BFI - 10 wonderful women of sci-fi
6th November 2014
ARTICLE
Female characters restricted to damsels in distress or 'babes'
Article focuses on specific women, isn't generalisable to my focus films.
Sight and Sound August 2014 - The kill list
Focuses on male action heroes, contrasting my research title.
"go on a crash diet [to] "lean out" before the big scene, allowing the actor/actress to hit three-four percent body fat and therefore appear as no man/woman naturally appears."
23 superhero movies slated for release in the next four years from marvel, warner bros, 20th century fox and sony/columbia, only one has a women as its central focus (wonder woman)
Tuesday 15 September 2015
Wednesday 9 September 2015
Sunday 16 August 2015
Gravity (2013)
Dr. Ryan Stone is the lead protagonist and one out of seven named characters, one of two female characters, and the only character to survive. She is a medical doctor with very limited (six months) astronaut training, and very clearly out of her element, struggling to survive in a very hostile situation. Gravity portrays a woman that has so excelled in her field of expertise, Biomedical engineer, that she has bypassed years of training and is sent up as a lead on her own project - her very first mission to space. She's quiet and reserved, analysing the situation, attempting to solve the problem (Houston receiving no data). in the first scene, when debris attacks the explorer and she is sent hurtling away Stone is anxious, panicking and alone, drifting through space. Kowalski finds her and brings her back to the ship, setting out the initial plan, stays calm throughout the situation, but this by no means sets Stone as the stereotypical inadequate, crying woman, as he was known to be the experienced, better equipped leader on his last hurrah. Whats more impressive, someone who happens to be better equipped for a situation, or someone who's clearly unequipped and yet ultimately succeeds out of sheer will, determination and intelligence?
Despite not knowing what to do in her situation, Stone still keeps her wits about her. She hallucinates Kowalski, simply because her was her mentor figure, not because he was a man, and shows that she did have the knowledge to save herself, but because she's been so battered by the experience she doesn't trust herself to figure it out. Despite looking to the more experienced man to help her, she's discovers she's actually capable of rescuing herself.
This is not a heroine who magically transforms from scared girl to fearless warrior in one smooth transition. Dr. Stone has weaknesses, moments of self-doubt and frustration, outbursts of rage and defeat. But this is what makes her human, and her success all the more triumphant.
Dr. Ryan Stone is the lead protagonist and one out of seven named characters, one of two female characters, and the only character to survive. She is a medical doctor with very limited (six months) astronaut training, and very clearly out of her element, struggling to survive in a very hostile situation. Gravity portrays a woman that has so excelled in her field of expertise, Biomedical engineer, that she has bypassed years of training and is sent up as a lead on her own project - her very first mission to space. She's quiet and reserved, analysing the situation, attempting to solve the problem (Houston receiving no data). in the first scene, when debris attacks the explorer and she is sent hurtling away Stone is anxious, panicking and alone, drifting through space. Kowalski finds her and brings her back to the ship, setting out the initial plan, stays calm throughout the situation, but this by no means sets Stone as the stereotypical inadequate, crying woman, as he was known to be the experienced, better equipped leader on his last hurrah. Whats more impressive, someone who happens to be better equipped for a situation, or someone who's clearly unequipped and yet ultimately succeeds out of sheer will, determination and intelligence?
Despite not knowing what to do in her situation, Stone still keeps her wits about her. She hallucinates Kowalski, simply because her was her mentor figure, not because he was a man, and shows that she did have the knowledge to save herself, but because she's been so battered by the experience she doesn't trust herself to figure it out. Despite looking to the more experienced man to help her, she's discovers she's actually capable of rescuing herself.
This is not a heroine who magically transforms from scared girl to fearless warrior in one smooth transition. Dr. Stone has weaknesses, moments of self-doubt and frustration, outbursts of rage and defeat. But this is what makes her human, and her success all the more triumphant.
http://www.annekesmelik.nl/TheCinemaBook.pdf
"The narrative structure of traditional cinema establishes the male character as active and powerful: he is the agent around whom the dramatic action unfolds and the look gets organised. the female character is passive and powerless; she is the object of desire for the male characters."
"Within the narrative of the film the male character directs his gaze upon the female characters. the spectator is made to identify with the male gaze because the camera films from the optical POV of the male character. this creates three levels of the 'cinematic gaze' (camera, character and spectator) that objectifies the female character" (Mulvey)
"Within the narrative of the film the male character directs his gaze upon the female characters. the spectator is made to identify with the male gaze because the camera films from the optical POV of the male character. this creates three levels of the 'cinematic gaze' (camera, character and spectator) that objectifies the female character" (Mulvey)
Thursday 30 July 2015
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
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
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