Hi Starr It was nice to read your essay and your thoughts on movies. You mentioned that the criticism described in movie “Halloween”, is feminist criticism, in 300 biographical whereas in movie frozen is psychoanalytic. I do agree with your points as it shows that women are independent, strong, and intelligent as in of suppose of being weak, helpless, and naïve. According to critic’s point of view female character in the movie was not mainstream, but instead more intelligent, independent and spunky which helped movie very interesting. In movie “300” they focused more on characters and their looks instead of story, critic felt that it is totally unfair for the culture. Use of heavy make-up, costumes, jewelry and unnecessary screams made it worse.
Shirley Jackson’s novel, The Haunting of Hill House, explores the cultural anxieties in the mid 20th century. Specifically, men use womanhood (societal norms) as purposely infantilizing women in order to confine the female mind. Jackson utilizes symbolism, metaphor, and anaphora in her novel in order to convey the message for men to stop infantilizing women. Moreover, Jackson spreads awareness that women are being confined by a system that men developed: womanhood. Hence, in effect, the novel serves as an informal protest against male repression through a medium that can be read by a wider audience —more importantly an indirect challenge to male readers. According to Krolokke, Second Wave Feminism became prominent due to cultural discontent with patriarchy during the mid 20th century. Moreover, Krolokke informs the readers that Second Wave Feminism influenced women to challenge traditional family roles and male ideologies about women not belonging in the workplace (11-12). Mid 20th century is also when Jackson published The Haunting of Hill House. So, with these historical and cultural contexts in mind, Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House ends the novel with Eleanor killing herself because she wants women to challenge the ideas of patriarchy into effect. Hence, Second Wave Feminism has a connection to Eleanor having a childlike personality (can not think for herself) because she wants women (especially young and single women) to explore their rights (their choices) and
“What’s your favorite scary movie?” is the most well known line in all of the horror film genre which comes from the opening scenes of Scream (1996). The movie Scream is about a series of murders around the one year anniversary of Maureen Prescott’s death, mother of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). The killer known as Ghostface is after Sidney Prescott to make her pay for the sins committed by her mother. In the beginning of the film, Ghostface calls Casey ( Drew Barrymore) and one of the questions during their phone call is “What is your favorite scary movie?” Scream is one of the most famous scary movies because of Randy’s (Jammie Kennedy) played by three rules for surviving a horror movie. The rules are (1) never have sex, (2) never do drugs and drink alcohol, and (3) never say “I’ll be right back”. Randy makes the argument that the people murdered are the fornicators, substance users, and
The movie Vertigo presents an image of curated womanhood explicitly constructed by males. Judy is one character that poses as Madeline in order to fulfill a male’s idea of what it means to be female.
The Screwball comedy is a film genre that found its way onto the screens in the early 1930s and lasted till the early 1940s. They were a consequence of the newly adapted censorship law in 1934 that restricted addressing adult content on screen. They therefore incorporated more comedic and creative ways of symbolizing topics such as sex and homosexuality. Screwball comedies were mainly based on plots that had conflict between social classes as their many premise and always had a happy ending which was almost always marriage. This consistent maintenance of the status quo of marriage is a major aspect of feminism depicted in screwball comedies (Heather 26). While advocating for marriage, screwball comedies highlighted the shift in the
Since the inventions of television and film, media influences have become extremely important in modern society with people constantly being inundated by images and messages that come from film, television, magazines, internet and advertising. Researchers and theorists such as Carol J. Clover and Jean Kilborne believe that the fact that people are going to be affected by the media is absolutely unavoidable. Films can act as guides to how people, particularly women, should act and look. Women in horror are typically shown as the ‘damsel in distress’ and are usually attacked by the killer after committing a sinful act like having sex or misusing drugs or alcohol. The females are
to do with the idea of a being, or way of being, that literally lives
Fears and Desires: the Repressed in Cat People and It Follows Horror films have always featured repression in one way or another. In Robin Wood’s essay "An Introduction to the American Horror Film,” he analyzes the role of the repressed and the “Other” in horror films. Both Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942) and It Follows (David Robert Mitchell, 2014) are exemplary of repressed emotions surrounding female sexuality. In Cat People, the surplus repression of sexuality and xenophobia is clearly displayed through the main “Femme Fatale” character, Irena (played by Simone Simon). In It Follows, the surplus repression of female sexuality is also demonstrated, though in a more blatant way through the protagonist Jay (played by Maika Monroe) and
A sixteen-year-old boy sits on the couch and watches a horror movie. Suddenly, a scene where a man stabs a woman emerges on the television screen. The boy is not distressed by this scene because he is used to witnessing a great deal of violence before. He just learned a new idea and increased his criminal expertise. As a result, horror movies inspire copycat crimes. Copycat crimes are defined as those that are “inspired, motivated or modeled after acts that have occurred before in the media” (“Understanding”). The crimes themselves either mirror the inspiring acts or are simply based upon them. Violence and criminal behavior shown in horror movies affect people psychologically and physically. Watching violence in the media desensitizes people to the world around them and enables them to become more familiar with violence and crime. One may conclude that horror movies do not affect them because they watch horror for fun, however, people are unconsciously affected by watching horror movies. Although most people believe horror movies do not impact them, horror movies inspire people to commit copycat crimes in real life because the violence portrayed in the media psychologically damages people and makes them more aware of violence.
In today’s world, men and women are perceived equally by the society. In the past, authority and control define men while women are given the characteristic of helplessness. Men are able to get hold of high positions while women usually are subservient to them. In movies, we would usually see women portray roles that are degrading due to the stereotypical notions they associate with this gender group. Moulin Rouge, a movie set during the 1900s narrates the story of a courtesan woman, Satine, as she undergoes hardships to earn money, experiences love but unfortunately, due to her irrational choices, faces tragic consequences at the end. Satine is a symbol of how women are being treated by the society during the era before post-feminism,
In contemporary film women's roles in films have varied quiet considerably between genres, geographical placement, and between
Out of the films we have watched so far in this class, Wings is the first movie to have a female main character and director. That being said, this is the appropriate movie to look at using feminist theory. While I don't know enough about Russian society and will have to base my comparisons on what I know. Set soon after World War I, the movie shows us a very masculine female character, Nadezhda. She has short hair, is primly dressed in a military suit, and has a persona like a man in the way she talks, walks, and acts.
All over the world Feminism is a current topic of concern and there are very few advocates who are currently fighting for gender equality. In the media men and women are attempting to use their voices to fight for equal rights and get the message across to all generations. In this paper, I will be analyzing the movie Beauty and the Beast (2017) by drawing upon the feminist theory, which will demonstrate how the main female character, Belle challenges the modern-day system of inequality and the socially constructed gender roles. I will do so by examining why Emma Watson was chosen as the leading actress, how Belle is different than the other women in her town, the modifications from the original movie, and how Belle ultimately gets to decide her destiny. I will also consider why some people may view the film as anti-feminist, which will allow for me to understand a different perspective. It is my thesis that socially constructed gender identities are negatively presented in popular culture, however actors and actresses are attempting to use their influence to make an impact and move towards equality.
Scrolling through Netflix trying to pick a movie, viewers can generally get the idea of the movie based on the title shown. The first thought that popped into my head after reading the title ‘Fargo’, was how far would an individual strive to achieve and/or accomplish a goal or mission and how far would that individual run if caught in a unforeseen circumstance. The 1996 film ‘Fargo’ by the Coen Brothers, explores a handful of themes such as, life, death and evil. The idea of the movie is that the main character Jerry Lundegaard is a car sales man and is not very good at his job. He is shown no respect from his wife and child and his boss, which is also his father-in-law. The film takes place in a small town in Minnesota. This essay will explore the Feminist and Marxist theory, seen through this film ‘Fargo’ and its characters. The Feminist theory and Marxist theory are mainly seen through the characters Marge, the police officer and Jerry the main character, which the entire movie revolves around.
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.
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