Contemporary American Cinema - Linda Ruth Williams & Michael Hammond

Contemporary American Cinema - Linda Ruth Williams & Michael Hammond Pg. 410 onwards Chapter 21

"Contemporary action and adventure cinema celebrates the physicality and capacity for violence embodied in the (typically lithe) body of an action heroine, while reassuring audiences as to her sexual desirability/availability."

"At a rudimentary level the action heroine is interesting for feminism to the extent that she troubles mainstream cinema's routine configuration of women in terms of tropes such as hysteria, passivity, monstrous maternity or sexualised threat. Thus the fact that female protagonists in action might be accorded even limited amounts of narrative agency represents something of a departure from the norms of Hollywood representation."

"The late 1990s emergence of the action heroine as a figure associated primarily with glamour and sexuality seems to be both backward- and forward-looking, with the high-profile cinematic reworking of 'Charlie's Angels' (2000) an indicative example."

"In a series of high profile US releases, spectacular action sequences that stage celebratory performance of an already-achieved female athleticism and physical power serve as a driving aesthetic element."

Female action stars of the 1980s and early 1990s negotiated a perceptible tension between the kind of body considered suitable for glamorous display and that geared up for action. It is in this context that feminist critics have commented on the androgynous, even masculine appearance of certain iconic female figures in films such as 'Alien' 1979 and 'Blue Steel' 1990"

"'Charlie's Angels presents its sexy female protagonists as girlish women skilled in martial arts. It presents smart, fit (and typically affluent) young women who are either in search of adventure or who happen to live adventurous and glamorous lives. These women are typically free from responsibilities; depicted as forceful figures, their presentation as sexual spectacle is seemingly a choice, one that we are encouraged to read as empowering."

Labor Day Extended Trailer #1 (2013)

Secondary Lead character, portrayed as: weak, vulnerable, falls in love with escaped convict who essentially kidnaps her...

Gravity

Female empowerment

http://www.btchflcks.com/2013/10/gravity-and-its-unique-female-hero.html#.VY_-juu4nBI

Gravity - Official Main Trailer [2K HD]

Lead female character, Final girl conventions, Strong, Independent, not sexualised, intelligent, quiet, reserved, introverted, no love interest.



"The film itself becomes a “metaphor for depression, or for grief: untethered and abandoned in a void so large that it boggles the mind, or simply shuts it down.” Dr. Stone drifts and spins out of control, disconnected, echoing the overwhelming feelings of depression. The trauma of child loss in film and television often catalyzes a mother’s journey towards empowerment. In Gravity we witness Dr. Stone’s transformation from a woman consumed by grief and despair, drifting along on a sea of sadness and attempting suicide, into a survivor who yearns and fights to live. By the end of the film, she’s grounded, no longer disconnected."

The Hunger Games Official Trailer 2012 HD

We see gender role reversal in one of 2012’s big blockbuster hits, The Hunger Games. In this film we are seeing a new type of heroine who defies gender stereotypes in cinema. She is not a victim, she is not passive, she is not cold. She takes action, she is compassionate, and she’s strong. She has taken over her deceased father’s role of providing for her family, and also has become a mother figure to her younger sister, when her own mother couldn’t fulfill the role.

Representations

http://griid.org/2013/02/12/normalizing-male-dominance-gender-representation-in-2012-films/

"Of 67 films, (top films from 2012) 55 of the lead characters were male, and only 12 of the characters were female. That number of females includes the films in which we considered the gender roles to be equal. This is a huge misrepresentation of women in the world, and especially in the media, and only furthers gender stereotypes in the United States."

"Women are constantly being misrepresented in these films, shown for purposes of objectification, support of the male characters, and mostly as love interests that drive the male characters. In the few movies where we see strong lead female characters, we also see them having the support of at least one male who is involved in their situation in some way where the female ends up needing their help. We very rarely see any breaks in stereotypical gender roles. Even in action films where the lead is a female, there is always some sort of emotional baggage tied into the movie that makes her seem more “soft.”

Inequality Background info

https://www.nyfa.edu/film-school-blog/gender-inequality-in-film/

Female Gender Representation

New Research Area:
Female Gender Representation in Contemporary Film.

Possible films:
The Hunger Games - Positive
Gravity - Positive
Labor day - Negative
Charlie's Angels - Negative