Even in today's growing world of feminism, young girls, as well as grown women, are being taught by the media to organize their lives around men. Their needs, expectations, work schedules, ideas, and interests become second to the men in their lives. All too often the media associates power and status to men, only to strengthen the barriers between the male and female genders. Take for example Hollywood, where "women get only about a third of all movie and TV roles, and last year earned less than male actors in all age categories..."(Eby, 1). And even though gender should not be used as the determining factor of what one can and cannot do, Hollywood, as well as everywhere else, has proven that the old habits of gender discrimination die hard, if at all. Luckily, there exist screenwriters and filmmakers who aren't afraid to step outside the limitations of gender, stirring up some controversy. Callie Khouri, creator of "Thelma and Louise" is the exception to this rule. Awarded "Best Original Screenplay", the film challenges our preconceived notions of gender limitations by "giving a feminine twist to a pair of all too familiar Hollywood genres, the road picture and the buddy picture"(NY Times, 1991). The "road and buddy movie" usually calls for men in the lead roles, whereas "Thelma and Louise" called for Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. A film such as this one allowed for two women to get into dangerous trouble, enjoy themselves, and "unmask the other sex"; actions normally reserved for men (NY Times, 1991). According to Ms. Khouri, the script of "Thelma and Louise" was infact, "a conscious effort to counter what [she] sees as Hollywood's tendency to limit women's roles to easily identifiable types such as bimbos, whores, and nagging wives"(NY Times, 1991). She therefore uses the characters in the movie not so much to prove a point, but instead to make a point. At the same time that Ms. Khouri is making her point, the movie becomes somewhat of a catharsis for women. "Thelma and Louise" is supposed to be "about what every woman knows"(Eby,4). Though rape is a major issue that is used in the movie, it is not supposed to be the only issue women relate to. The general comparison between the women on screen and the women in the audience should be the feeling of at one time or another having been threatened, having been treated as inferior, or having foun... ... middle of paper ... ...y she begins to snap under the pressure. In one particular scene, the role reversal becomes most obvious to the audience. Louise finds out that Thelma has left JD alone in her hotel room with the money which Jimmy had brought them. By the time the girls make it back to the room, JD and the money are long gone. Louise comes to the realization that the control she once possessed has now escaped her. Thelma, who watches as her friend crumbles before her eyes, realizes that she needs to break free from her child-like persona and take control of the situation. Thelma takes on a new sense of responsibility and maturity. She gives Louise a chance to finally let her guard down. "This is a movie about the adventures of women, and that's rare. And that really sad that its rare and we can't think of another movie like this"(LA Times, 1991). Thelma and Louise was a movie written and produced to give women an opportunity to finally tell their story in a society where the media is all too often dominated by males. This was an opportunity to move females from the roles of girlfriend and side interest into the leading role. It is no longer about a man's experiences and a man's adventures.
Laura Mulvey claims that the camera is almost always masculine and that all women in these films are objectified and punished if they don’t please the male characters by obeying gender roles. Carol Clover, however, believes that there is more to Mulvey’s claim. Clover argues that the boys of the film also die, insinuating that punishment does not just fall on the women. She also argues that the camerawork and the film itself are about gender fluidity; both boys and girls can identify with any character of the film, be it the killer, a boy, or the final girl. Sexual ambiguity, especially in regards to the first-person camera work, are the focus of the films. To some extent, I believe both women’s claims. However, I believe there is more truth in Clover’s argument due to the fact that retributions are inflicted upon all characters regardless of gender. Yet, it does seem that women in horror films have a special place in terms of their sexuality and roles for the film. The women have ambiguous gender rules as evident by the final girl. Her act of fighting is considered a masculine activity. These masculine activities performed by females seem to be more acceptable in these films than if a male was actively portraying something feminine, such as cowering in fear. This gives validity to the argument that being masculine or
American commercial cinema currently fuels many aspects of society. In the twenty-first century it has become available, active force in the perception of gender relations in the United States. In the earlier part of this century filmmakers, as well as the public, did not necessarily view the female“media image” as an infrastructure of sex inequality. Today, contemporary audiences and critics have become preoccupied with the role the cinema plays in shaping social values, institutions, and attitudes. American cinema has become narrowly focused on images of violent women, female sexuality, the portrayal of the “weaker sex” and subversively portraying women negatively in film. “Double Indemnity can be read in two ways. It is either a misogynist film about a terrifying, destroying woman, or it is a film that liberates the female character from the restrictive and oppressed melodramatic situation that render her helpless” (Kolker 124). There are arguably two extreme portrayals of the character of Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity; neither one is an accurate or fare portrayal.
What is colony collapse disorder or sometimes known otherwise by its abbreviation (CCD)? Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is a term used to describe the mass disappearance of worker honey bees from the hive. The result is a breakdown of the colony and insufficient workers are present to maintain the colony. CCD dates back to October 2006, in which bee farmers started reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their hives. Although colony losses are not unexpected, especially during winter, but this degree of losses was significant. The main symptom of CCD is very small or no adult honey bees present in the hive but with a live queen and no dead honey bee bodies present. It is common for the hive to still have honey present, and even contain immature bees or broods. One of the possible reasons for CCD is the Varroa mites, a virus-transmitting parasite of honey bees. There has been frequently counts of Varroa mites being found in hives hit by CCD. Although CCD is reported in October of 2006, there has been similar cases of CCD. In the scientific literature, there are several re...
Gender and the portrayal of gender roles in a film is an intriguing topic. It is interesting to uncover the way women have been idealized in our films, which mirrors the sentiments of the society of that period in time. Consequently, the thesis of this essay is a feminist approach that seeks to compare and contrast the gender roles of two films. The selected films are A few Good Men and Some Like it Hot.
Louise is said to "not hear the story as many women have heard the same." Rather, she accepts it and goes to her room to be alone. Now the reader starts to see the world through Louise's eyes, a world full of new and pure life.
The main reason I selected this movie was because of its obvious gender biases and its very blatent patriarchal society from which Elle comes from initially and proceeds to go to at Harvard. In this movie the males are good looking, successful, rich, and are attending or previously attended Harvard. With an exception of a few, the males of this movie act as if the women are object to be played with rather then to be taken seriously. The first example of this is when Elle is on a date with her, at the time, current boy friend Warner, they?re at a restaurant and Elle thinks he?s going to propose but instead he breaks up with her because she isn?t ?serious?. Here is where I must mention that Warner falls into the generic gender role of a male, he is tall, good looking, wealthy, not dramatically buff but not scrawny either. When I was watching this scene the main thing that popped into my head was that to Warner Elle was good to look at but wasn?t what he thought of as smart and good enough for ...
movies are about men’s lives, and the few movies about women’s lives, at their core, still
The disappearance of honey bees is baffling scientists everywhere. Although most people see bees as useless annoying insects, they play an important role in the eco-system. Without bees, agricultural business would cease to exist, so it is vital that bees are saved. Currently, about one-third of the honey bees on the United states have disappeared. It seems that within a few days of having a good, healthy colony of bees, most of the adult population disappears. They can't even find any bodies near the hive. Scientists nicknamed this as CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder). Bees have been disappearing all over the globe. Countries such as Portugal, Poland, Central America, and South America have all reported cases of the phenomenon. When bees get sick, they sacrifice themselves and leave the colony to die to lessen possibility of spreading the disease or affliction to the rest of the hive. What is unique about CCD though, is the sheer number of bees leaving the hive.
Linde. “You are just like the others. They all think that I am incapable of anything really serious--”, When Mrs. Linde first judges her, she’s very quick to try to prove to her that she is more capable than she appears. This is when the audience first realizes Nora is more than what meet the eye. Despite her earlier behavior, she is the one that saved her husband 's life and been working off the
Both Nora and Louise's lives have been shaped and molded to conform to their husbands' wishes. At the time these stories took place, it was basically unheard of for women to assert their beliefs or to act upon their ideas. As a result, Louise was forced to succumb to the role of an obedient wife, in order to abide by the norms of society. This is apparent because of the way she reacts when she learns of a false rumor regarding her husband's sudden death. While in deep thought, and staring out the window by herself, she has a sudden realization of complete happiness and total freedom. As she tries hard to repress these fresh, new feelings, she speaks the words, "free, free, free" (23)! These words help the audience to understand the repression she has been forced to withstand for many years. She feels sudden exhilaration as she reflects on what her new life will bring her. She speaks of the treatmen...
They were held to lower standards and believed to be nothing but an object for men. The women were treated very poorly and were treated differently than the men. In many ways the women were shown to be little compared to the men. Since they didn 't have anything important in society the actions that were towards them were as if they 're peasants Woman had no possibility of ever been treated differently since they were ever going to have a better role in society. This movie portrayed how women weren’t held to higher standards but men
If everyone recycled think of how much more space there would be in landfills across the world. There is only so much room on this earth and we are using a huge portion of it for our trash. Clearlake, California alone on a busy day can bring in 80,000 pounds of trash to the local dump. I know this because I work at the local dump in Mckinleyville. I also see a lot of people that throw away their recycling for the simple reason of being too lazy to sort it. I watch bag after of bag of plastic, aluminum, and glass get thrown into the bin which we haul straight to a landfill in Anderson, California. If everyone in Mckinleyville recycled there plastic, aluminum and glass they could save thousands of pounds a day from going to the landfill. I think people are not informed that waste is a big problem in this world. But in fact conservation is an issue, and resources and energy aren't too plentiful. Someday these resources are going to run out. But the more we recycle the longer we can make these resources last.
Women’s roles in movies have changed dramatically throughout the years. In the 1940’s women’s characters were stereotyped as sex objects. In the 1990’s women’s characters are stereotyped to be strong individuals. I am glad that women’s characters are now portrayed as they truly are, and not how men think they should be.
Thelma and Louise turn these ideas upside down throughout the film by both reversing these social constructs and violently rejecting them. For example, when Thelma asks the police officer to get into his trunk, she takes on the, dominate, gun wielding outlaw, and traditional male role. Police officers are usually characterized as the epitome of macho, but in this scene the police officer adopts the traits of a usually feminine character. He cries and begs, using his wife and kids as a way to gain sympathy. Perhaps the scene with the most blatant mockery of female objectification is the truck driver scene. After waving his tongue at them and shouting obscenities throughout the film, the women lure him into a trap. They call him out on his behavior and ask him to apologize, he responds by calling them crazy and yells, “Fuck You!” In response they blow up his truck. Cooper claims, the behavior of the truck driver, both mocks the male gaze and demonstrates its latent sexism. Furthermore, had the truck driver narrative been more subdued, with perhaps a smaller truck, or less obnoxious language, the point may have been lost. Without exaggeration of things like male dominance and sexism, the exaggerated responses of the women do not seem justified (Cooper 44). In other words, critics who call out the film for being overly feminist or too violent are simply missing the
Women have made progress in the film industry in terms of the type of role they play in action films, although they are still portrayed as sex objects. The beginning of “a new type of female character” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 1). 41-47) in the world of action films began in 1976 with Sigourney Weaver, who played the leading role in the blockbuster film ‘Aliens’ as Lt. Ellen Ripley. She was the captain of her own spaceship, plus she was the one who gave out all the orders. Until then, men had always been the ones giving the orders; to see a woman in that type of role was outlandish.