Action Babe- Marc O'day

the action sequences of Charlie's Angels were tempered by the reputation of the film as an audience-pleasing spectacle of fashionable female flesh.

Annie's physical skills were limited to bus driving, while her clothing revealed more flesh as the film wore on.

Gravity's Ryan Stone also ends up removing her space suit to reveal plain boy shorts and a tank top, a scene meant to evoke thoughts of rebirth, rather than promiscuity or sex.

beautiful, sexy and tough heroines who command their narratives, invariably driving vehicles, shooting guns, wielding weapons or fighting in hand-to-hand combat better than their (frequently male) adversaries.

Action Babe Movies - Emphasis is on beautiful feminine bodies combined with active masculine strength

Action Babe designed to appeal to both men and women (have me/be me)

the physical beauty and alluring sexuality of the female stars and the character they play embody traditional, patriarchally defined qualities of femininity. however, in their function as central protagonists in the action narrative, these heroines are undoubtedly coded as masculine, active, and physically strong and can clearly be seen to constitute the position traditionally occupied by the male.

Charlie's Angels, despite being the main protagonists, still are second to a man AKA Charlie himself, following his orders.

the Angels are calefornian sunshine babes for whom the pop glam aesthetic of dressing up to complete each adventure is a fabulously taken for granted norm and the notion of performing femininities to charm and seduce their (mainly male) opponents is an unqualified given

Clover's Final Girl linked to Action Films

The final girl is boyish. she is not fully feminine, her smartness, gravity, competence in mechanical and practical matters, and sexual reluctance set her apart from other females and ally her with the males.
the tomboy heroines of action films share with Clover's Final Girl a peculiar gender status, and an ambivalent relationship to sexuality. there is a sense of a transitional state - as if the 'masculine' clothing forms a disguise behind which the 'real' figure of the woman is glimpsed. the tomboy's masculine clothing emphasises her girlish sexual attractiveness.

Speed notes -Yvonne Tasker

Female action heroes defined by a quality of 'musculinity', an enactment of a muscular masculinity involving a display of power and strength

Dyer notes that while Annie 'does get the thrills of extreme physical danger and the exultation of mastery of a machine', the film nonetheless 'conforms to the pattern of contemporary action films by constituting her as the helper.'

she is one of a range of supporting players, typically played by white women, 'but never quite as equals, never with quite the same access to the speed of worldly sensation

sole female protagonists remain quite rare, central male/female partnerships are increasingly common in action films.

it is almost inevitable that the male/female buddy pair will end up in an embrace, there is a romantic/flirtatious aspect to the partnership that evolves (defined as professional male and amateur female)

Speed- spends little time on emotion - focusing instead on the action, the film is too frenetic to engage explicitly in much of a romantic pairing.

Annie is driving the bus, and some of the action in speed, and when jack has a tantrum she holds his hand and calms him down.

Annie's outfit functions as a sort of 'femme-tomboy' guise, with the combination of butch femme elements found in high street fashion (chunky boots and lacy socks, vests combined with floral prints). Annie is already dressed for action. her collegiate sweatshirt suggests a cheerleader type: the sort of perfect teeth and sweet style role. she displays qualities of capability, first in demanding to know what is going on, later in her calmness in contrast to the panic-stricken passengers. however, Annie is scatty: she is late for the bus, running to catch up whilst smoking and balancing a coffee. Ultimately, Annie shifts from the driving seat heroine to damsel in distress awaiting rescue, thus allowing her to move directly into the 'romantic interest' role.

Working Girls - Yvonne Tasker

Speed - the figure of Annie - as victim/bargaining chip/feisty heroine (dubbed Wildcat) and tomboyish cheerleader - is symptomatic, an indicative composite of agency and passivity

the majority of big budget action films continue to focus primarily on male protagonists and to position women in supportive, often romantic roles.

the increased inclusion of women in action roles has both contributed to and been part of the ways in which the genre has evolved in recent years

action and crime movies have made use of stereotypes and images including the 'butch' type, the tomboy and the 'feisty heroine', alongside the congenitally glamorous and/or sexual action women

the tomboy typically sheds her masculine clothing towards the end of the film, reestablishing her role as a female
this sense of cross dressing within and across genders reinforces the ambiguous gender identity of the female action hero, or rather points to the instability of a gendered system. the ubiquitous check shirts, vests and jeans of the action movie are class based signifiers of masculinity, used to signal the populist transformation of characters

female action hero, distanced from traditional femininity, offers a fantasy image of  (proletarian) physical strength showcased within narratives that repeatedly seek to explain her ( or rather, explain her away). female action heroes are constructed in narrative terms as macho/masculine, mothers or Others: sometimes all three at different points within the narrative.
Maternal recurs as motivation, with female action heroes seeking to protect their children
or
she may be represented as identifying with a father figure, searching for that authority and/or reconciliation with said authority. her heroism is explained and legitimated in relation to a lost or loved father figure. the stereotype of the tomboy is that she must grow up and accept her limitations and responsibilities as a woman.
thirdly, she is portrayed in an exaggerated fantasy figure, the perfect mixture of physical and sexual prowess, able to be independent and need a man to save her within the same narrative I.E Speed.

Research Title

Women in todays Hollywood

SSRP Proposal

A first draft of my possible research question is: Female gender representation in contemporary cinema. This may be refined and developed after receiving any feedback and constructive criticisms. My possible focus films for this title will include ‘The Hunger Games’ (2012) ‘Gravity’ (2013) ‘Labor Day’ (2013) and ‘Charlie’s Angels’ (2000). These films all hold a lot of valuable discussion points for my research area. Here is a brief look at these significant points: Gravity portrays a more modern female, with archetypal qualities of a Final Girl, including an androgynous name and ssappearance, Dr. Ryan Stone, as well as being the last character to stay alive by the end of the film, surviving against the odds, as well as being smart and not overly sexualized. This is opposed to Labor day, however, which represents Adele as a more traditional female, as she is portrayed to be submissive, hesitant, weak, and domesticated. Charlie’s Angels, on the other hand, depicts three physically and mentally strong and intelligent women, but also focuses more on the glamorous and sexual aspect of the three leading ladies, which is yet another aspect to film and cinema’s portrayal of females that I can explore in my project. This links to The Hunger Games, as Katniss is portrayed both as physically fit and physically attractive, with strong will and the ability to charm those around her. All these films show a wide range of many different female portrayals shown within contemporary cinema, which can then be compared and assessed against one another, which shows a wide range of modern day representations that can be discussed.

There is a lot of secondary research and data that I can gather, extrapolate and use within my project, both on the internet and in books found in the library, which will be useful to me. For example, I can use Carol Clover’s Final girl theory, look at the Feminist Film Theory, and also use research work by Linda Ruth Williams; including extracts from her  ‘Calling the shots: women and contemporary film, 2000-2015.’ There are also other areas of research that I can use consisting of: Women’s Cinema by Alison Butler, Contemporary Hollywood Cinema by Steve Neale and Murray Smith, and Action and Adventure Cinema by Yvonne Tasker. A particularly useful book is Working Girls, Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema by Yvonne Tasker, as it has a whole section on action women, which is beneficial.

My area of research will be within the Genre section, as I am considering to research into the representation of femininity in contemporary cinema. I may then decide to refine this to femininity within contemporary action films, and therefore remove ‘Labor day’ from my set of focus films, and replace it with another action film. I could then use films such as Speed (1994) or Fantastic Four (2005) or something else entirely. I have chosen to research into the representation of women in contemporary film for various reasons. For example, I enjoy watching modern and contemporary films, take a feminist view of society, and take sociology as a subject, so I can draw upon these attributes to help with my presentation, and complete primary research. Furthermore, action films are also one of my top favorite film genres as well, which will help with my project, as this means I will be more interested in the focus films chosen. Originally I was going to take a look at the representation of women within independent films, however, I felt there was a limited amount of studies and secondary research for me to be able to use in my project, and so I then therefore refined my choice to looking at contemporary films, where there is an abundance of useful studies that I can use which will benefit my presentation.

During this project I hope to gain a wider understanding of the relationship between women and cinema, and the changes in film representations of woman over the years to how they are portrayed in contemporary film, and to then be able to express this information and research in a clear and concise presentation that is both informative and entertaining.