Female Characters In Film Essay

Women’s roles in movies have changed dramatically throughout the years. As a result of the changing societal norms, women have experienced more transition in their roles than any other class. During the period of classical Hollywood cinema, both society and the film industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in home in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. Women did not have predominated roles in movies such as being the heroin. The 1940’s film Gilda wasn’t an exception. In Gilda, the female character mainly had two different stereotypes. The female character was first stereotyped as a sex object and the second stereotyped as a scorned woman who has to be punished.

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

The movie gives the message that women must do acknowledge their responsibilities towards themselves, which can and should never be neglected or postponed for the sake of anyone or anything. Nothing in this world is worth sacrificing your own aspirations for. A person’s greatest assets are self-respect, dignity and individuality. Woman should safeguard her identity by not letting her individuality get submerged and by keeping her priorities intact all her life and creating a place for herself.

This genre is typically modern, perky and upbeat, but the common narrative in all of them is that it features a woman who is strong and she overcomes adversity to reach her goals. There is also a message of empowerment that also struggles with a romantic predicament and using comedy to poke fun at the male characters. Industries are still producing soppy romantic comedies for the female audience but the divide between the standard chick flick and romantic comedy is slowly disappearing. Similarly to the beginning of this essay it is evident that institutions are moving in the direction of women’s place in culture in relation to this film genre; women are usually shown as the super power since they are made to appeal to the female audience. However

In the contemporary context, when one tries to analyze the idea about women from previous decades being an audience and not the crew of a film industry, one wants to question and ask: why were women only an audience or, actors? Maybe there were some culturally held values and beliefs with respect to their contexts? However, with the passage of time, cultural and professional values improved. Technology began to improve and so did the mind-set of professional groups along with the audiences. Film industry has had an impression of providing first entertainment and, second education. Hence those working for the films might have had hurdles in choosing working for films as their career or vocation. At different times in the history, women in different cultural contexts have worked for certain film industries. I want to explore the idea about women and their talent in the film industry. Since I am primarily a viewer of the Bollywood industry and an occasional viewer of the Hollywood cinema, I want to compare the cultural and professional values of those who work for films in different settings. Since the course readings provided information with respect to certain cinema contexts, I wanted to add some ideas providing a comparative analysis of the women talent in diverse film settings.

From silent short films of the 19th century to full length films of the 1920s, women have played important central roles over time. Women have transitioned from submissive conservative roles to liberal something. A big part of this is due to the view of women changing in history.

Since the 1940’s, movies have predominately portrayed women as sex symbols. Beginning in the 1940’s and continuing though the 1980’s, women did not have major roles in movies. When they did have a leading role the women was either pretreated as unintelligent and beautiful, or as conniving and beautiful: But she was always beautiful. Before the 1990’s, men alone, wrote and directed all the movies, and the movies were written for men. In comparison, movies of the 90’s are not only written and directed by women, but leading roles are also held by older and unattractive women. In this paper I will show the variations and growth of women’s roles in movies from the 1940’s though the 1990’s.

Throughout motion picture history, women have experienced more transition in their roles, as a result of changing societal norms, than any other class. At first, both society and the movie industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in the home, in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. As time passed and attitudes changed, women were beginning to be depicted as strong willed, independent minded characters, who were eager to break away from convention. The genre of the crime film represents such a change in the roles handed to women. Two films that can be contrasted, in order to support this view, are: The Public Enemy by William Wellman (1931) and Bonnie

“ You cannot talk about genre without talking about gender.” Initially, this would appear to be a simplistic statement. On closer analysis, however, one fact becomes evident. It is the representation of gender which informs the genre of the text. Ismay Barwell , in her essay ‘ Feminist perspectives and narrative points of view’ states that “ Every text is gendered since every act of narration…..involves a process of selection….and the nature of that selection implies certain values” ( p.99). She makes the point that “ The desires, attitudes and interests which guide any choices made must be either male or female”( p.98 ). It is within this frame of reference, that the two texts will be analysed.

Once Jamal and his older brother, Salim, have located Latika they have it in their minds to rescue her from Maman, the man who has enslaved and subjugated her since early she was a child. He has taken Latika as a possession, to be used and sold for his profit. Ever since she was a child, Maman has raised (a term used loosely), clothed, sheltered, and fed her. As a child she was ordered to pan-handle along the streets for monies to pay the way for these “luxuries”. Now as a blossoming young teen he intends to use her as a prostitute, using her untainted body as a way in to making money. Proving that a woman is only as good as the price a man will pay. Even Jamal’s older brother, Salim, would end up treating Latika with this same mentality. After rescuing her from the Maman’s whore house, Salim sells Latika to another crime boss of India. Salim would take gainful employment under this man as one of his most trusted protectors in exchange for Latika’s companionship and servitude for his lifetime.

On television commercials, billboards, the radio, public transportation advertisements, planes, the internet, and almost everywhere people go there is always directed broadcasting of advertisements for companies to sell their product; a product that is never promoted for all of the general public to use, but instead to emphasize on specific categories of consumption . Whether it may be categorized in the decadent, the money saving, health, cleaning, cooking, automotive, or whatever sub category it may be; and bigger roles that play in to commercialism are gender roles . Men and women have very different lifestyles, what they buy, do, consume, and produce. As stated in Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes, “Popular conceptions of femininity

Most of the Indian knowledge I know are “people without power are silenced and those with power are able to speak” (Getz and Clarke, p. 78), it is all about authority. There are too many examples and historical events reveal how people discriminate female and lower class people. The film has clearly showed the situation, the unfair treatment of racism is not only happened between upper class and lower class, such as British and Indian. The Indian villagers are also prejudice a disabled Indian man by refuse him to join the team. However, the gender issue is totally different. All the men and women are live pleasantly together, no sexism neither in Indian village nor British government. We can see that through the day before the end of the game, all the women from villagers start to sing, they use their powerful voice to encourage and inspire their discouraged

In society, women are often perceived as the weaker sex, both physically and mentally. In modern times women have leveled the playing field between men and women, and feminism is a highly discussed topic, but for years, women faced discrimination and prejudice both in life and in the workplace, due to their sex. This way of thinking flooded into the world of film. In their works, the authors of each of the various sources address the limitations and liberations of women both on and off the screen in nineteenth century Film and Cinema. Not every source is completely filled with information related to the research topic, but they do cover and analyze many of the same points from different perspectives. Prominent points addressed in each

This essay discusses the different types of masculinity depicted in Apur Sansar (1959), directed by the Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray. These representations are explained by analysing and contrasting different male characters and their attitudes in the film. In addition to this, the significance of presentism is a key theme when it comes to reflecting on the conventions of the 1950s, not only in the West but also in Bengal. Finally, the relation between men and women are explored in order to achieve a better insight about the topic, highlighting Apu and Aparna’s relationship during their marriage.

in Indian CinemaInnovative women roles in Indian films, especially mainstream cinema, are few and far between. Some creative directors, working within the mainstream format, however have given us some meaty characters. Several women-significant films were made in the early days of Indian cinema like "Achchyut Kanya," which touched the theme of untouchability. Bimal Roy made a few films inspired by the novels of Sarat Chatterjee like "Biraj Bou", "Devdas" and "Parineeta." "Biraj Bou" was a film based on a selfless Indian woman, who endured hardship and pain for the sake of her husband. Films like "Ramer Sumoti," based on a Sarat Chaterjee work, were remarkable and depicted the love and warmth which