a lot!! of males, therefore it would be harder for females to emerge.

3- Mike Figgis, suggests the same, as there are "100 to 150 large men" in charge of filming etc.. so there is already a hierarchy set in the industry, with males way at the top.

4- There is already a small list of scriptwriters, so we don't expect to see any film directors.

5- The overall fact is, females don't believe in themselves. Many young girls are being put off, because there are no directors for them to aspire to, which at the end has a negative outcome, because they then believe they will not be capable of doing so, thus ending all their dreams =[

5 Female Directors...

1) Debbie Allen
Deborrah Maye “Debbie” Allen (born January 16, 1950) is an American actress, choreographer, television director, television producer, and a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities She is probably best known for her role as Lydia Grant in the hit 1982 TV series Fame.

Director
Girlfriends
Everybody Hates Chris
All of Us
Life Is Not A Fairy Tale
That's So Raven
The Jamie Foxx Show
A Different World
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Family Ties
Fame (1982 TV series)
Polly
Polly: Comin' Home


2) Mira Nair
Mira Nair (born October 15, 1957 at Rourkela, India) is an Indian-born, New York-based film director and producer. Her production company is Mirabai Films.
She was educated at Delhi University and Harvard University. Her debut feature film, Salaam Bombay! (1988), won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival and also earned the nomination for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. She used the proceeds of the film, to establish an organization for street children, called the Salaam Baalak Trust in India.[1]
She often works with longtime creative collaborator, screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala, whom she met at Harvard.
She is awarded India Abroad Person of the Year-2007, which was presented by Indra Nooyi, Chairperson and CEO, PepsiCo, Inc, and India Abroad Person of the Year-2006

Filmography
Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Mississippi Masala (1991)
The Perez Family (1995)
Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996)
My Own Country (1998) (Showtime TV)
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Hysterical Blindness (2002)
11'9"01 September 11 (Segment - "India") (2002)
Vanity Fair (2004)
The Namesake (2006)
Migration (2007)
New York, I Love You (Segment - "Kosher Vegetarian") (2008)
8 (Segment - "How can it be?") (2008)
Amelia (2009)
Shantaram (2009)

3) Wendey Stanzler
Wendey Stanzler is an American television editor and director from Flint, Michigan, where she was co-editor and associate producer of Michael Moore's documentary, Roger & Me in 1990. She also co-edited Moore's only fiction film, Canadian Bacon (1993). Stanzler was hired as an editor for Sex and the City and went on to be a guest director during the final season of the show. Stanzler has also edited for the NBC series, Ed and Now and Again. Stanzler currently is a regular director on the ABC series, Grey's Anatomy and has directed several episodes of Desperate Housewives also on ABC. She won the American Cinema Editors' Eddie Award twice: in 2004 for the Sex in the City Episode "American Girl in Paris-Part 2" and in 1990 for Roger and Me.

Television director
Sex and the City (1998)
episode 6.14 "The Ick Factor"
Monk (2002)
episode 5.16 "Mr. Monk Goes to the Hospital"
episode 6.04 "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend"
Desperate Housewives (2004)
episode 2.11 "One More Kiss"
episode 2.21 "I Know Things Now"
episode 3.03 "A Weekend In the Country"
episode 3.08 "Children and Art"
episode 3.20 "Gossip"
Grey's Anatomy (2005)
episode 1.09 "Who's Zoomin' Who?"
episode 2.04 "Deny, Deny, Deny"
episode 2.10 "Much too Much"
episode 2.19 "What Have I Done To Deserve This?"
Love Monkey (2006)
episode 1.05 "The Window"
Six Degrees (2006)
episode 1.03 "A New Light"
Ugly Betty (2006)
episode 1.14 "I'm Coming Out"
Men in Trees (2006)
episode 1.13 "History Lessons"
Private Practice (2007)
episode 1.09 "In Which Dell Finds His Fight"
90210 (TV series) (2008)
episode 1.10 "Games people plays"

4) Gail Mancuso

Select TV work
30 Rock (2006–present)
Scrubs (2002–present)
Teachers (2006)
Living with Fran (2005)
Rodney (2005)
Joey (2004)
Two and a Half Men (2004)
The Tracy Morgan Show (2004)
Married to the Kellys (2003–2004)
My Big Fat Greek Life (2003)
Gilmore Girls (2001–2003)
Becker (2001–2003)
Reba (2001–2003)
Inside Schwartz (2001)
Three Sisters (2001)
Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place (1999–2001)
Yes, Dear (2000–2001)
Dharma & Greg (1997–2001)
Ellen (1997–1998)
Friends (1995–1999)
Roseanne (1991–1996)

5) and we have to mention...Gurinder Chadha!
Gurinder Chadha, OBE, (born 10 January 1960) is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in the UK. She is most famous for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach (1993), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Bride and Prejudice (2004) and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008).

Filmography
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)
Paris, je t'aime (2006) segment "Quais de Seine"
The Mistress of Spices (2005) (screenplay only)
Bride and Prejudice (2004)
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
What's Cooking? (2000)
Rich Deceiver (1995), BBC two-part drama
A Nice Arrangement (1994)
What Do You Call an Indian Woman Who's Funny? (1994)
Bhaji on the Beach (1993)
Acting Our Age (1992)
Pain, Passion and Profit (1992) (V)
I'm British But... (1990) (TV)

Women in Film

http://www.geocities.com/albanystudent/wif.html

In order to examine popular culture and its reflection of American society, we must look at America’s most beloved form of media, film. Film historians and researchers have found out that men play a disproportionate amount of leads and heroes.
They were also depicted as employed professionals, as opposed to the percentage of women who were depicted as unemployed housewives.
In a study of 100 films released in 1941 and 1942, “eighty percent of films focusing on the love/hate problems of a man had a good bad girl as the main female character. In 50 percent of the films, the good bad girl successfully opposed a bad girl,” (Butler, 141).
In a study of the films from the 1930s to 1970s, historians have categorized four dominant types of roles that women played. The first one is the “Pillar of Virtue” types played by Doris Day or Julie Andrews. This category also features mothers and mammies such as Hattie McDaniel’s character in “Gone with the Wind.”
The “Glamour Girl” range from sex goddesses such as Marilyn Monroe in “Bus Stop” to femme fatales such as Marlene Dietrich in “Blonde Venus.”
The “Emotive Woman” is the sexually frustrated Rosalind Russell in “Picnic” and the seductive Elizabeth Taylor in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” Thus, the last category, the “Independent” woman or the Katharine Hepburn type, is Barbara Streisand in “Funny Girl,” or Jane Fonda in “Klute,” the liberated woman.
Throughout much of film history, women have been depicted as manipulative, sexually repressed, or sexually overt. There was also a lack of sisterhood and films with women interacting with other women in a positive light.
In the 1950s, especially, we witnessed an era of “reaffirming male dominance and female subservience; movies showed women as breasts and buttocks, again idealizing women who were ‘pretty, amusing, and childish,’” (Butler, 145).
Much of this female contempt has endured and remained, although it may not be as obvious as the previous decades. Nowadays, we see more sensationalized sexual roles for women as the trend began in the 70s. Women now are also shown as waifs similar to the 60s trend, which was a severe contrast to the idea image of the 50s. All in all, women are becoming an endangered species in films and taking increasingly less leading roles.
Ever since the 1960s, the women’s movement has been concerned with media portrayal of women. Major studies of the most pervasive medium, television, and particularly its commercials revealed the same subordination of women we saw in film. In commercials, most voice-overs were done by men and overall, men were featured more often than women. The women who were featured were limited to family roles. Women were shown doing housework and men were the beneficiaries of their work. On the other hand, men were employed, had careers, and were doing something outside the home. More significantly, even though the age of the female population is bit higher than the male, commercials featured a disproportionate number of young women as opposed to men.
“In commercials during children’s programming, women and girls were seen less than men and boys,” (Butler, 93).
In television programs, such as soap operas, quiz shows, prime-time dramatic shows, and public-affairs programs, we saw similar trends as well. Once again, “men are more often employed than women and have higher status jobs. Also, the woman’s marital status is known more often,” (Butler, 93-94). She is marked by her relationship with men.
Some new discourse has been generated to the negative media portrayals of women as well. Let’s take the film noir genre for example. “These were thrillers made in the 40s and 50s, usually shot in dramatic black and white, with sensual stars who would use their attractiveness to manipulate luckless men,” (Root, 17).
Film noirs such as “Double Indemnity” and “Sunset Boulevard” are such examples where the characters of Barbara Stanwyck and Gloria Swanson trap men into their evil ploys. “The women usually die too, however, punished for their relentless attempt to satisfy their own desires and the threat that they represent to the stable world of marriage, family and female submissiveness,” (Root, 18).
However, of late, feminists have begun to have a new view of film noirs, suggesting that these films show women who are outside their standard role of femininity. Although they use their sexuality, they derive power from it and use their intellect to get what they want. They represent strong, active women and these virtues override the male-centered moral it is to enforce upon the audience.
Another alternate approach to this is understanding some of the dynamics of the rock video, which embodies the opposite of the male gaze. Rather than omitting the possibility of voyeurism for the female audience, it almost works as a gender blind construct.
“The rock star body, and in alliance with videos, is always coded to be looked at whether male or female,” (Brown, 105).
For one thing, rock videos contain “performance, a direct address, which produces a different kind of gaze than those that pertain in film, and fantasy, in relation to dominant cultural definitions of pleasure and desire,” (Brown, 10). Although some videos highly objectify women, these are examples of studying oppression to draw new conclusions and findings.

1980s.....

The 80s saw equal opportunities, such as Supergirl [1984] or Ripley becoming stringer in Aliens [1986]. But the heroic male still featured in the film.
The film Three Men and a Baby, show the males to be like heroes because they are taking care of the baby, it also subverts the stereotype of all females being maternal - however the mum does come back to get the baby. But the males are still seen as irresponsible, because at first they cannot take care of the baby, but it changes.
The Rambo series, suggests the female is a princess [PROPP] that has her princess. She is attractive and supports the male in what he does.

Three Men and a Baby



RAMBO 1985

1970s...

The 70s still showed females as sex symbols, but also gave them more power, and decent roles! For instance, Princess Leia in Star Wars.
The film ‘Frenzy’ by Alfred Hitchcock, portrays the first female shown in the trailer as weak, as she has been murdered and is floating in the river. She is seen as the victim… “The women usually die” [ROOT, 18]. Similarly the film Superman, shows the female as the helpless victim who needs saving…[Proppien theory] she is a princess and he is the prince who saves her. However other films such as Alien, show Ripley to be the saviour subverting the stereotype.

FRENZY



SUPERMAN 1978- just the making with various clips

1960s...

The swinging sixties stereotyped females as housewives and males as dominant, and intelligent. The Sound of Music confirms to this stereotype, as the female is given a maternal role- to look after the children and sing with them. Aslo, the clothes she is wearing makes her seem reserved and almost 'obidient'.
However, the film The Manchurian Canidate, shows a complete differnt view of females. She is seen as dominat, through her body langauge, as she is tanding up giving orders to the male who is itting down, and listening to her.


THE SOUND OF MUSIC


The Manchurian Canidate

1950s Representation

In the 1950s, the males made the decision, and the females were seen as support characters. However the film, Some like Hot [1959], starring Marilyn Monroe, one of my favourites, challenges the masculine and feminine roles. She is seen from the opening as “an object of male gaze” [MULVEY] as the male is trying to gain her attention and has fallen in love with her. The pretend female is portrayed as a desperately in need of help, when trying to carry her suitcase. The film shows “women as breasts and buttocks, again idealizing women who were ‘pretty, amusing, and childish,’” (Butler, 145). This is similar to the film Touch of Evil [1959], because the female needs protecting from her surroundings, however since he is in her 'country' it can suggest she is in control. The shot of the couple walking together shows him holding and protecting her.

SOME LIKE IT HOT




TOUCH OF EVIL

'Bibliography: Books'

"In 1970s action-adventure shows, only 15 per cent of the leading characters were women".

Gauntlett, David (2002): ‘Media, Gender & Identity : An introduction’ PUBLISHER: (pg 43)

"Arguably however women within the superhero genre were not actually women but a sexual fantasy projection".

Dowd Todd Hignite,D.B. (2006): ‘Strips, Toons, and bluesies’ PUBLISHER: (pg 71)

The male gaze projects its fantasy on to the female figure, while in their traditional exhibitionist role women are both displayed and, as it were, coded to connote “to-be-looked-at-ness”.

Waugh,Patricia (2006): ‘Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide’ PUBLISHER

(pg 510)

" ....and women being displayed for the gaze and enjoyment of men, the active controllers of the look, always threatens to evoke the anxiety it originally signified"

Photography: A critical introduction’ Liz Wells, (2004), pp 172

“In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, only 20 to 35 per cent of characters were females. By the mid- 1980s, there were more women in leading roles, but still there were twice as many men on screen”-pge 43 “Gaunter goes on to show how studies in the 1970s consistently found that marriage, parenthood and domesticity were shown on television to be more important for women than men"

“Gaunter (1995: 13-14).”-pg 43

“The role of a woman in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction and the mating games she plays with the male characters”.

(1972: 13)Smith, Sharon (1972) ‘The image of women in film: some suggestions for future research’, Women and Film, 1, 13-21.

-“In Hollywood films, then, women are untimely refused a voice, a discourse, and their desire is subjected to male desire”.

(1983: 7-8)Kaplan, E. Ann (1983) Women and film: Both sides of the Camera, London: Methuen

-“In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantansy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitions role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-lookes-at-ness.”

From- Laura Mulveys article ‘Visual Pleasure and narrative cinema’ in 1975 (reproduced in Hollows et al., 2000)

-‘Men looking at women; women watch themselves being looked at’,

as John Berger had put it (1972: 47).Berger, John (1972) Ways of seeing, London: Penguin

-“Even with more marriage the changes have been profound as more and more women have entered the labour force and gender roles have become more homogenous between husbands and wives”.

(Smith, Tom W. (1999) ‘Marriage wanes as American families enter new century’, National Opinion Research Centre at the University of Chicago

At school, for example, studies have suggested that British girls with non-traditional career aspirations are let down by their teachers and career advisors, who still shuttle girls ‘into “feminine” jobs such as supermarket sales for work experience’

(Apter, 2000).”(Apter, Terri (2000) ‘Bland Ambition’, Guardian, 6 April)

In the past the two stereotypical female images seen were Madonna, or whore

Madonna as the postmodern myth” by Georges-Claude Guilbert

“symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media”

G TUCHMAN - Issues in Feminism: A First Course in Women's Studies, 1980 - Houghton Mifflin College Div

I can use this in my wrk- 4rm another blog

http://geisha05.blogspot.com/

In 1970s action-adventure shows, only 15 per cent of the leading characters were women[1].
‘Media, Gender & Identity : An introduction’ David Gauntlett, (2002), pp 43

Arguably however women within the superhero genre were not actually women but a sexual fantasy projection[2]
‘Strips, Toons, and bluesies’ D.B. Dowd Todd Hignite, (2006), pp 71

The women playing the roles of characters within the series were identified as ‘the Bond girls’[12],
http://www.007.info/Girls.asp

The male gaze projects its fantasy on to the female figure, while in their traditional exhibitionist role women are both displayed and, as it were, coded to connote “to-be-looked-at-ness”.[14]
‘Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide’ Patricia Waugh, (2006), pp 510

. ....and women being displayed for the gaze and enjoyment of men, the active controllers of the look, always threatens to evoke the anxiety it originally signified[25]
Photography: A critical introduction’ Liz Wells, (2004), pp 172

Need to Read...i got this from a blog 4rm last year

Film Theory An Introduction (1999) by Robert Stam. It examines issues common to both subjects such as realism, narration, point of view, style, semiotics, Feminism and The Feminist Intervention and multiculturalism. It also includes coverage of theorists common to both, Barthes, Lacan and Bakhtin among others such as Laura Mulvey and theories such as the Male Gaze.

Feminist Theorists (1983) by Dale Spender. The book focuses on theory and theorists around the 80's and even back to the late 1600's E.g. Mary Astell. This will aid my study as this book focuses on the historical side of SHEP.

Race and Gender (1985) by Madeleine Arno.The book outlines the representations of women as well as racial issues, additionally it contains theories. The book is the contains in depth on these to key social issues in society; covering one aspect of SHEP.

Media Studies: The Essential Introduction (2001) by Phillip Rayner, Peter Wall and Stephen. Explains the media concepts, cultural terms and theoretical perspectives. The book offers deeper insights to representation and gender also it looks in more depth with media theories and debates.

Ross, Mandy (2002): The Changing Role of Women. Great Britain: Heinemann Library.This book is useful as it explores a number of things such as how the roles of women have changed through the decades, the extent to which men and women are considered equals, how Women fought for the vote, Women in politics, domestic life of women, marriage, motherhood and divorce, women’s rights in the 21st century, how fashion gave a sense of liberation to women etc.

Bryson, Valerie (1999): Feminist Debates. Hong Kong: Macmillan Press LTD.This book is based on feminist debates and theories in this day and age. It mentions issues such as women in western societies, the changing structure of the family, male violence against women, the political representation of women, the way society challenges gender inequalities, the start of feminism etc.

Spectacular bodies: gender, genre and the action cinema By Yvonne Tasker(1993)This book talks about the representation of gender rather then sex, as Brigitte neilson, is a tall butch like female but her feminine features such as her breasts are enhanced naturally gives her a sexual fantasy look and has worked in Beverley hill cops. It also talks about how her real life is misrepresented and how men fear her because of her shape and size.

Knowing Women Feminism and Knowledge by Helen Crowley and Susan Himmelweit (1992) This book explores some of the new developments in the Feminist theory, it also refers back to the status of women as both subjects and objects of knowledge. This book is very debative and also talks about women’s and gender, and how we perceive them. This book will be very beneficial to me as in my Independent study one of the main are that I am looking at is gender, and how women are portrayed as being subordinate to men. This book has got same excellent information about, subordination, patriarchy and dominance.

Gauntlett: Chapter Three: Representations of gender in the past

“Gaunter (1995) and Elasmar et al. (1999)..“In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, only 20 to 35 per cent of characters were females. By the mid- 1980s, there were more women in leading roles, but still there were twice as many men on screen”-pge 43 “Gaunter goes on to show how studies in the 1970s consistently found that marriage, parenthood and domesticity were shown on television to be more important for women than men (1995: 13-14).”-pg 43

-On TV, the female was shown as a married woman

-Female characters were unlikely to work

-“Overall, men were more likely to be assertive (or aggressive), whilst women were more likely to be passive. Men were much more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimised, supportive, laughable, or ‘merely token females’ (Gunter, 1995)”.
Gauntlett, pg43

-“The films almost always focused on male heroes. These men typically made the decisions which led the story, and were assertive, confident and dominant. Women had important roles in many films but were far more likely than men te be shown as frightened, in need of protection and direction, and offering love and support to the male charcerter(s)”.
Pg 46

-Some like it hot- starring Marilyn Monroe challenged the male to female role

-In the 60s “all women characters were shown as inept, or were always cast as housewives”.
Pg46

-“In the 1970s, Leia in the decade’s to hit Star Wars (1977) was pretty good at shooting stormtroopers, but she was also the prized princess that the heroic boys had to rescue, and win the heart of”.
Pg46

-Ripley in Alien (1979) superior female
-Victim films- The godfather (1972), The sting (1973), The Exorcist (1973), Jaws (1975), Superman (1978) all!

- “The role of a woman in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction and the mating games she plays with the male characters”.
(1972: 13)
Smith, Sharon (1972) ‘The image of women in film: some suggestions for future research’, Women and Film, 1, 13-21.

-“In Hollywood films, then, women are untimely refused a voice, a discourse, and their desire is subjected to male desire”.
(1983: 7-8)
Kaplan, E. Ann (1983) Women and film: Both sides of the Camera, London: Methuen

-“…we are likely to be portrayed as powerless and ineffectual”.

























“The image of women that emerges from this big, pretty magazine is young and frivolous, almost childlike; fluffy and feminine; passive; gaily content in a world of bedroom and kitchen, sex, babies, and home. The magazine surely does not leave out sex; the only goal a woman is permitted is the pursuit of a man.”
Freidan, Betty: The Feminine Mystique (1963:32)

“From the 1940s to Freidan’s present (the 1960s), women’s magazines had focused on this feminine, home – bound image”
Gauntlett, David: Media, Gender and Identity (2002:50) Routledge

The 50’s promotion of Occupation housewife

1960s change- woman’s liberation

Tuchman (1978) “The symbolic annihilation”

Gauntlett: Chapter Two- Some Background debates

-Theodor Adorno (1903-1969) and many others returned to Germany. “Their apathy towards the mass media will likely have been increased by the observation that Hitler had apparently been able to use the media organisations as a tool for widespread propaganda”.
(pg20)
-Adorno suggests many teen rebellions, are just any normal consumers.

-“…Fiske says there us an ‘overspill’ of meanings (ibid.:70), so that most texts contain the ‘preferred’ meaning - the one intended by its producers – but also offer possibilities for consumers to create their own alternative or resistant readings. Indeed, Fiske says that people are not merely consumers of texts – the audience rejects this role ‘and becomes a producer, a producer of meanings and pleasures’ (1989c: 59)”.
(pg24)

-Fiske says that Modonna is:
“contains the patriarchal meanings of feminine sexuality, and the resisting ones that her sexuality is hers to use as she wishes in ways that do not require masculine approval.” (1989a: 124)
(pg25)

-“In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantansy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitions role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-lookes-at-ness.”
From- Laura Mulveys article ‘Visual Pleasure and narrative cinema’ in 1975 (reproduced in Hollows et al., 2000)
(Pg 38)

-‘The female character has no importance in a film, Mulvey says, except as a ‘spectacle’, the erotic object of both male charcters and the cinema spectators; her role is to drive the hero to act the way he does”(Page 38)

-“Male viewers identify with the (male) protagonist, and the female characters are the subject of their desiring gaze. Female viewers, Mulvey says, are also compelled to take the viewpoint of the central (male) character, so that women are denied a viewpoint of their own and instead participate in the pleasure of men looking at women”. (pg38)

-‘Men looking at women; women watch themselves being looked at’, as John Berger had put it (1972: 47).
Berger, John (1972) Ways of seeing, London: Penguin

-“…female characters are passive erotic objects”. Pg39

-Mulveys argument denies heterosexual female gaze altogether. The audience – male and female is positioned so that they admire the male lead for his actions and adopt his romantic/erotic view of women.

Gauntlett: Chapter One- Introduction

-“magazines aimed at women, and increasingly those for men, contain all kinds of advice on how to live, look and interact”.
(page2)

-“Even with more marriage the changes have been profound as more and more women have entered the labour force and gender roles have become more homogenous between husbands and wives”.
(Smith, Tom W. (1999) ‘Marriage wanes as American families enter new century’, National Opinion Research Centre at the University of Chicago
(page3)

-‘The UK’s National Centre for Social Research (2000) reported that their annual survey of social attitudes had found that: “The traditional view of women as dedicated ‘housewives’ seems to be all but extinct. Only around one in six women, and one in five men [mostly older people], think women should remain at home while men go out to work”.
(page4)

-“At school, for example, studies have suggested that British girls with non-traditional career aspirations are let down by their teachers and career advisors, who still shuttle girls ‘into “feminine” jobs such as supermarket sales for work experience’ (Apter, 2000).”
(Apter, Terri (2000) ‘Bland Ambition’, Guardian, 6 April)

Hegemonic or Pluralistic?

The HEGEMONIC MODEL:
.A hegemony is a system where one group is dominated by another. The dominating group achieves its domination by ‘winning’ popular consent through everyday cultural life.
In media studies terms, this model works by achieving dominance through media representations of the world. The media ‘tell us’ what to think, what to believe and how our world ‘should be’.
This works through ideology – a set of ideas which gives a partial or selective view of reality. For example, the ‘powerful’ rule over the ‘poor’ by promoting the idea (the ideology) of privilege and wealth belonging exclusively to a select group of people.There is an argument that all belief systems or world views are ideological. Beliefs become ‘truthful’ or ‘natural’ and this leads to power inequalities.The media can circulate or reinforce ideologies OR it can undermine and challenge them
Ideologies are MYTHIC, i.e. they seem to be ‘natural’ or ‘common sense’ but they aren’t! You can talk about an ‘ideological myth’, or just a ‘mythic idea’.The way myths work is through SYMBOLIC CODES.Advertising, in particular, draws very heavily on myth in terms of the ‘magical power’ of products.

The PLURALIST MODEL:
Predictably enough, the pluralist idea is the exact opposite of a hegemonic one. A pluralist model argues that there is diversity in society (everyone is different) and therefore there is also choice (we can choose what to believe and what not to believe.)
So in media terms, because the audience (society) is diverse, with different points of view, the media is influenced by society. Because the media need to please the audience they will try to reflect the values and beliefs that are predominant in society. In other words, they give us what we say we want rather than telling us what to think and believe, in order to make us stay ‘in our place’.

- I believe in both models, as they have different views and arguments, however I would have to say I am an active audience, therefore I believe more in the pluralistic model.

How are women represented in mens lifestye mags?....[handout]

What I learnt:

During the nineties, censorship decreased; which allowed the media to target a new audience- males

The representation of women has changed, through the magazines. They promote sexist attitudes, and degrades women

Magazines such as loaded and FHM stereotype their audience as ‘lads’ referring to men aged 15-25. Who are modern and fashionable young men who are not afraid to admit they enjoy porn, women, sex, heavy drinking and sports.

There are two main magazines- FHM and Playboy. The other magazines follow the conventions of Playboy, in which are women are depicted as objects for mens contemplation and enjoyment.

Photographic images which make up the majority of the content of all three magazines loaded, fhm and playboy , depict and represent women as the prototypical object of sexual desire, presenting the idea that a womans purpose is to look appealing and attractive to a watching male population.

Magazine covers, feature women on the front cover scantily dressed or even naked as their sales lure. The female is positioned in a way, dressed in an attractive and appealing colour to target the audience.

The front cover is the main selling point, the cover shot has to be perfect in order to sell!

The representation of women as traditionally beautiful female, who attractive, thin, and well groomed also explicitly can introduce the size zero debate.
-relates to the hypodermic needle theory

The uses and gratifications theory suggests that men’s lifestyle mags make men view women as sexual objects for their own gratification- voyeurism

Sexism a key issue is debated

To get a good grade:

Competent knowledge and understanding of key concepts
Genre
Representation
Ideology/values
Audience
Textual analysisWider research

Casino Royale - Death of Vesper [cover work-12/11/08]

In Casino Royale, Vesper Lynd is a foreign liaison agent from the HM Treasury's Financial Action Task Force assigned to make sure that Bond adequately manages the funds provided by MI6. However, she is secretly a double agent working for Quantum.
At first, Lynd is doubtful about Bonds ego and is hesitant to be his trophy at the poker game with Le Chiffre.
Her kidnapping by Le Chiffre causes Bond to give chase; they fall into Le Chiffre's trap, but both are saved by Quantum's majordomo, Mr. White, who shoots and kills Le Chiffre for betraying the trust of his organisation by misappropriating the funds.As in the novel, Bond and Vesper vacation, hoping to start a new life. Unknown to Bond, however, Lynd is still doing the bidding of Quantum. Despite complying with her orders to deliver the money, the thugs take her hostage when Bond confronts them, and lock her in an elevator while they do battle with him. After several explosions, the flooded building sinks, but Lynd resigns herself to a tragic end and locks herself in, even as Bond frantically tries to open the elevator. In her final gesture, she does not try to escape but she kisses Bond's hands to clear him of guilt, (an allusion to the earlier shower scene in which Bond had kissed hers to do the same for her). Bond finally gets her out and tries to revive her using CPR, to no avail.

Analysis:

The scene begins with non diegtic sound, which is fast at first to show the tension of the scene. However this changes, when Bond see’s Lynd, who is stuck in Le Chiffre’s trap. The music begins to fade away, as we begin to hear Lynd say “I’m sorry James.” The female representation, when Vesper says this, suggests Females are weak and inferior, as she is apologising to the male. However, is can also be suggested that she is powerful, because there is a close up of Bond crying for her, which makes him seem weak instead of her, as he is the dominant character in the film.

Vesper is portrayed as a beautiful female and an object of desire. This is reinforced by her elegant red dress, which shows her as attractive. It connotes love and danger, which can link to her job position, and how dangerous she is to Bond. This can be contrasted by the key lighting, focusing on her, which portrays her as innocent; this reinforced be her actions, as she has betrayed Bond, but has given herself up to save him. The close up on their faces, looking at each other, shows how much she means to him. Bond is willing to do anything to save her life, suggesting she is desirable.

The sound is mellow, when Lynd comes closer to Bond, when she kisses his hand. This is to show the love between the two characters; it also has illusions to a previous scene in the film, when he kisses her hand. This gives the film a sub genre of romance; however the main genre of the film is action, as it is a James Bond film. Therefore, the target audience of the film would be, males aged 16-35, of ABC1C2D class, and the secondary audience would be females aged 16-25. It would target these audiences, because the film has various appeals to each gender; Bond is seen in the film to be a object of female gaze (shown in the scene when he is in his trunks, coming out of the water) and Lynd is an object of male gaze, throughout the film. As a result, the film can agree with Laura Mulveys theory, of male gaze, but can also oppose it, as Bond is attracting to the female audience. Another scene, which reinforces this, is when Bond is nude, and is being beaten up by the enemy.

The scene follows the Proppien theory, of narrative roles. Bond is the lead character, who is the hero, and Lynd is seen to be the princess, who is being rescued. She is also presented as ‘the helper’ because she was initially there to help him. When he is doing CPR on her, implies he is saving her, and as he hold her, suggests she was stereotypically meant to be the ‘prize.’ Her role as the ‘helper’ is reinforced at the end of the scene, when he looks at her mobile phone, and see’s she has left him a message, giving him the details to where to find Mr White, the enemy. Propps enemy narrative theory is also supported in this scene, with the villain of the film present in the scene. He is looking down upon Bond and Lynd, as she is dead in his arms, suggesting he has 'won' but really has not as Lynd as left Bond clues as to where to find him.

As this is a Bond film the audience expectations are fulfilled. Bond is in trouble, along the way he finds a woman, and then saves the day, however, is subverted as his heart is broken. This follows Todorov’s narrative structure; the equilibrium at the beginning, when Bond is doing his usual duty, but then there is a disruption, which causes him to fight, with a new equilibrium- he has to take revenge on Lynds killer.
This is presented as a patriarchal society, as the male (Bond) is in control, which is reinforced by the distribution methods form the institution. On the film poster, Bond is positioned at the front with a gun- reinforcing power and authority and Lynd is behind, in a fragile position, looking towards Bond, shows her as dependent on Bond.

Blog on Mr and Mrs Smith

http://xxmrandmrssmithxx.blogspot.com/

GLOSSARY

Bartes, Roland:
French social and literary critic, whose writings on semiotics made structuralism one of the leading intellectual movements of the 20th century

Binary Opposition: Levi Strauss
A pair of terms differentiated by their opposition to one another. Examples would include yin/yang, light/dark, masculine/feminine, up/down, and gay/straight, but also more subtle oppositions such as sea blue/cyan, vigilante/villain, and slacker/stoner.

Judith Butler:
Argues that gender is a construction that can be changed, rather than a reflection of any fixed ‘inner self.’ Traditional views of masculinity and femininity are therefore social constructions can and be changed can challenged and altered.

GLOSSARY

ABC1 scale:
A system of social classification based on an individual’s occupation, used by market researchers
[This will important as I will need to use it to see which action films have what type of audience, eg, a female protagonist, may appeal to females aged, 16-25]

Academy Awards:
Presented to actors and film technicians, for their work; also known as the Oscars.
[The films which have one an Oscar usually have a great affect on its audience, (ideologies)]

Action Code:
A narrative structure based on a dramatic sequence of events, often leading to a violent resolution.
[My particular genre is, action]

Active Audience Theory:
Any of various theories of audience behaviour that see the audience as active participants in the process of decoding and making sense of media texts.

Althusser, Louis:
French Marxist sociologist with a particular interest in the role of the media in supporting dominant ideology and in the symbolic order of separating us from reality.

Ambient Sound:
Natural sound present in any location

Antagonist:
The principal opposing figure or villain in a narrative set in binary opposition against the protagonist.
[Most action usually have a villain, which the hero is against]

Anti Climax:
A point in the narrative, following the climax or emotional high point, which lets down the experience, thus disappointing the audience.

Archetype:
An often repeated character type or representation which is instantly recognisable to an audience.

Attitudes, beliefs and value: (definition)

Audience: (definition)

Post-Feminism in Action: A Critical Analysis of the Motion Picture Underworld

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/233970/postfeminism_in_action_a_critical_analysis.html?cat=40

Feminine Masculinity: The Rise of Women in Action Films

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/57771/feminine_masculinity_the_rise_of_women.html

--READ AND ANNOTATE!!

Why Most Female Lead Action Films Don’t Succeed

http://www.themovieblog.com/2008/04/why-most-female-lead-action-films-dont-succeed

The site has a few films which i will be lloking at, which has females as the main lead role

self evluation

a. Comment on each of the following, giving yourself a grade with an explanation outlining why:(Grading should be1-5: 1 = excellent, 2 = v. good, 3 = good/average, 4 = poor, 5 = v. poor)

Attainment -2
This is because my work is very good =D
My achievements so far have been good and well organised.

Effort -2
I always try my best in every lesson; if I don’t understand something, I always ask questions

Punctuality -1
I am always on time!!

Submission and quality of homework -1
My work is always on time! And the quality of it is excellent =D

Ability to work independently -1
I am able to work by myself; read through text books by myself and pick key points

Quality of writing -1
My quality of writing is good, I can write in complex sentences.

Organisation of Media folder -2
I have a book, so my sheets are not in order, therefore my organisation could be a lot better

Oral contributions in class -2
I always contribute in class, but could speak abit more

Standard of Module 5 blog- 1
Mu blog is very good, and well organised, everything is clear and well resented

Standard of Module 6 blog -2
Could be abit better

b. Make a list of three achievements (www) and three targets/areas for improvement (ebi) over the next half-term.

www:
I always do my work on time
My blog is well presented
I have a clear understanding of the work we are currently doing

EBI:
I read books!
Did more work on med 6 blog

Combined Action Plan and Assessment Objectives

24th OCT- Re-write my title; make sure it makes sense, and I am able to do it

26th OCT- Read up on 2 relevant book

28th OCT- Begin to look at SHEP

31st OCT- watch 2 films from each genre- taking MIGRAIN notes

1ST NOV- Read glossary book from start and highlight ALL words that have to be used

2nd NOV- And AO5- I NEED to do MORE reviews
Analyse your text from different theoretical perspectives (e.g. feminist, Marxist, psychoanalytic, postmodern)?

3rd NOV- Make sure my bibliography is up to date

SELF-ASSESSMENT OF BLOG WORK

AO1 -demonstrate knowledge and application of the Key Concepts employed within Media Studies and the evaluation of texts and ideas using the Key Concepts

- I have analysed my chosen film clips/trailers well. For instance in my analysis of Batman and When a stranger calls, I covered all the key concepts.
-I think I have covered Media Language very well
-I can work on covering the Ideology part of the concepts. I could do this by researching more theories, which I could apply to my chosen films.

AO2- demonstrate knowledge and application of the wider contexts (historical, social, political, economic) relevant to Media Studies

-I HAVE NOT COVERED NOTHING OF AO2 :
- I can do it by researching and making sure I apply SHEP.

AO5- demonstrate the ability to use appropriate investigative and research techniques in carrying out an independent study of a media text, topic or issue

- I have researched online articles; I NEED to do MORE reviews.
- I could READ more books, although I have started reading one, which is useful
- I do have a good question, but can TRY to narrow it down
- I have written a detailed hypothesis:
The representation of women differs due to the genre of the text, presenting each female differently. They are presented as sex symbols, stereotypical housewives or others. Do these genres give a negative or positive representation of women?
-I have considerd issues and debates around my question- eg, feminist issues
- NO textual analysis- I think
- I have done a very detailed analysis of one film: When a stranger calls
I can do a bit more on Batman and finish of What happens in Vegas by Monday
- I CAN HOWEVER choose specific scenes
- NO I have not analysed your text from different theoretical perspectives (e.g. feminist, Marxist, psychoanalytic, postmodern)? THEREFORE I CAN DO THAT IN MY TEXTS I HAVE CHOSEN AND FUTURE TEXTS
-I have viewed each text of mine twice each
Yes, and I HAVE done A MIGRAIN Analysis for them and will put them up over the weekend. - Same/different genre or from the same/different historical period, comparing them with your own
- I AM keeping a detailed record of website addresses, quotes

SYNOPTIC ABILTY

Have you linked what you’re studying to other parts of your course?
YES I HAVE, eg my narrative theories and audience theories. Along with genre and representation for my MED 4
Med 6- issues, debates and theories (institutional factors, globalisation, etc.) – eg feminism, institutions (Warner Bros)
What MediaGuardian stories have you read which are relevant to your study?
Nothing yet, but I am looking =]

CRITICAL AUTONOMY- apply critical ideas and principles to new situations – and demonstrate media literacy in responses to media texts

I am thinking for myself, coming up with my own ideas, and I AM self motivated

QUALITY OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION- select and use forms and styles of writing appropriate to purpose and complex subject matter. Organise relevant information clearly and coherently, using specialist vocabulary when appropriate. Ensure text is legible, and spelling, grammar and punctuation are accurate, so that meaning is clear

-My work is nicely presented, with the right amount of text.
- I do have trailers and images
- My blog is easy to read and well organised
- I do use media terminology, HOWEVER I COULD USE MORE
- I always do my work on word first before I post on my blog, to make sure I have used correct grammar, language and my spelling is correct.
- I always highlight key word or phrases which can help me with my essay

Propp's theory of narrative

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=947547

When watching films I will look for Propps Theory of narrative
The website above applies it to Star Wars, and is useful as it refreshes my memory of the theory

While searching...

Whilst searching for females in james bond films, i came across these websites which could help me with my work. So over the weekend i will pick and choose what i need =D


A random blog I found on James Bond- http://writerunboxed.com/2006/12/12/movie-analysis-casino-royale/

A website dedicated to Bond women:
http://www.little-black-heart.net/bond-girls/bond.daniel.php

Representation of women in James Bond films: forum:
http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/media-studies/2831-representation-women-james-bond-films.html

The Male Gaze, Homosexualization, and James Bond Films
http://www.angelfire.com/film/articles/bond.htm

JAMES BOND- CASINO ROYALE

Media Representations Who is being represented?
Women
In what way?
As the victim, sexual object and the one with the knowledge
By whom?
The other characters in the film- e.g. James Bond

The trailer opens in black and white, with Bond and a friend; there is also a male voice over. The way they are dressed suggests they are from a high status, as they are wearing suits. When Bond shoots he seems like the villain of the film, but is actually not.
There are many long shots of the scene with a female voice begging to appear. There is then a fade to a female (Judy dench), who is talking to Bond. She is seen as a smart professional, business women, because she is also wearing a suit. The way Bond is listening to her suggests she is in charge and has the power and control. Here the female is represented as strong and independent.

The sound heard now, makes the scene dramatic- it is parallel, with a male appearing- he is now seen as the villain and Bond as the hero. The shots here are fast paced, to show the casino and who has what. The female voice continues, she says Bond “is the best player in the service”- QUESTION TO BE ASKED: WHY IS THE MALE THE BEST??
Another female is shown; she is seen as attractive and beautiful. She is seen as knowledgeable as she is informing Bond. The close up on Bond looking at her, seems as he finds her attractive. The next scene shows her in revealing evening gown, straight after this is a shot of Bond in his swimming trunks coming out of the water. This is seen as a role reversal, as it is usually the female who is semi nude. He is represented as a sexual object for the female audience.(there is also a scene where Bond is naked- targeted towards females). She then comments on his “perfectly formed ass.”

There are many long and close fast paced shots of Bond beating someone up, after a close up of the villain is shown.

Now the female is seen as a sexual desire, as the male comments whether or not she has melted into Bonds heart. The next close up is now of Bond and the female showing their affection to one another by kissing. The villain is over looking this, in a jealous yet angry way. Bond now instructs to a male to “get the girl out” seeing her as vulnerable. They kiss again and are seen running away.
Now a car getting away is seen with the scream of the female in trouble.
She is under water, in a cage in trouble; Bond has come to save her.
Bond is seen getting into a car, driving really fast,
There is a montage of different scenes from the film.
Bond is about to hurt the female, who is tied up in the middle of the road, but he steers the other way, saving her.

Media Institutions
What is the institutional source of the text?
MGM AND Columbia
In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it?
The company is well known, there are numerous James Bond films out before this.
How has the text been distributed?
Through advertisements, billboards, and newspapers adverts

Media Values and Ideology

What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?
Those females are seen as attractive, vulnerable women. However, it is the female who is helping Bond with his mission, instead of a male sidekick.

Media Audiences
To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience?
The audience for this text is- males and females aged 15+
What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text? They like watching action films

Theories:

Propp:

Bond= hero
Vesper Lynd= heroine
Le Chiffre= villain
M= The doner
Felix Leiter= the helper
-Mulvey can also be applied, as the female is presented for male gaze.
-Levi-Strauss: binary oppositions: good vs evil

“She is no run-of-the-mill Bond girl; with her Olympic-standard embonpoint and inverted triangle face, she has a sexy head-girl haughtiness, and the many close-ups of her tensely appalled expression by the card table make it look as if she has witnessed Bond dissecting a frog on the green baize.”
THE GUARDIAN
false- she is not seen as masculine, but as feminine, becasue of the way she is dressed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/nov/10/jamesbond.danielcraig

"For decades the Bond girls who accompany 007 on his missions have been dismissed as sexist eye candy and lampooned for their suggestive names."

THE TELEGRAPH

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/3024355/James-Bond-girls-are-feminist-icons-says-Cubby-Broccolis-daughter.html

MY PRESENTATION

WWW

I involved the audience,by asking questions
My powerpoint was good to look- it did not have alot of text
Well structured
Had Key concepts
I broke it up, by having a trailer


EBI

I asked questions about the trailer
have to comment on some of my blog posts

Targets

need to make more references to audience, uses/grats, and look at more genre theory.
research by using books
Genre Theory..
Look at other blogs...

Assessment objective

- AO2: Wider Context
I will read Media Guardian on a regular basis as well as reading newspapers, which I already do.
- AO3.2: Comparing and Accounting for similarities and differences
I will practice by comparing at least 2 texts a week, and will bring the rest of the assessment objectives in my answer. Then I can see what my targets would be.
-AO3.1: Issues/Debates/Theories
I will research over the internet different theories and theorists that I will need to use in the future. I will also look at blogs from last year and read a variety of books.
- AO5: Research Techniques
I will start to broaden my techniques my reading books
- AO1: Key Concepts
This objective is OK, as we used it last year, however i can improve by practicing on my independent study, to see what else I can add in.

To read

http://www.opengender.org.uk/node/30

Website about women and genre...

to read and selct info from...

http://www.chasingthefrog.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2179

http://www.afterellen.com/Movies/2006/7/action.html

Violent Femmes

This spring, while Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was breaking box-office records and feminists were arguing over the merits of the female action hero, no one noticed the dogs playing in theaters elsewhere. Exit Wounds, the latest Steven Seagal flick, opened with a paltry $19 million---his best in years, but a poor showing for an action film. While he's mercifully cut off the ponytail, Seagal is showing all of his 50 years, wearing a pastiche of orange pancake makeup and sporting heft not attributable to muscle mass.
In Exit Wounds, the martial-arts afficionado and star of macho classics Hard to Kill and Out for Justice employed Hong Kong kung-fu-movie wire tricks made famous in The Matrix and now standard fare in action-chick flicks. But where the wires only added to the grace and agility of lithesome Zhang Zi Yi in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, they seemed to strain just to get Seagal off the ground.

Meanwhile, Driven, the latest by Sylvester Stallone, the quintessential beefcake action hero, was dying from neglect. The car-racing movie went almost straight to video, and so far has grossed only $32 million, a far cry from the $47 million Tomb Raider made in its very first weekend. Driven's returns were actually an improvement over Stallone's last disaster, Get Carter, which in 2000 earned all of $15 million, barely what his 1981 classic, Nighthawks, grossed back when ticket-prices were a lot cheaper.

And then there's poor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Last fall, his cloning film, The Sixth Day, disappeared with similar returns---this from a guy behind one of the all-time box-office blowouts, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Schwarzenegger had better luck last year playing the voice of a bug in the animated film, Antz, which pulled in $90 million.

This year, the muscle-bound stars of action-film blockbusters of the '80s and '90s have found themselves ungraciously drop-kicked out of the genre by, of all things, a bunch of girls. Girl-power flicks like Charlie's Angels, Crouching Tiger, and Tomb Raider are topping the $100 million mark once dominated by men like Schwarzenegger. Charlie's Angels has brought in $125 million; Crouching Tiger is up to $179 million; and Tomb Raider, only open since mid-June, stands at $126 million. Even last year's cheerleading movie, Bring It On, trumped the traditional male stars, grossing $68 million.

Action chicks are taking over prime time television as well. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess and La Femme Nikita---all WB or UPN fodder---are about to be joined on a major network by Alias, a show about Sydney Bristow, a kung-fu-chopping female agent for a top-secret division of the CIA.

The enormous popularity of women as film enforcers has stirred much debate over what these films say about women, feminism, Hollywood, and violence, and whether it's progress or exploitation. But no one has answered a more interesting question: What does this say about men? After all, none of the big female hits could have achieved its staggering popularity without nabbing a significant male audience, those same guys who were once the primary consumers of Die Hard, First Blood, and Commando. If men once lived vicariously through the escapades of John Rambo and Col. Matrix---in movies where women were mainly crime victims or in need of rescue---what does it mean when they love watching Lara Croft kick some bad-boy ass? It's a pretty sharp turn from misogyny to masochism.

The cynics say men will watch hot babes do just about anything, whether it's Jell-O wrestling or kickboxing men, and that the dominatrix has always been part of the male fantasy. Certainly, that must be part of it. But while simple sex appeal might explain why men like Lara Croft, it doesn't explain why they no longer love Schwarzenegger, to whom they'd been so loyal, suffering through everything from Predator to Junior. Nor does the hot-babe theory explain why no obvious successors have stepped in to replace Jean Claude Van Damme and the other aging beef boys.

More to the point, though, the pat male-fantasy explanation doesn't answer the question: Why now? Women have been playing action heroes for more than a decade, but they have never achieved Tomb Raiders level of success until just last year. In fact, earlier films where women played the lead roles as strong (and sexy) action heroines dropped like bombs.

Neither Demi Moore's 1997 G.I. Jane nor The Long Kiss Goodnight in 1996, starring Geena Davis as a highly trained government assassin, spawned any TV spin-offs or plans for sequels. And neither came anywhere near the $100 million box- office benchmark of Charlie's Angels or Crouching Tiger. The Long Kiss grossed only $33 million; G.I. Jane, despite Moore's star- power and new breasts, garnered only $48 million.

Part of the appeal of the new action genre, of course, is that the old beefcake films were getting tired and repetitive, and their stars Reagan-era relics. It's not just that their stars are getting old---most are in their 50s now---but for men on the silver screen these days, being buff just isn't what it used to be.

If you don't believe that studs on steroids have lost their Hollywood appeal, all you have to do is watch Copland, the 1997 indie film in which Stallone tried to revive his flagging career by going against character and starring as a fat guy. He wasn't bad either, playing Freddy Hefflin, the sensitive, half-deaf New Jersey sheriff who adores Sibelius violin concertos. Still, there was only so much the Italian Stallion could do; Schwarzenegger had already exhausted the cutesy roles for inarticulate lugs (remember Kindergarten Cop?).

The meathead movie really flourished at a time when men were desperately clinging to their traditional male roles in the world even as those roles were quickly disappearing. The action heroes like John Rambo or Commando's Col. Matrix represented an ideal, and also nostalgia for a time when men built bridges, defended helpless broads, and were worshipped for their physical conquests---sexual and otherwise. They thrived during the '80s, when military might made a comeback and Bruce Springsteen dedicated albums to steelworkers.

Technology and the sexual revolution, though, have combined to make the muscleman---and his movie---obsolete. Wires have allowed Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz to high- kick, jump, and fly better than Seagal ever could, and the girls didn't have to become body-builders in the process. The lithe titanium bodies of Angelina Jolie and Crouching Tiger's Zhang Zi Yi make men like Schwarzenegger look like lumps of heavy, slow-moving steel. Their kind of over-tanned, sweat-sheened, macho muscularity has all but disappeared from the screen. Who sweats in action films these days?

Even the backdrop for the action film has changed dramatically over the past decade. While today's drama is more likely to unfold in a parking garage or at the beach, the final scenes of the classic '80s and early '90s formula action film invariably ended up in some sort of industrial-age setting where various forms of menacing, manly machinery lurked behind the fistfights.

Terminator 2 ended with Arnold lowering himself down into a vat of molten steel to terminate himself. Little did Arnold know then that T2 really was the new prototype for the modern action movie. In that 1991 film, the new terminator, the T2, was played by Robert Patrick, better known today as Agent Dogget on The X-Files. Compared to the T1 (Schwarzenegger), Patrick was smaller, faster, and smarter---everything you want in your new laptop, and all the things that women so naturally bring to the screen.

Barbarella Bites Back

T2 also foreshadowed the emergence of the action babe, with tank-top-clad Linda Hamilton opening the film doing very manly chin-ups. It took a while before Hollywood got the formula right---G.I. Jane and The Long Kiss Goodnight were fledgling efforts to bring a woman to the center of the action, but those films were fatally flawed in terms of the mass-marketing success formula for an action film.

The key to any good action film is an inverse relationship between the amount of special effects and the amount of dialogue. Talk too much and the heroine loses her mystique and starts to remind men of their ex-wives. Tomb Raider certainly scores on that front. Angelina Jolie couldn't have more than five lines---all snappy ones, of course, which is also a prerequisite for a good action flick.

The other critical requirement for a successful action movie is for the audience to be able to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy the fantasy. Even with a minimum of dialogue, it's unlikely that male movie audiences 20 years ago would have been willing to accept the preposterous idea of Angelina Jolie engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a man---and winning. With the women's movement beginning to make men uncomfortable men probably weren't eager to see women back up their political threat (or even divorce threats) with good roundhouse kicks to the head.

Today, women everywhere seem to be kicking ass, and men don't seem to mind, within reason. You only have to look to the tennis court to see the change. Women's tennis has never been more powerful---or popular. Venus and Serena Williams are smashing 100-mile-an-hour serves that John McEnroe would have had a hard time returning in his heyday. Lindsey Davenport could eat Lara Croft for lunch.

Oddly enough, while women's sports have paved the way for Lara Croft to gross $100 million at the box office, they have also made Rambo and his expression of male physical power the more laughable movie scenario. Rambo's reliance on brute force, jungle warfare, and big pipes seems so passé, especially when dorks like Bill Gates run the world. Muscles on men have become somewhat irrelevant unless the men happen to be mopping the floors at Microsoft. (Perhaps one of the slyest commentaries on the state of the modern American male came a few years back in the film American Beauty, when Kevin Spacey decides to try getting in shape and has to ask the neighborhood gay guys for workout advice.)

The average straight American male today is the doughy white guy who sits in a suburban office park most of the day before driving his SUV home to the wife and kids and online stock reports. Shooting hoop and bench-pressing in the garage just don't figure into the equation. And why should they, when women are more interested in the size of men's portfolios than the size of their pecs anyway?

Conan the Librarian

It's easy to see how Stallone and company have lost their male audience. What's harder to understand is why men aren't more threatened by the arrival of powerful heroines. Of course, a closer viewing of these films suggests that, for all their killer moves and rippling muscles, the action babes still aren't really creating a new world order. If they were, moviemakers wouldn't have needed to create a curious new role for men: The Chad.

For those of you who haven't seen Charlie's Angels, The Chad is Drew Barrymore's erstwhile boyfriend, a scrawny boat owner who gets up early and cheerfully makes her pancakes for breakfast, only to have her dash away to meet up with the other angels for some daring mission. The Chad dotes on Barrymore, "my little starfish," only to watch helplessly as she plunges off the side of his boat in scuba gear to wage an amphibious assault on the bad guys.

The Chad, a descendant of Nancy Drew's Ned, the faithful boyfriend who dutifully arrives with the car at just the right moment, appears in other films as well. Usually, though, The Chad comes in the role of technogeek who worships the heroine (who will never in a million years have sex with him) and often needs to be rescued---or is, at least, of little help when the action heats up.

In Tomb Raider, The Chad is a fellow named Bryce who lives on Croft's estate and builds robots and other gadgets for her. When the evil warriors launch their attack on the Croft mansion, Bryce somehow gets locked in his RV and can only watch helplessly on the TV monitors as Croft vanquishes the black-hooded intruders.

Chad-like characters and their goddess-worship also regularly populate television, particularly episodes of The X-Files, where computer geeks frequently encounter Lara- Croft-type characters and are abused by them. Emasculated, these quivering high-tech weenies heighten the physical prowess and fearlessness of the heroines. Surrounded by submissive men, the women become powerful---but only in the geeks' realm. The weak men are necessary props for the audience to buy into the heroine's triumphs. But The Chad also reassures the regular guy that Drew Barrymore couldn't kick his ass.

And when the action babe does meet her male match, the fighting becomes more like foreplay than a duel to the death, as with Zhang Zi Yi and Chang Chen, wrestling across the sand dunes over a stolen comb in Crouching Tiger. More than just a good martial-arts scene, the fight is fraught with the excitement of sexual conquest that has all but disappeared with the sexual revolution.

No doubt our action heroines have come a long way since Wonder Woman, but the feminist critics are right: Women are still only allowed to be violent within certain parameters largely proscribed by what men are willing to tolerate. To be sure, what men will tolerate has certainly changed a good deal. But in the old action films, at the end, the male hero always walks away from a burning building looking dirty, bleeding sweaty yet vindicated (Remember Bruce Willis' bloody feet after walking through broken glass barefoot in Die Hard?).

None of today's action chicks come near that level of messiness. The violence is sterilized---it is, after all, PG-13, aimed mostly at 12-year-olds. They rarely mess up their hair, nor do they really fight---or perhaps gun down---significant bad guys like, say, Rutger Hauer or Wesley Snipes, which would seriously upset the balance of power. Often they end up sparring with other women. Their motives are always pure and they never use unnecessary violence the way Arnold and the boys get to. The body count in Commando topped 100; Charlie's Angels couldn't have had a single real corpse.

Women playing real action figures who menace real men still don't sell, as Geena Davis discovered in Long Kiss Goodnight. In the opening scene, Davis does something unbelievably unladylike: She kills Bambi, snapping a deer's neck with her bare hands. That scene alone probably sank her movie. Men may have accepted women as action figures, but only when those action figures are a cross between Gidget and Bruce Lee. To achieve box-office success, the new action babes have to celebrate women's power without being so threatening that men would be afraid to sleep with the leading lady.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0109.mencimer.html

Genre- ACTION

http://www.filmsite.org/actionfilms.html

Women in action-films usually play the roles of accomplices or romantic interests of the hero, although modern action films have featured strong female...

Feminine Masculinity: The Rise of Women in Action Films

Feminine Masculinity: The Rise of Women in Action Films
It has become a trend in cinema for female actresses to take on roles that used to be typically suited for men.
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When a Stranger Calls (2006)

Director- Simon West
Release Date- 12/05/06 (UK)
Distributed by- Screen Gems
Genre- Horror
Tagline: Evil Hits Home

During an otherwise routine babysitting gig, a high-school student is harassed by an increasingly threatening prank caller.

ANALYSIS

In the first five minutes of the film a female is presented as weak.
This is shown after she answers her phone call, from a stranger, who asks her what her name is, she replies ‘I’m the babysitter.’ She is later seen being dragged down by someone (the stranger on the phone) screaming. This long shot of her portrays her as a victim. Her screaming is juxtaposed by children laughing at a fair nearby to the house at which she is babysitting.

The next scene is in Colorado, the film introduces us to Jill, a young female in high school, who has problems with her Boyfriend.
- She is shown to be independent, because she broke up with her Boyfriend, who kissed her best friend- Tiffany. The fact that she is shown running in a gym above males, suggests she is powerful and dominant, as she is higher than them. A high angle is used to show where she is and what she is doing. Also, she is shown not to be a stereotypical cheerleader, who craves the attention from her male peers.
- Tiffany is shown to be someone who does not care for anyone else’s feelings. Later on in the film she calls herself ‘a bitch’ which can sum up her character by herself.

Her story starts, when she has gone over her phone minutes, as a consequence she is not allowed her phone, her car, and is not allowed to go out anywhere. Her dad has given her a job as a babysitter for someone he knows.
- Here she is shown as female who look afters children, a question that can be raised here, is that why couldn’t a male be the babysitter instead? The female is stereotyped as a maternal figure, she has to care children.

The house she is babysitting at is isolated; it is set during the evening when it is dark. The house is surrounded by water- a lake, with woods nearby (trees all over)
- TYPICAL CONVENTION

30 minutes into the film:

The phone rings, and there is heavy breathing on the other side- to the audience it can suggest she is the next victim, as she is a babysitter, just like the first female, and the phone call is the same. There is a medium shot of her looking scared.
The door closes behind her; she hears footsteps and the lights go on automatically.
- TYPICAL CONVENTION

The phone rings again, this time she hears crackling, and the man asks her
‘Is everything OK?’

45 minutes into the film:

She is shown entering a room full of birds, which scare her. This is an intertextual reference to, The Birds (1963) a horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

After this scene her ex- best friend Tiffany come to the house, she is shown to be a stereotypical blonde. She is shown to be attracted to alcohol; this is a negative representation of females.
When she is leaving alone, she drops her keys; there are loud noises in the background of footsteps and branches. Then from the point of view from the stranger, we see Tiffany trying to move the gate. There then is a close up of her from the stranger’s point of view- suggesting to the audience he has attacked her.

We are now back to Jill- the phone rings, and she answers ‘what Tiffany’
A male voice says ‘This isn’t Tiffany’ there is all of sudden a loud wind sound. This sets the mood for the audience, as it is thrilling and mysterious, as they want to know who is behind it all.

Another female who is presented is – Rosa- the house keeper, she is shown to have disappeared- the audience can then figure out the stranger has got to her.

The phone rings again- there is a long shot of the eerie atmosphere.
The man say’s ‘Have you checked the children?’
She checks the children and they are fine.
Walking down the stairs, the phone rings, the stranger tells her he ‘is outside the house,’ and he can see her.
She pulls the curtains, because he is now scaring her.

Looking outside she sees a dark shadow in the guest house, a close up of Jill shown, shows her as frightened.

The phone rings- she asks him what he wants, and he replies
“Your blood all over me”
The water is heard running upstairs, then a close up of JILL.

1 hour 5 minutes into the film:

The police ring, because earlier she phoned them and reported the calls, they then traced the calls. They tell her the calls are coming from inside the house…
Jill goes upstairs and finds, Rosa on the floor dead K - that was obvious
Also the kids are missing.

20 minutes left of the film:

The kids are found hiding in their room; they tell JILL there is a man in the room. He jumps down from the top, wearing all black.

She and the children run away, where the birds and little river is. She is hiding in the water below, and sees a dead female- which is Tiffany. The children run outside into the living room, and Jill gets caught, but she manages to escape him.
He catches her again, but she hits him with something used for an electric fire- a metal rod.

She runs outside and bumps into the police.
She is seen sitting there alone, as the car with the stranger is inside, the audience can finally see his face which is a close up.
The TV news is shown saying, a man has been captured, who has killed 15 young females.
A final scene is her in an empty hospital alone, the phone rings and the stranger is behind her….She wakes up screaming in a busy hospital.

Jill is represnted as a vitcim, but strong, as she survived. However, even though she escapes him, she is still a victim, because she has gone mad.