In both film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s Män Som Hatar Kvinnor (Men Who Hate Women), the 2009 Swedish film directed by Niels Arden Oplev , and the 2011 American version, renamed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , directed by David Fincher, the two principle characters only meet halfway through the film. For a significant portion of the movie, they interact only by spying on each other. As a film that addresses differences between male and female interactions, the presence of a male or female protagonist is important for the viewer’s understanding. Though almost equal presences on screen, the perspectives from which the film is told vary between the two adaptations.
The notion of perspective is shown clearly in a revenge scene in the beginning of the film. As the scene begins, Lisbeth Salander, the main female character in both films, has secretly recorded her rape at the hands of her guardian, Bjurman. She goes to his apartment and ties him up before assaulting him in revenge. After doing this, she shows him the video that she had secretly recorded of her assault during the previous visit. The two scenes of Bjurman watching her video differ between the American and Swedish films. In Oplev’s film, the video is presented from Salander’s perspective. The viewer sees Bjurman opening the door from Salander’s perspective as she faces him but the frame is shortened so his head is not visible. Oplev pans down from the video screen to Salander’s head as she talks to Bjurman. He
In ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’, there are three female characters, the uneven ratio of women to men perhaps suggest that the female roles within are less significant than male roles.
The first theme that I would like to address regarding The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the violence against women included in it. I think that this is one of the biggest themes because it is very important and also plays a huge part in this story. For example, the author states that “finally the boy punched her in the face; it split open her lip and made her see stars” (Larsson, p.229). This quote I think is important because not only does it show another example of violence towards women, but it also shows that Lisbeth Salander has been subjected to
For my critical feminist lens, I will be answering the question ‘How are men and women (masculinity and femininity) portrayed differently in the text?’. I intend to explore the portrayal of both men and women in the film ‘The Imitation Game’ directed by Morten Tyldum. Furthermore, I believe that the film portrays the patriarchal structure that is the basis of the portrayal of men and women.
In our society today, there are many ways identity plays a role in how people live their lives, as well as how people are viewed or treated by others. A big part of a person’s identity comes from their gender. Men and women are raised differently, whether it be their beliefs and ways of thinking, how they view their future, or the actions they choose to take throughout their lifetime. In both Katha Pollitt and Silko’s essays, they discuss the differences in the lives of men and women and how these differences result from society’s expectations by using metaphors and life examples to explain their message to the reader, as well as allow the reader to connect to this message.
In the past years, Disney/Pixar has revolutionized the premise of their movies by shifting away from princesses and portraying resilient male characters as the protagonists of their highly successful animated feature films. From 1995 to 2008, Disney/Pixar released eight films, all of which included a male lead, yet these characters are arguably unlike any other protagonist in early Disney animated films. In their essay, “Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney/Pixar,” Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden call attention to the new manner Disney/Pixar use to depict their heroic male characters in their movies. Gillam and Wooden claim that Pixar is using their movies to promote the acceptance of a new standard of masculinity capable of embracing feminine traits, as conveyed by the male characters within the films. As a viewer, it is easy to recognize the emasculation of the male protagonists within Pixar movies, however, the authors’ claim is faulty; they fail to acknowledge that society now has room for a new sympathetic man because it is straying way from a patriarchal beliefs of the past.
Woman deserve to be treated with respect, they deserve equal rights. In this paper, I will provide evidence that gender roles have not changed over the period of time between the writing of The Death of Woman Wang and the dragon’s village. The Death of Woman Wang was written by Jonathan Spence; it was published in 1978. The dragon’s village was written by Yuan-Tsung Chen, it was published in 1980.
James Cameron’s 1986 film Aliens can be considered a tweener being made up of many genres including a maternal melodrama, woman’s film, war film, body genre, horror, and a science fiction film. Aliens manages to successfully change the classic horror and sci-fi movie to create a story that explores the place of women in these genres and challenges the roles they normally play. This is done by structuring a horror film to play upon the male fears of female reproduction and sexuality as core themes in the film so as to unnerve its dominant men. As a result, a woman’s film is created by placing its female character as the leading role. Aliens takes its central character Ripley, and places her into a position as the gender monster. Ripley is neither totally feminine nor is she totally masculine resulting in a motherly figure that is a true warrior. Even from her first appearance she is in command and a force to be reckoned with. In Aliens the roles of gender are clearly reversed, as Ripley is the strong female character who makes active judgements and survives what is trying to kill her. The male characters are largely submissive, most die quickly, others wait for her command. Ripley stands out as being a well-developed female hero who avoids the standard portrayal of women in horror films as passive, secondary characters, creating a woman that is in charge and motherly at the same time, thus producing a woman’s film.
The concept of gender is evolutionary and difficult to define, though it can be argued that traditionally females have been predominantly defined by their desirability, and males by their masculinity. The way a director presents gender in film can either inspire social change and conversation, or alternatively it can further reproduce social norms. In the case of the film’s discussed in this essay, it is clear that Baz Luhrmann captivates a younger audience and intentionally uses actor selection and the presentation of gender to transform a well-worn Shakespearean story into something new and evolved to inspire a younger audience. On the other
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
The video essay argued against Laura Mulvey theory on male gaze and was mainly centred on the article of visual Pleasure and narrative cinema writer by Laura Mulvey. According to Mulvey(1975,p348) “The female is displayed for his enjoyment(connoting male phantasy) and that of the spectator fascinated with the image of is like set in an illusion of natural space, and through him gaining possession and control of the woman within the diegesis”. She went further stating that “in film the women as object of the combined gaze of spectator for all the male protagonist. She is isolated, glamorous, on display, sexualised” (p3488). Examples of such films given in the video essay is the skin I live in (Pedro Almodóvar), Spain 2011. The idea of female
From the minute one is born the division between genders is placed. The phrases “act like a lady” or “be a man” become everyday practices and lifelong slogans. Fairy tales are always focused on women who play the beautiful damsel in distress persona and on men who play the handsome knight coming in to save them. Whether you are female or male, it is important to remember that these fixed characteristics placed on genders are never to be reinforced. In a world full of gender stereotypes, the Disney movie Mulan challenges the societal construct of masculinity and femininity by proving that gender roles are not fixed traits, but socially constructed views that can be changed.
I chose gender criticism this theory to analyze the gender roles and the gender expectations displayed in “Lady Susan”. I chose this theory because “Lady Susan” mainly discussed the relationship between males and females, and the interesting gender roles the characters played. Thus, gender criticism theory can help me to understand and comprehend the underlying meanings of different characters’ conducts and personalities as females.
In the early 1990s Laura Mulvey’s thesis concerning the patriarchal structure of an active male gaze has influenced feminist film critiques and Hollywood. Mulvey’s project is to use psychoanalysis to uncover the power of patriarchy in Hollywood cinema. Patriarchal influence upon cinema is found primarily in pleasure (pleasure in looking) or as Freud’s has put it, scopophilia. Mulvey suggests that it may be possible to create a new for of cinema due to the fact that patriarchy power to control cinematic pleasure has revealed.
Viewpoint affects many different aspects of a story and film. When we look at the story we read it from the viewpoint of ?Ashputtle?. This viewpoint in the story is Omniscient Narrator = which is "an objective, non-participating all-seeing mind". In the story version the author plays the role of narrator, as he is the one telling the story. In the first film "Ever After" the point of view is told from the first person point of view. First person = describes a character who participates in the events of the story and tells it in an subjective fashion. We see examples of this when we view the film, because when the characters that portray the "Grimm Brothers" come to the palace and then the great, great, great granddaughter of the real "Cinderella" tells the story. The second
David Fincher’s adaptation based “The Girls with the Dragon Tattoo” on the international bestselling psychological thriller novel of the same name by the late Stieg Larsson. Director Fincher has created a dramatic film, and it was extremely eye catching. From the opening moments, the trailer and the characters led viewers into the serious air of a crime drama. At the beginning of the film, there is a loud soundtrack of the electric guitar. While the vocalist is singing, a girl in the background is screaming with fire images and this made viewers think the movie was about crime and sex.