Forbidden Love : Shifting Gender Roles And East Asian Cinema

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.

Asian American actors and actresses are portrayed in Hollywood movies as always being the silent and yielding foreign victims to social injustice and prejudice. Whether or not these depictions are true, they are nonetheless stereotypes that Hollywood producers have come up with. According to the US Census in the year 2000, Asian Americans make up 4.2% of the entire American population, and knowing that most Asian Americans live on the west and east coast of the United States, many Americans living in central parts of this country have not really been exposed to any Asian Americans. Because of this fact, it is highly probable that most Americans get their exposure to the Asian American lifestyle only through television and movies. Even if

This film highlights the flaws of humanity in a western world. The films ability to touch on topics of classism, prostitution, and alcoholism makes the content mature and unlike typical western films. This revolutionary and innovative western created a foundation for many future films. The sophistication of the content, and lack of adherence to the production code makes this film an “adult”

Jook-Liang looks at the mirror and tries to think that she is Shirley Temple after Poh-Poh reprimands that she is useless and ugly. Conversely, she finds that she is not that beautiful as Shirley Temple and it makes her feel uncomfortable. Actually, Grandmother’s rebuke makes her realize her inadequacies. Because of point of view, the traditional Chinese thinking that a girl is useless deeply affects Jook-Liang’s thought about the people around her and herself.

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

Among the many issues that affect the Asian American community today, one that stands out to me is the hyper sexualization of Asian women. Unlike the depiction of awkward, asexual Asian men, Asian women are stereotyped as highly venereal beings. Both labels are problems, but this paper focuses on the issue facing females in this community. Their sexuality stems from depictions of “…being petite, exotic, and eager to please and serve men” (Fong 2007). Additionally, two big components for their sex appeal come from the “dragon lady” and “China doll” characters that Asian women have been portrayed as in media. However, the origins of the hyper sexualized Asian woman can be traced back to the first wave of Chinese immigrants.

Dirty Dancing (Emile Ardlino, 1987) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) are two beautifully choreographed movies whose plot shares little similarity but has in common the concept of a duet between two clashing personalities. Both movies are about inherently different things but at closer inspection they appear to do the same as two characters flow and move around the other becoming a complicated duet of motion and fluidity. In one movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Shu Lien and Jen Yu, both experienced warriors battle it out in the courtyard of Beijing fighting over the over the ownership of the Green Destiny. In Dirty Dancing it is not until the final scene that we finally see the full potential and dynamic between Baby

     Asian Americans only make up a small percent of the American population. Even more significant is that this percentage live mostly on the west and east coasts of mainland United States and Hawaii; leaving the rest of the American population to most likely get their exposures to Asians through television and movies. However the exposure they have receive throughout the history of cinematography has been hardly flattering. Throughout the course of history Asians in film have been portrayed as evil or the "yellow peril" as described by others. If Asians are not being classified as evil in this picture then they are most likely the comic relief, with their lack of coordination or grasp of the English

The experiences and beliefs mirrored from Intersectional Feminism and Hollywood cinema illustrate how American Culture impacts society. Social media continuously revolutionizes the world through ways people communicate on the world-wide web. The power of this tool share both benefits and negative consequences that further encourage American society to strive for Equality and overcome Group Superiority. Social media advances Intersectional Feminism as an expandable way to promote female empowerment of all diverse backgrounds. On the contrary, social media also give freewill to voice topical issues such as the discrepancies with the lack of diversity in Hollywood cinema. Overall, core values help guide behavior and action based on groups in and

The doors opened. Hours and hours of waiting have finally reached its pivotal point. I rushed in like the rest of the movie watchers. The sheer joy is unbearable because I waited so long for an adaptation of my favorite anime, Ghost in the Shell, a classic Japanese anime. I couldn’t wait to see what Asian actor the directors casted for Motoko Kusanagi, the Asian law enforcement officer who has gone through technological buffs to combat crime. As the curtains finally part and the lights dimmed, the large screen brightened. I smiled as the movie started. However, that smile quickly disappeared. There was something wrong with the first scene. Scarlett

The film industry has created the conventional gender roles of society into their movies. A majority of films have supported some of the male and female stereotypes. In the history of the film industry, the role of men is primarily that of the stereotypical working class man or hero, while the roles of women are primarily portrayed as being somewhat inferior to men. In the 1930s through the 1970s, men held the leading roles in films while women played smaller roles. In terms of jobs, women were given mostly family roles and rarely were shown outside of their homes, while men had successful careers and did many activities outside of home. “Women were shown doing housework and men were the beneficiaries of their work” (“Women’s roles in the

Filmmakers use traditional gender stereotypes to produce characters audiences can easily identify with by portraying conventional images of a person with identifiable characteristics. In previous years, the dominant representation of a women in film has been the passive, subjugated protagonist. However, through the development of female empowerment and added feminist representations of film, the female heroine transformed to become strong and independent women in her own right, as an individual character.

In society we have a lot of women actresses. Some tend to play the motherly type, some play the manipulator type and some even play the victims of abusive relationships. No matter what women seem to be coming up in the industry of movies in more ways than before. The three movies I have chosen to analyze in my critique are Heartbreakers, Baby Boy and Stepmom. These three movies all have women in them that either play a major role or the main role. All their roles are very different in character and none of the women in these three movies play a similar role.

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

on society and culture. But since the beginning, there has been trend of male dominance in entertainment. This has contributed to gender inequality by not giving young girls strong role models in movies. It has also created ideal gender images that young children and adults feel obligated to follow. In more recent years, with the rise of feminism and gender equality, many have begun to push for changes in movies and Hollywood. Gender inequality in film can be reduced by creating more roles for women, avoiding gender stereotypes such as the damsel in distress, and avoiding oversexualizing women.