Oppression of Women through Film

Paper Summary:

The basis for the analysis of two popular films is based on the theories written and discussed by Laura Mulvey and E. Ann Kaplan. The two films discussed are "Cruel Intentions" (1999) directed by Roger Kumble, and "10 Things I Hate About You" (1999) directed by Gil Junger. Both films are based on other stories from different periods of time, and given a new swing to be popular for teenage audiences of today. The writer shows how these films help illustrate the ideas of Mulvey and Kaplan.The writer focuses on directing and the eyes of the camera, through the portrayal of women in popular culture youth centered films.

From the Paper:

"Gender perspective is an important facet for studying society and culture through film. Gender is an essential perspective because we watch films on a screen as a portrayal from the eye of the camera and the director's point of view. There are two views the hegemonic male gaze and the feminist perspective, meaning through the eyes of a man, or the eyes of a women. The male gaze is the most common in film because of our patriarchal society. Most of the famous Hollywood directors are male. Very few females have made the transition into film making as a blockbuster director. Through the ranks of independent and art house films, female directors have begun to make their mark in the industry. Feminist filmmaking is often confused on negated by feminism in the broader sense. The ideologies and goals of feminism are the strive for equality, it seems that many have confused the search for equality with a more extremist view that women should be superior to men. By definition, feminism is a doctrine that advocates equal rights for women, as well as the movement aimed at equal rights for women , this is distorted in film through a fear of this empowerment and is therefore represented by bra burning, man hating, feminist cults. Equality has made many strides forward yet in some aspects of culture, a male dominance is so abundant. "

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