Films:
Item
1: Primary source: Alfie
(US, 1966, Dir. Lewis Gilbert.)
This
film is very useful in terms of representation of women because it
shows how women were treated and represented at the time, and
centuries before. It represents a time when men were superior
and women were only there for the benefit of the man. It shows the
emergence of the sexual revolution, which also represents the
beginning of change for the representation of women when they became
more liberated.
Item
2: Primary source: Bridget
Jones Diary (UK, 2001,
Dir. Sharon Maguire.)
I
feel that this film is very useful in terms of representation of
women because it's very stereotypical in regard to the fact it
focuses on a woman's struggle to find love, and her need to seek
approval of a man, Bridget is
seen to be very much reliant on male attention, which has of course
changed over recent years thus providing a challenging representation
to how women are portrayed on contemporary films.
Item
3: Primary source: The
Ugly Truth (UK, 2009,
Dir. Robert Luketic.)
This
film is great in terms of showing how far the representation of women
has progressed over time. In contemporary films women are individual,
opinionated and liberated but they can also still be quite reliant on
men which can be seen in The Ugly
Truth as the main protagonist,
played by Katherine Heigl asks the advice of a man on her love life-
which shows that although women are now liberated and individual,
they still seek the advice and approval of men. One could argue that
the representation of women in romantic comedies has progressed but
is still very much limited due to our patriarchal society.
Articles:
Item
4: (The
1960's: A decade of change for women.)
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2010/03/12/the-1960s-a-decade-of-change-for-women
This
article is good in terms of showing the changes that happened in
society during the 1960's.This decade was crucial in terms of the
shift of morals that occurred during this period which lead to an
introduction into the liberation of women - new found rights - which
began to come across in films made in this era - for example, the
focus film Alfie.
Item
5: (Study:
Media representations of women have become more "pornified")
http://www.nerve.com/news/love-sex/study-media-representations-of-women-have-become-more-pornified
This
article shows how women are more commonly objectified within the
media in contemporary society - this representation is quite
stereotypical of modern films. This portrayal is interesting when
contrasting is against the representation of women in previous
decades. Women have gone from being conservative, dependent and
passive to liberated, individual and actively objectified.
Websites:
Screenonline
is a great source in terms of showing the progressive representation
of women. It outlines how women were represented decade by decade and
shows the gradual progression of female individualism. By the 1960's,
when Alfie was
produced 'female characters were seen to break moral codes and defy
expectations of how they should behave - as represented by Alfie's
many 'girlfriends' who were having an affair.
The
history of feminism is a key factor in the development of the
representation of women over time, the different movements and how
women were portrayed at certain points in society are reflected well
in the focus films, particularly in regard to female liberation.
With
specific reference to 'realism and counter cinema' It's relevant to
my investigation and has proven to be a useful source because it
highlights how feminist movements contributed to a fairer
representation of women within the media which can be seen in the
films I am studying.
Powerpoint
presentation.
This
presentation outlines the representation of women in the media during
the 90's - This decade showed the emergence of female individualism -
Women were no longer as dependent on men, they were able to go for
higher paying jobs and women became more confident within society-
living to please themselves. This has specific relevance to all 3 of
my film choices as it provides a contrast to the portrayal of women
which was evident in Alfie
and reinforces the contemporary morals and beliefs in today's society
which is reflected in Bridget
Jones Diary & The Ugly Truth which
shows that the representation of women has been progressive to an
extent.
Radio.
An
interview with Kate Winslet talking about romantic comedies - 'The
Holiday' - she says ''they are quite conventional, romantic comedies,
aren't they? There is the expectation of the sort of lives and the
way people end up is quite conventional.'' - This shows that the
representations of people in romantic comedies are often
stereotypical and the viewer can often predict what is going to
happen to each of the characters. The aim of this source was to gain
an insight into the view of an actress who stars as part of my focus
genre.
Video.
Item
11: Special feature on The
Ugly Truth DVD – (The
Truth Is Ugly: Capturing the Male & Female Point of View.)
The
special features on the DVD help give an insight into the
construction of the characters and the gender differences, which
define their morals. It was useful to show the distinction between
how men and women think and what they are looking for in terms of a
'perfect checklist.' It states that romantic comedies are
stereotypical; they always begin with a man and a woman who are in
conflict and end in their love story. Romantic comedies are often
clichéd and their outcomes are often predictable.
Books.
Item
12: E. Ann Kaplan - Women &
film - both sides of the camera.
This
book has proven to be very helpful in terms of the breakdown of the
representation of women over time and how various feminist events
have affected the way in which women are represented in films. Ann
Kaplan also has a theory that the representation of women is reliant
on two different concepts: essentialism and anti-essentialism, which
is the battle between whether women are represented as their own
individuals or if their representation is constructed to please the
male eye.
Theories:
Item
13:
Laura Mulvey feminist
theory.
This
theory is a reliable source to include in my investigation because it
can be indentified in two of my three focus films; Alfie
& The Ugly Truth – the
theory suggests that women are actively objectified and men are
dominant. It is interesting that it can be identified in a matured
text (Alfie)
and also in the most contemporary text, The
Ugly Truth – It
raises the question as to whether the representation of women has
really been progressive or if they're still very much reliant on
men?!
Documentary:
Item
14:
American Cinema – The Romantic comedy.
“The
women give as good as they get, they're active, authoritative, wild
and uninhibited – the women in these films are very strong, and
they have a way of taking control of the situation of using men for
their own uses'' This source is interesting as it provides a
challenging view to the stereotypical explaination of the
representation of women, it suggests that women are actually pivitol
in these films and are empowered; an association which is generally
uncommon.
Discarded
sources:
Item
1: http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/hollywood/10216.shtml
Doris
Day interview - I though that this source would provide historical
context but it didn't contain much useful information; it covered
information about her musical career and the death of her husband. As
it lacked information that was relevant to my investigation, I
decided that the source wasn't applicable.
Item
2: Film: Four weddings and a
funeral – The character types
evident in this film weren't complex enough to provide a good
comparison, I found the characters to be too black and white in terms
of behaviour and morals which would not have been useful in terms of
distinguishing a juxtaposition between men and women. The film I
chose to replace Four Weddings
and a Funeral
was Bridget Jones' Diary
as I think there is a clear distinction between the desires and needs
of men and women which is reflected in the portrayal of the
characters; specifically Bridget who often makes a fool of herself in
order to attract the attention of her 'perfect man'.
Item
3: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/jmurray_01.shtml
(20th
Century Britain: The Woman's Hour)
This
source covered a lot of the feminist acts which lead to the
liberation of women in comtemporary society,
it
had a lot of interesting information, for example, the fight for the
right to vote, women during the war, the 1944 education act and the
influence of feminism; although, not all of the information was
directly relevant to the investigation (e.g. the personal account of
events), in addition, the information that was relevant had already
been referenced in other sources.
