Amended Annotated Catalogue.

"The representation of women over time in romantic comedies"

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:

Item 6: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/824060/

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.

Item 7: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_feminism

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.

Item 8: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_film_theory

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.

Item 9: http://www.slideshare.net/amberflykezzie/representation-of-women-in-the-90s

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.

Item 10: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00c26xk#p00cgzx0

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.