Controversy In Kill Bill And Legally Blonde

Despite the fact that there is only one woman in a starring role, a multitude of

After watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part Two, I was able to see how gender roles both differ and remain the same in this movie. Although some gender stereotypes apply to the film, I think many characters defy the stigmas typically assigned to males and females. Strong female roles, such as Hermione Granger, Molly Weasley, Professor McGonagall, and Luna Lovegood, help portray sturdy independent women who take charge. Reflecting on this movie, even as a dedicated Harry Potter fan, I have always admired how female actors in the series have had “the brains” in tricky situations. After watching the movie, I saw themes of power feminism, stereotyping, and negative connotations of males who express emotion.

     In many ways today's society, even though women have come a long way, we still live in a patriarchal world. There are many examples of this in everyday life, whether it be that there aren't very many women CEO's or the mere fact that we've yet to have a woman president. No matter where you live, there is the presence of a male dominated world. It especially extends into the working fields. There are professions that are categorically 'women's' jobs like nursing, school teacher, or secretarial jobs. The rest of the professional world is mainly male dominated, i.e. engineering, CEO's of major companies, and Law Firms. Which brings us to the movie I picked to watch, Legally Blonde.

In Hollywood film women 's roles have varied quiet considerably between genres, geographical placement, and period settings. These factors contribute to the different representations of women 's roles in the film they are present in. The roles are diverse going from the traditional maternal role to that of manipulative murderer. Women 's roles in movies can be almost equal to the male roles, and the co-stars are not given the majority of the acclaims just because they are male. Society has set certain standards that women are supposed to follow. The most common image of women is that they are very passive and try to avoid conflict in any situation. More and more in society women are breaking down the social barriers that confine them to their specific roles. The films Rear Window and Resident Evil show women in roles that are untraditional for our society. These two movies help to show how women are rebelling against social norms and that they are taking more active and aggressive roles. In film noir’s we can see women represented as the femme fatale, a woman whose mysterious and seductive charms leads men into compromising or dangerous situations. In action movies we see the heroine who is strong both physically and mentally, and has the ability to use weapons. Women seem to be more trapped than men because they are supposed to live up to society’s standards dealing with beauty and size, which are more physical characteristics. These specific guidelines have been set by

In contemporary film women's roles in films have varied quiet considerably between genres, geographical placement, and between

Elle believes her perfect life is about to get even better when her boyfriend hints that there will be changes in their future and she assumes he's about to propose. However, she is shaken when her boyfriend breaks up with her to find a girl who will be a better fit for his political aspirations. Instead of wallowing in sorrow, Elle decides she can win him back if she can only show him her serious side by chasing after him to Harvard law. Her confidence is weakened however, as she encounters difficult professors and snobby students. Nevertheless, she persisted in her studies and because of this she is given an exclusive internship. This leads her to take on challenges she never imagined she could and demonstrates the knowledge she had all along.

After lots of trying, she realizes it is not going to be a breeze to get him back in her grip with the fact she is in Harvard and looks alone, so she decides to hit the books to outsmart the awful fiancé. In the progress, she meets and great guy who helps her succeed and becomes one of the top students in her class. Elle also meets her a new beautician who she befriends and helps get the man of her dreams with the “bend and snap”. During the process, Elle starts to like herself for who she is, and her true self comes out. She is a bubbly, happy, girly woman who will not take no as an answer. With all her hard work, she even ends up receiving an internship, along with her ex-boyfriend and his fiancé, to work with a client. For one of the few times in her life, Elle was receiving things that she worked for, not that were given to her.

Bridesmaids, as a full on comedy, is interesting as it is a full cast of female lead roles. As a female version of the hit ‘The Hangover’; it has a level of raunchiness that is usually only seen as acceptable when acted out by male characters. The success of this movie’s ability to overcome this stereotype (that women shouldn’t act or think like this) is hopefully opening a door to new avenues for women in lead comedic roles similarly now to ‘The Heat’, ‘Spy’, ‘Identity Thief’ ‘Tammy’ ‘Pitch Perfect’ ‘The Other Women’ ‘Gone Girl’ women using foul language, sexual references, passing wind and

Today’s filmmakers have three areas to focus on: the event or theme of the film, the audience who will be watching the film, and lastly, the individual characters and the roles they play and how they are portrayed and interpreted. Many of these films bottom line objectives are to focus on the “erotic needs of the male ego.” The focus on fetishistic scopophilia tend to slant the view such that we see the world as being dominated by men and that woman are

Women have always been viewed as passive in real life and in films. They have a certain role they always have to play, whether it is a wife, mother, or the seductive woman out to get men. Gender stereotypes date back to hundreds of years ago when they were denied basic civil rights like voting or working. These unjust treatments have been established in movies as well. While men are the stars of the film, usually because of their appearance or dominance among others, women appear at the sidelines usually being admired for their beauty.

Delve deeper, action movies for generations have ingrained restrictive roles for women to society. In 2016, only 27 percent of the dialogue came from women in the top ten highest grossing movies (Syfret 1). Yet, speaking less often in

From an article, critic Jessica Valenti states “That’s what make movie so forward-thinking:it’s not feminist because Theron’s character gets to engage in as much violence as any other action lead, but

Many women are cast in a film but only a few land a leading protagonist role. Films like The Hunger Games, Lucy, Maleficent and Divergent are evident to be breaking stereotypical gender roles. Women are shown to be equally strong as men and less emotionally bounded to other characters. In the progressive Hollywood films of today, we visibly see the characters of women to be idealized as heroic, with brave instincts, intelligence, and in support of female empowerment, rather than idealizing their bodies only. Although still films are made that idealize the female bodies, such as female superhero characters, however, it could be safe to say that women will always be seen as a man’s desire or eye candy, so there will always be female roles available which would accommodate these characters for films: It is dependent on the genre of the

With help from her sorority sisters, this is possible, but much more difficult than she expected. Elle faces many challenges, yet finds that she is growing as a person. Elle becomes a respected student, wins an internship, and eventually defends Brooke Windham in court. By the end of the film, Elle decides she doesn’t need Warner to make her happy. She graduates a respected lawyer with an unexpected best friend and a future fiancé despite facing problems along the way.

So, I feel like any conversation had with another female will be male focused. Additionally, there are not as many women attending law school as men in this movie. This leaves less female to female conversation and less opportunity for story lines that do not revolve around men. Hopefully, Legally Blonde, proves me wrong and turns out to be the inspiring story I remember it to be as a kid.