Task 13...

Detailed essay plan

Are women in films represented as sex objects to entertain and pleasure men, with particular reference to charlies angels-full throttle (2003)

NOTES:

Main text: Charlie’s Angels-full throttle
Ø Angels in active roles-challenges patriarchy
Ø Action film- Male dominated genre=reversed
Ø Active however being objectified- e.g. treasure chest scene
Ø Post-feminismCharlie is a male- angels being controlled= reinforces patriarchy

Theorist:
1. Laura Mulvey- active/male and passive/female is challenged
2. Reinforces the male gaze=objectification
3. Todorov- has a non-linear narrative= has flashbacks
4. Has a resolution- angels (women) winning over villain (man and women)
5. Levi Strauss- Binary opposition between good vs. evil, women vs. man and hero(s) vs. villain(s)
6. Roland Barthes-enigma used to keep audience entertained

Other texts:
Kill Bill- Female protagonist, active role, sword seen as phallic object, gives her power and authority

Coyote ugly- objectification of women in a bar, dancing on platform, liquid poured over women, male spectator gains male gaze.

Catwomen- Female protagonist in active role rather than passive, wearing leather cat suit, tight reinforcing the male gaze, uses a whip at times seen as phallic object.

In conclusion most women in active roles are still being objectified in contemporary film; this concludes that society is still patriarchal.

Historical texts:
Alien- First film to feature a female protagonist in an active role, intended for a male, during the time of second wave feminism, little objectification.

Basic instinct­- women seduces the cop to gain what she wants, has power using her body, challenges patriarchy, shown naked as scenes and men given chance to seek pleasure from this- male gaze.

Coffy- female cop in active role, has power, has authority, objectified due to the clothes she wears, revealing and reinforcing Mulvey’s theory.

Fatal attraction- Has a femme fatale in the film, tries to ruin the life of others, she is manipulative, gets obsessed, and receives the punishment she deserves, a resolution for audience, the usual ending of a femme fatale.

My independent study focuses on the representation of women in films so I decided to choose Charlie’s Angels are my main text. The reasons for this is because in this film, they are sexually objectified, however are shown in an active role challenging a patriarchy. Stereotypes are used in the films to help the audience identify with the characters. These representations are sometimes not accurate but a repeatedly used against women. (R, Id)

Other texts I will be using as key examples in answering my question are Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill and coyote ugly. The historical texts I will be using are Alien, Basic instinct and Fatal attraction. I will make points on other texts such as Vertigo as this film has a femme fatale, and coffy, an action film with a female in an active role, and supergirl, an action film with a female protagonist. (G, His, R)

Firstly I will mention general things about women in society using key words. I will include my hypothesis for my independent study and the representation of women in films and the stereotypes on them and the representation of men and the stereotypes of them. This will give me the chance to compare and help me further. (R)

I will introduce my main text, how it reinforces the ‘male gaze’ and the representation of women and its genre e.g. action is the genre and this is a male dominated genre. I will then go on to talk about how this is changing in films. Then I will talk about the features of this genre relating to women, in this case action. I will talk about the historical text Alien (1974) and how this was the first film to have a female protagonist. Using this film as an example I will they link it with the stereotypes of women in the 70’s and feminism, what this created? (R, G, His)

I will further my research on feminism and how this started, what women wanted and how this as improved contemporary society. I will mention the World War II, and how this gave women the chance to do jobs men were doing. During that time women were controlled by men, lacking freedom. Then I will link the top paragraph with this paragraph by having Alien as a historical example and comparing it with my main and contemporary text, Charlie’s angels-full throttle. (His, Soc, Pol)

I will have both sides of the arguments for my chosen question I intent to answer. The first being that women are shown in ways that encourage the male gaze and results in them being objectified even if they are in an active role. The other side of the argument is that women are being objectified but it can be seen as post-feminism, where women allow themselves to be viewed by the spectators. (Mulvey, R, A, Id)

Why? How?

• Women may get objectified in films due to lack of female directors. This results in us as an audience seeing scenes from the perspective of the director, a male in return, the female is represented as an object for desire, to be looked-at-ness as Mulvey states. (R, A, Mulvey)
• This attention by the males upon the females could be seen as empowerment for the female, from a post-feminist point of view. The female controls the male as he gazes upon female’s body, thus giving female the pleasure as well as power over the man. She may be objectified, but from the view of the male. ( A, R)
• Reinforcing the ‘male gaze’ allows the women to distract, manipulate men, a role taken on by femme fatales in films. Femme fatales give a bad judgement on women as a result the home sound like a better place for them. They can use their bodies and looks to distract men in order of gaining something in return. An example is in Charlie’s Angels-full throttle, the scene in the treasure chest, the angels distract the men by giving the men what they want as a result this reinforces the male gaze. This example could be seen that women use their bodies as weapons such as for distraction in the example above. (R, Id, example)
• The clothes worn also encourage the reinforcement of the ‘male gaze’. The fetish and phallic objects used in films, especially in action films reflect Laura Mulvey’s theory. (M, Mulvey, G)

In order of objectifying women, the camera positioning and mise-en-scene is very well used. Slow motion is used in Charlie’s Angels-full throttle, I will mention how this was useful in gaining the gaze and other connotations within the mise-en-scene, e.g. Diaz is wearing white and Moore is wearing black. This can be followed by Todorov’s narrative theory as the angels promoted by the white (Diaz) win over evil in white (Moore) as a result a resolution is achieved. The audience are then given the chance to identify with the film as justice is given. (M, Mulvey, Strauss, Todorov, G)

I will follow this by mentioning the connotations of these colours and how the audience can identify with them. By doing this, I could mention Levi Strauss theory on binary opposition between good vs. evil. Sow motion is also used to create enigma as a result to keep audience entertained (M, Strauss, Barthes)

Kill Bill and Tomb raider etc… promote power for women (female power). This as a result promotes equality between men and women and challenges patriarchal society. These films are under the genre of action. This genre is associated with men, an active role and this being reversed in these films. (Pol, Soc, Id, G, R)

The action films where women are in active roles rather than the stereotypical passive roles have all been successful making a lot of money. The use of special features makes it an expensive film, a high budget Hollywood film, the successful institution called Columbia pictures, owned by Sony pictures entertainment. The film offers the audience to watch something different and women are finally getting noticed in society from contemporary films. (Econ, G, R, Soc, I)

Flashbacks are used in the film as a result has a non-linear narrative. The flashbacks help identify with the characters, as the audience are given the chance to bee the past about what the angels are like. They either challenge stereotypes on women such as Barrymore associated with cars, something men are associated with. (N, R, A)

Is there a ‘female gaze’?

The films Coyote ugly and basic instinct are different genres to the other films however theses films also create objectification of women. They are sexually objectified. However in basic instinct, there is a ‘female gaze’ as well as Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’. This is then developed in the latest casino royale; bond is coming out of the water, a scene previously shown by Halle berry. (R, G, Mulvey)

Is ‘male gaze’ bias?

The paragraph could then be extended by elaborating that the society could be seen as differently in terms of objectification. Females get objectified however we are still seeing men getting objectified as well as women, however more women than men. This female gaze did not exist before as a result… (R, Mulvey, Soc, His)

Conclusion...

I will answer my hypothesis from my introduction as well as answer the question using my text as my main exmaple. I willl back this up by giving examples and including theorists that are relvent.