TOPIC AREA 8 - WOMEN + FILM

Suggested focus areas for Women and Film Critical Research

• What stereotypes of men and women are used or subverted by your focus texts? (Look at mise-en-scene, choice of actors, camera angles, music, posture, facial expression as well as behaviour)
• Is there such a thing as a feminine film style? Can a male director use it? Will audiences like/dislike this style?
• What are ‘female issues’? How do female directors treat them? What about male directors?
• Could look at the representation of women in power (‘The Devil Wears Prada’, ‘Working Girl’) – is this a female stereotype constructed by male directors?
• Can feminism ever be profitable?
• How are film texts different to film when looking at representation of women?
• What genre conventions in representing gender are supported/subverted by your focus texts?
• To what extent would you say your focus texts empowered women? Is a woman only empowered when she’s acting like a man?
• To what extent are your focus films viewing the world with a ‘male/female gaze’?
• What problems/issues did the women involved in your focus texts have to face from filmmaking institutions?
• How did the press and public of the time react to the gender issues in your focus texts
• How do modern audiences react to your focus texts?
• Choose a female actor or director and consider issues (industry, creative/thematic, audience reception, representational etc.) in their work (e.g. Kate Winslet is a popular choice here as she has worked in mainstream and non-Hollywood contexts and has been written about frequently regarding her image – also a comparison of the work of directors Jane Campion and Kathryn Bigelow is possible
• Look at the treatment of key themes by a variety of filmmakers – e.g. female rites of passage (a Campion reference here, especially in early films) – perhaps with additional reference to fiction/music/diaries (non-fiction and fiction) (Bridget Jones perhaps) etc.
  Identify industry strategies (high concept marketing – how women are used to sell films etc.) or preoccupations (such as star and body image) and their effects on spectators (female and male)
• Look at female roles, archetypes, casting and examine how (and why) they change over time
• Look at critical and popular criticism of men and women in films (the two Sight & Sound Readers in the further reading section at the back of these resources offer excellent material to contrast) and account for the differences and similarities
  Consider national variations in gender representation or stars (e.g. France, China, Bollywood etc.) and offer reasons
• Examine synergy of fashion, film promotion, men’s and women’s magazines, marketing and music (Showgirls, Destiny’s Child, Charlie’s Angels, Tomb Raider, Ericsson mobile phones etc.)
• Consider the relationships (thematic, industry, marketing, star etc.) between television and film (e.g. Sarah Michelle Gellar – Buffy/Cruel Intentions/Maybeline cosmetics, The Devil Wears Prada and Ugly Betty) also actresses crossing over the divide eg Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox))
• Women as spectators (of any kinds of film) – at the cinema and at home (Uma Dinsmore-Tuli did an excellent and accessible presentation on her research on ‘Watching Movies at Home’ at BFI conference – written up for Screen)

Specific case study examples

Area One :The Director as auteur
Examples: Sofia Coppola - Jane Campion – Jodie Foster – Gurinder Chadha – Maya Deren – Sally Potter – Kathryn Bigelow – Allison Anders – Leni Riefenstahl – Lynne Ramsay

Possible questions:
Explore the relationship between director, Jane Campion, her subject matter and her audience.
To what extent is Jane Campion’s subject matter of direct relevance to the modern female audience?
To what extent does Lynne Ramsay make films that sell themselves on her merits as a filmmaker – not because she is a woman
To what extent can Sally Potter be considered a true auteur

Gurinder Chadha’s films deal with Asian women breaking the mould. How far is this a thematic conception in her films?
What relationship exists between the way women’s roles are challenged on film and in the reality of their spectators? (Apply to any of above?)

Area Two: Female Action heroes
Examples: Carrie Ann Moss – The Matrix / Angelina Jolie – Lara Croft / Kathleen Turner - V I Warshowski – Serial Mom / Sigourney Weaver – Alien / Uma Thurman - Kill Bill

Possible Questions:
Explore the archetype of the Female warrior
How is the classic stereotype of the female warrior in Martial Arts/Asian film crossing over into western film? (Charlie’s Angels/Uma Thurman)

Area Three : Chick Flicks
Films about women for women
Examples : The Devil Wears Prada/ Step Mom/ Fried Green Tomatoes/Brigid Jones’ Diary

Possible questions:
Explore the degree to which female actors who offer identification as opposed to image desirability
are more popular for female audiences? ( ie the move from star to girl next door / character
actress)

What pleasures are offered through the “chick flick?”
How is “Being a woman” used as a strategy for Box Office success?
Actresses: Renee Zellwegger/ Cameron Diaz/ Meg Ryan/ Lindsey Lohan/ Meryl Streep/

Area Four : The Older Woman
Examples : Calendar Girls / Eight Women / Searching for Debra Winger/ Notes on a Scandal/ The Queen

Possible questions :
To what extent are audience’s more accepting of the older woman?
How does contemporary mainstream film cater for older audiences?
Older female actresses – Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver – account
for their enduring success in the film industry

See your media folder for further ideas.