Cinemattic

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#11

Reflection:

Upon figuring out that we were doing a research project, I immediately wanted to do something pertaining to film. My freshman year at UIC I was exposed to feminist film theory in a film class, as well as while doing a research paper on the 007 franchise. I’ve always had a keen interest in film, and burgeoning interest in gender studies while at UIC. This project was the convergence of those two interests.

From freshman year to now, I definitely view film in a different way. I would’t say that this project changed my view of film per se, however it definitely articulated the various concerns and issues I was previously aware of. I felt that the research I conducted was worthwhile, and relevant to the continued problems of film and the film industry. 

With what I have learned in mind, I hope to cultivate a continuing critical eye when it comes to film. Some of what is conveyed is implicit, and causes you to feel without even looking. This makes it all the more important to put what is seen under scrutiny. 

I hope to engage with others about film help expose the issues that are present in modern film. I think we’re still a long way from solving this problem, but that progress has definitely been made in the way women are portrayed in film. Film is a reflection of life, and in order to change that, we must change the everyday world we live in. 

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#10

Further Resources:

“Gender and Film”

 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1992.tb00818.x/abstract

This essay reviews four recent publications about gender and film focusing on specific genres and times. 

“Film Islami: Gender, Piety and Pop Culture in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia”

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10357823.2012.685925#.VwxDw7RZZ8U

I feel like most sources pertain to American film viewing, so this one is interesting because it takes a different perspective. 

“The Role of Gender and Sensation Seeking in Film Choice Exploring Mood and Arousal”

http://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/abs/10.1027/1864-1105.20.3.97

This publication is about the mood experienced by films and helps uncover the motivations behind choosing certain films. 

Double Jeopardy in Hollywood: Age and Gender in the Careers of Film Actors, 1926–1999

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11206-004-0698-1 

This article is useful for historical research, as it assesses age and gender in from 1926-1999. 

Gender, Sexuality, and Toughness: The Bad Girls of Action Film and Comic Books

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781403981240_3

This article explores the agency of women in film and comic books, as opposed to the lack thereof. 

White Privilege and Looking Relations: Race and Gender in Feminist Film Theory

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1354334?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

This article is useful in understanding film from an intersectional standpoint

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#9

Proposed Solution:

The problem of film is ultimately a result of real world issues, which then are manifested in film and it becomes cynical. 

Starting early, I propose that elementary schools should attempt to add gender classes to their curriculum. If not elementary school, then middle school. It is important to educate future generations of the social construction of gender, which could be achieved with basic level sociology classes.

Cultivating an interest in film at a young age is important, and could also be done within the range of elementary to high school. As film is the problem in question, it is important to become cultured with this medium.

In college, film analysis classes should fulfill a general education requirement. Not only is this an interesting topic, but it is also informative, and would fit well with other college classes. 

This is obviously not a be all end all type of solution. Educating about gender and film at an earlier age would create an interest in both, and cause people to view films more analytically. 

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#8

This infographic is a succinct addition to my studies on women in film. The first problem is that men outnumber women in film. The women who are in film are portrayed in a damaging manner generally. The statistic above says that teenage female nudity had increased from 2007-2012. 

This infographic represents the positive side of the discussion of women in film. As of recently, women have been portrayed as people with more independence and agency. Prior research has identified superhero films in particular portray women as strong characters. This is a significant departure from previous depictions of women. However, this is merely one side of the discussion. 

Our ideas of women in the real world are problematic. And, as films serve as a reflection of life, women in film continue to be portrayed in a negative way. The three genres of horror, pornography, and melodrama (from a previous article) continue to dominate the film industry.

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#7

Intersectionality issues in Film 

Film is a medium that effects everyone, but perhaps not one that effects everyone equally. Although many people view  films, there is still a large amount of people that do not regularly see films, as a result of time constraints or economic issues. In this way, the medium of film represents an intersectional problem, as various forces conglomerate to prevent someone from being able to view film.

For those who do view film regularly, the messages portrayed represent an intersectional issue. In the articles I have read so far, few have directly addressed women of different races or class. They generally assume that it’s white women who are most affected by these damaging portrayals in film. The research on film, as well as film itself greatly neglects the presence of other races or class and focuses primarily not the dominant ones.

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#6

Institutional Effects of Film

The institutional effects of film are somewhat difficult to pin down, as hypothetically, almost every institution could be affected by film given the amount of people who view film. One example would be high schools. Schools often use film for educational purposes, but lack discernment when choosing the films. Often, the films are chosen simply for their narrative or themes, without regard to their implications about gender. 

The institution of the family(although a stretch in terms of the definition of an institution) is greatly affected by film. Filmgoing is a widespread hobby, especially for families. Film can have positive effects but generally reifies the normalization of stereotypes towards women. This can have damaging effects on the family and family values, based on the kinds of films that are being seen.

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#5

“Behind The Curtain: Women’s representation in contemporary Hollywood” 

Reema Dutt submitted this empirical study of films as her dissertation at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was a student of the department of Media and Communications. Reema viewed a number of films from 2010-2012 in order to study the way in which women are portrayed in film. 

Obviously a supported of women’s movements, Reema makes note of the advances throughout the years that women have made in terms of politics and policy. However, some spaces are still occupied primarily by men. In this case, the film industry. She feels that films are of particular importance, and cites a quote about their effect : “They show us what we are, what we were, and what we could, should, or (do not) want to be. When at their best, movies give birth to new visions of female strength and freedom. At their worst, movies ridicule, denigrate, deny what real women have long achieved, and replaced it with specters from the past.” (Kord, 2005)

She notes that The Avengers (a film mentioned in a previous study) displays a woman of agency, which is a contrast to other films. Outside of this, women have generally remained the same in films.

Films have a significant effect on the way we perceive the world. Although the effect can be positive, it remains to be negative, as the portrayal of women hasn’t changed in recent years. Reema’s experience viewing films is compelling, and causes me to view all films with more scrutiny. Her experience seemed overall negative, but the benefit of it is that it allows for the raising of awareness in terms of this issue.

http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/mediaWorkingPapers/MScDissertationSeries/2013/msc/112-Dutt.pdf

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#4

Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess

This article begins by a short examination of the nature of the word “gross.” The author and her son have varying ideas of what constitutes gross. Her son, a seven year old, finds kissing gross. The author however finds that “gross” has often been used to describe an excess of something in a film. She identifies three particular sensations that films often employ: sex, violence, and emotion. These sensations manifest themselves in the “body” genres of pornography, horror, and melodrama. 

These three genres represent the effect they cause, as well as those who the effect is aimed at. Pornography is typically aimed at heterosexual men, from which they derive pleasure at the expense of the female body. Horror films are aimed at teenagers who seek entertainment, and from which they feel fear that lands somewhere between the excessive violence sometimes seen in pornography, as well as the emotion of melodramas. Melodramas are aimed towards married women, from which they derive emotion.

 In all three genres, the female body is is the subject from where these feelings are derived. A film is most successful if it causes its desired effect. Blood, sexual fluids, and tears are the bodily effects that are seen on film that reflect the desired effect. With each of these examples, the female body is the victim. In this way the female body becomes objectified by the consistency of the three genres.

The author’s structuring of the discussion on film and using the three body genres was an excellent choice in my opinion. I feel that the three she listed where the most popular types of film, and that putting them under scrutiny proved to unveil significant insights. 

The author quotes Robin Morgan’s slogan of “pornography is the theory, and rape is the practice.” I have never heard this before, and it was thought provoking. I don’t think pornography’s effect is definite. In general, I feel that pornography is not good for society. However, I think it is still possible that it could have some cathartic effect for those seeking gratification that are not receiving it. 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1212758?seq=5#page_scan_tab_contents

Williams, Linda. “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, and Excess”. Film Quarterly 44.4 (1991): 2–13. Web...

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#3

“Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”

Feminist theorist Laura Mulvey wrote this groundbreaking piece about women and cinema. Mulvey identifies the term scopophilia, a Freudian concept. This term means the love of looking. This love of looking is a defining aspect of cinema. In terms of film, this represents the relationship we have to it, as something we derive pleasure from while looking at.

The issue with this is the portrayal of women in cinema. The camera is the “eye” of cinema, and this eye is a male’s. This is evidenced by the manner in which women are viewed. The perspective always seems to be from the men within the film. Women are constantly focused upon and are a fixed point of attention and interest, although not in a positive way. They become a symbol of male desire.

Film serves as a reflection in which one(particularly male) sees himself, and begins to identify with it in a narcissistic manner. This relates to Freud’s idea of the ego.  Once the viewer identifies as someone within the film, they begin to derive pleasure from it. This is a problem because pleasure is derived at the expense of women who become objects within film. 

This article was dense but interesting. Some of the freudian concepts may be difficult for some to understand, thus making the article difficult to reach people. The freudian ideas I would generally agree with, as “out there” as they may seem. The article does an interesting job of peeling away at the layers of understanding the issue of objectification of women by film. Mulvey makes it seem as though men can’t be objectified, which I disagree with. I feel that anyone can be objectified, that being said, men generally are not. 

-How can the cinematice “eye” be changed? is that also a result of male directing? Do these concepts remain the same if a female was directing?

http://www.asu.edu/courses/fms504/total-readings/mulvey-visualpleasure.pdf

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#2

“Normalizing Male Dominance : Gender Representation in 2012 Films”

Chloe Beighley and Jeff Smith conducted a study of gender roles in 2012 films, and posted their findings in a space on Wordpress. The article is prefaced by a simple statistic of the films in question: of the 67 top films of the year, men were the main characters in 55 of them, and women only 12. This is an excellent start to the discussion of misrepresentation of women and gender by film. 

Delving further than simply numbers, the gender roles of men and women are analyzed. Typically, women are subordinate to men and are in need of them for saving, as they lack the agency to do it themselves. In particular, Superhero films usually perpetuate these gender roles, the male as the hero and the woman the damsel in distress. Animated films are also guilty of this. 

Films also produce a damaging image of males, portraying them as perpetual adolescents, and that in order to be “masculine” one must be overly sexual and dominate women. There are some exceptions to these issues, with films having a strong leading female, but the general consensus is that women are underrepresented and portrayed in a damaging way. 

Overall, I would agree with this article. Women are definitely underrepresented, and commonly portrayed as sexual objects in need of saving. There isn’t anything in particular that I outright disagree with, but I did notice some spelling errors and the writing could certainly use some work. 

-What might be the cause of this misrepresentation? Is it the directors and a lack of female ones perhaps?

 -In what ways could this be changed? Is it as simple as including more females in film? 

http://griid.org/2013/02/12/normalizing-male-dominance-gender-representation-in-2012-films/

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#1

The male eye of cinema is a significant problem, as film is a significant aspect of our culture. Cinema is dominated by a male gaze, which in turn makes women who appear in film as objects of male desire. This “gaze” begins to take hold on the audiences that view the films. As an avid film goer, I think this is both important and interesting to take note of