“Friends don't let friends take public transportation especially the bus, Ava, I heard about the bus people pee on the seats! They pee!. " [1]
How has the stereotypical view of women been reinforced throughout the film "Material Girls"?
As an example to justify the representation of women in film, Material Girls (2006) directed by Martha Coolidge, is able to express the main stereotypes in society which are given towards young blonde females. This is able to emphasise, through film, that women are being underrepresented and shown in ways to be traditional and to meet the needs of the males, showing particular focus on the "male gaze".[2] The audience are then made to believe that the typical role in the film for women and what is expected from the stereotypical blonde female characters to do throughout the film. Tuchman [3] asserts that women were shown to be working and portrayed as "incompetentents and inferiors".[4]. Women were shown to have no solid role, or main responsibilities within the film, which would often exploit a women’s need to be protected by a man. With particular reference to Material Girls, Ava and Tanzie are shown not to take any responsibility for helping run the family cosmetics business, which is most importantly run by their father reflecting a patriarchal society.
This reflects the zeitgeist, and the spirit of the age because of the way female roles have changed over time. In the past women were represented as housewives however in the present day women are more independent but, there continues to show some aspects of them being dependent on the male.
Similar conventions from the Material Girls film are represented in films Mean Girls (2004) and Legally Blonde (2001). The films represent familiar roles in which particularly females have within this genre. Their roles are often comical and heavily stereotypical. It reflects the way in which society was formed, particularly through the ways in which men had more control and power, films had made this fact evident. Film history, "Double Indemnity" (1944) shows a dominant female role. The female protagonist is very powerful in terms of the way in which she is able to manipulate the male character. The main focus of this essay is to analyse the ways in which stereotypes have been reinforced through film and link to relevant texts, comparing the similarities and differences.
The way film texts are produced by the directors promote certain ideologies. Suggestions made through the use of characters used the plot of the film express the messages in which the director is putting across to the main target audience. An important factor which needs to be addressed is that there is a lack of female directors producing films compared to the large number of male directors. There could be many reasons to why there are a limited amount of well known female directors producing films and there are many factors which may influence a female director’s decision to want to go continue into directing. In an article published in the Guardian on Monday, March 7 2005 titled, Why are women a rare sight, one of the issues raised were that “female directors just don’t seem to send their projects in”[5]. If female directors fail to send their work in, less female directors get found, therefore less will become well known for their work.
Some of the issues which influence female directors decision into not to wanting to pursue their career or submit their ideas is due to the fact that is that some want to concentrate on pursuing other careers . Directing however can be time consuming as it requires an amount of focus and preparation. The film Material Girls (2006) is directed by Martha Coolidge. The fact that a female director produced the film shows that the ideologies of the film must be accurate due to the fact that the film is being directed from a female point of view. This would emphasise the characteristics of both Ava and Tanzie as it reinforces the stereotypes of young blondes. The director would want to create humour by giving the audience and accurate representation of these characters from the view that people have from them in society. A reflection of events which take place in society links to the zeitgeist, as views of social groups in society ate then exploited throughout the film.
The film Material Girls (2006) follows the typical conventions expected from a typical chick flick genre, which would often be stereotypical to create humour. According to an article based on click flicks, written by Tom Long is augment that often click flicks “insult their audience with stereotypical characters”[6]. The Material Girls (2006) film represents a view of this through the main female characters Tanzie and Ava Marchetta. The start of the film both are shown to as the typical teenage girls, whose main interest is in the materialistic pleasures in life, hence the reason why the film is called material girls. With reference to Walters study, he had found out that “women enjoy fashion and beauty” [7].The representations of the women in Material Girls (2006) show in fact both enjoy these necessities in life therefore they are expected by people in society to act the way they do.
An issue in which the film is able to deal with is that it portrays the lives of two young female characters that enjoy their easy lifestyle, without fully realising the responsibility in which they have. The story is outlined through the tag line of the film being “It's A Short Trip From The Penthouse To The Poorhouse”[8]. It gives an indication to the audience that these two girls, who enjoy the material things in life and all of the luxuries, comes a point in which they would no longer able to enjoy it as their lives change dramatically. The film represents a strong familial ideology as the two sisters have a close relationship. The main characters in the film are represented, from the tagline as rich and possibly spoilt young girls who are unaware of how quickly their rich lives can change. The material girls show a dominant representation of blondes in society today, reflecting the zeitgeist, as the film is able to give an account of the lifestyles in which they want to live and what young girls in society today want their lives to be like. The main objective for them is to look good and spending money on clothes. However the film shows the contrast which these girls have as they see that there is more to life than shopping and parties. In the film they both come to the conclusion that there is a need to change their active lives and that they should look after themselves and take more responsibility, without relying on others to do work for them. This could therefore contrast with the stereotypes as it shows that the girls want to change.
Other films in which link to the typical chick flick genre conventions include Legally Blonde (2001), Mean Girls (2006) and the television sitcom The Simple Life (2003) which stars two blonde bombshells Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. These two films and the television series links to the film Material Girls (2006) due to the fact that they all show females to be presented in a similar way following the same characteristics and show a heavy amount of stereotyping. In Legally Blonde(2001) the main character of the film is played by Reese Witherspoon. The character in which she plays Elle is stereotypically made to look as the stupid blonde by wanting to study law, in order to win the affections of her boyfriend. The audience would find this funny due to the fact that the film is aiming to use this in a way to encourage people to want to go out and watch the film. “Going to Harvard is the only way I'm going to get the love of my life back” [9] This quote taken from the film suggests the attitude of the blonde character as she only wants to be successful in order to win back her boyfriend.
In Mean Girls (2006) the film portrays the actions of a group of young females highlighting how competitive and bitchy they can become. It is typical of the genre to have girls falling out over a male character and failing to show female unity. Douglas Pye (1975) discussed how “Generic consistency allows for the shorthand of convention and stereotype”. Therefore, arguing that certain elements of a genre would have to appear, such as stereotyping, otherwise the genre would lose focus and fail to meet the expectations of its audiences.
The Simple Life (2001) is able to give the audience a real life view of two well known celebrities who in fact are both rich celebrity blondes trying to fit into the world which they seem to no nothing about. This is able to exploit the ways in which stereotypes are reinforced due to the fact that throughout this television sitcom the audience see a real account of how blondes act to certain situations in the real world therefore the sitcom is reinforcing the stereotypes are given to blondes in society. “The audience demand for predictability” Steve Neale (1990), therefore knowing what they are going to expect from the genre involving blondes.
An important fact which outlines and makes evident of the changes in history for women appearing on screen is that during the 1950s 1960s and 1970s only 20 to 30 per cent of characters in television were female.[10] However by the mid 1980s more women were placed in leading roles but men had continued to dominate and fulfil the main roles.The roles in which women have had throughout film have changed dramatically throughout history. Films would often show women fulfilling typical familial roles. These roles would include the typical housewife, looking after the children and meeting the needs of her husband. This view is reinforced through the film The Sound Of Music (1965). It showed Julie Andrews adopting a motherly figure through the film, looking after the children.
In film, during the 1950s, the male characters were shown to be the heroes and most importantly had the central roles in film. Therefore this evidently means that women who are watching the film are forced to cross gender identify with the men. The male characters were presented powerful and assertive, as making more, and almost to the most influential decisions which would affect themselves and the women. Women on the other hand, were presented as being frightened and in need of constant protection from the male characters. Women were represented as being more passive, weak and “merely token females”[11]. Gunter implied that women in film were just there in order to show, and create a sense of equality in the film. The women may not have had a specific role in the film however showing one or two female characters would make the audience believe that they in fact have an important role in the film. In the 1960s there was still no change in the way in which women were presented in film. Men continued to dominate the main screen and were portrayed as being intelligent and assertive. Representations of women were still the same during the 1970s, however a study from McNeil (1975) found out that “housewifes continued to be the main female role on television”.[12].
Women’s main concern was with romance or family. The 1980s saw a change in the way women were in television drama as Gillian Dyer found out that “the number of women in central roles in police and crime drama had increased” [13] This would have seen to be a huge change in the way in which women were shown particular in television due to the fact that it allowed the audience to see a different representation of women. The roles in which women would have been shown to have in these dramas would be strong and independent women. "The 1980s and early 1990s saw the emergence of a few female action heroes defined by a quality of masculinity"[14] During this time period women in film began to be represented in a more positive and independent way. This can fully be shown in the film Tomb Raider (2001) which stared Angelina Jolie, a female actress staring as the main role in the film. Changes at this point in time began to show these female characters in films like this one being in more dominant roles and not in the shows of their male counterparts. Whereas Lara Croft’s character contrasts with Ava and Tanzie from Material Girls (2006) as they are shown to more independent on others throughout the film.
“Stereotypes are labels that categorize people largely in negative terms, and that can be applied to whole social or cultural groups”[15]. Dyer’s theory can link to the Material Girls (2006) film as the main focus of the cultural group in which are being stereotyped in the films are blondes. Stereotyping within films places much importance in the way in which the film can structure the way the characters are presented to the audience. The ways in which certain groups in society are represented can be made evident throughout films offering the audience a more comical view of that particular group being represented. However the audience may agree that the way that they are being represented is an accurate one. The main group in which is being presented are blondes. The characters would often appear as “dumbing down” in certain situations. This is shown throughout film texts, as it is able to create humour for the audience making it easier for them to be able to consume the text. An example from the text “I don't understand why we didn't get any unemployment money... We've never even been employed. Doesn't that mean we should get more unemployment?., this quote from the film Material Girls (2006) from one of the main protagonists in the film Tanzie Marchetta is able to fully justify the ways in which the language of the characters is used to be able to create humour, therefore meeting the audience expectations of the typical blonde female. “The Dumb blonde may lack experience or just be naturally dumber, or she may have decided to skate through life on her looks, leaving intellectual pursuits”[16]
The fact that films like chick flicks and reality television sitcoms such as The Simple Life (2003) showing a real life account of rich, young and good looking blondes, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are now able to show this links to Scheibes (1979) view of women that there main concern in life was “beauty, cleanness, family and pleasing others”[17]. This is made evident through the fact that they both are already concerned with two of those factors also suggesting that they are essential for them to have. Without them they result into having to live and have a fairly average and simple life.
The stereotypes in which are given to a particular group or persons within society can therefore lead to it having a negative effect to those that may be associated with that particular group in society. Once given a negative label by those in society it can therefore lead to a self fulfilling prophecy. This is when a social group beings to act upon the label in which they have been given by society. In this case the main focus would be with blonde women. Stan Cohen had argued in the case that “the media labelled youth culture in a stereotyped and negative way”[18] This can then lead to a moral panic occurring within society. A moral panic can take effect once “a person or group of persons become defined as a threat to societal values and interests[19]. People can them make assumptions about that particular group in society and begin to believe whatever they hear about that group mainly published through the media is the truth.
Women in film could have been categorised into either one of the two groups in a film based on the character that they had adopted within the film. These categories would position female characters to either adopt the role as The Madonna or The Whore. The Madonna is almost made to be presented as the good women who are always shown to be pure and maternal whereas compared to the whore, her characteristics would be sinful and almost everything she would do would be sexual. Contrastingly, as the whore is represented in a negative way due to her power and actions the bimbo role also uses some of the characteristics and attributes given to the whore. For instance, the whore is represented as a perfect provocateur based on her youth, good looks, perfection and sexual seductiveness, which similarly are some of the characteristics of the bimbo.
The whore however compared to the bimbo, would use her sexual prowess to often manipulate the male characters. The bimbos presentation would consist of flashy make up, and high heels. These images can then be made throughout films due to the fact that the film directors are just giving the audience what they want from the film. This is a way in which they want certain audiences to want to go out and watch the film. This is made evident through the film Double Indemnity (1944). The film is an example in which shows the way the representation of women, playing a particular focus on blonde women, have changed from this time period. This film is able to exploit the ways in which the representation of the blonde women has changed over time. During the 1940s therefore from this film the blonde women is shown to have fully control of the decisions in which the male character is able to make. The film presents a more dominant ideology of the blonde female as she is shown to be easily able to manipulate the male character. The whore and the bimbo however do share similar characteristics as aspects from both are shown through the main female protagonist in the film Double Indemnity (1944) played by Barbra Stanwyck. Her character in the film Phyllis Dietrichson and she is able to cleverly get the male character to kill someone for her. We have gone through with it, Walter. The tough part is all behind us. “We just have to hold on now and not go soft inside. Stick close together the way we started out...I loved you, Walter, and I hated him. But I wasn't going to do anything about it. Not until I met you. You planned the whole thing. I only wanted him dead”.[20] The quote from the film is able to exploit the sort of character she is as she is able to manipulate the male into help her then to find a way which suggests that it was his idea in the first place. An example of strong and independent women on screen was Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997). Buffy’s creator, Joss Whedon stated that Buffy “is a good role model for not just girls but for everybody”.[21] They way in which her character is presented compared to the way in which they are from material girls is that she is strong and is almost looked up to for protection by both the female characters and the male.
Both characters representations in the films compared to Material Girls (2006) contrast heavily as in the 1940s showed a dominant female who was most importantly blonde compared to the way now that they are presented which is more stereotyped showing how the stereotypes are reinforced to comply with the views of society.
The characters within Material Girls are stereotyped in order to create humour. From a pluralistic audience view, if the they want to see dumb blondes within a film then that’s what they would be given. However it is an effective way of promoting the film as it does offer the audience a lot of humour and could appeal to a large number of people.
Word Count: 3351
[1] http:imbd.com/title/tt0433412/quotes – Tanzie Marchetta dialogue
[2] Mulvey, Laura (1975) Visual Pleasure and Narrative cinema
[3] Tuchman, G- (1998) The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass media
[4] Tuchman, G- (1998) The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass media
[5] http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/mar/07/gender.world
[6] http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090220/OPINION03/902200384/1034/rss28
[7] Walter (1998) D, Gauntlett, Representations of Gender In the Past
[8] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433412/ - Film tagline
[9] Legally Blonde (2001)
[10] D, Gauntlett, Representations of Gender In the Past, pg 43
[11] Gunter, Barrie (1995)
[12] McNeil (1975)
[13] Gillian Dyer (1987)
[14] Tasker, Yvonne (1998) Working Girls, Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema
[15] Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, (2006) ‘Introducing Media Studies’ pg 75
[16] http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DumbBlonde
[17] Scheibe (1979)
[18] Stan Cohen (1975)
[19] Stan Cohen (1975)
[20] Double Indemnity quote from film (1944)
[21] Gauntlet, David (2002) Media Gender and Identity,
Sunday, 10 May 2009
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Essay Plans
Question One:
Genre texts have sometimes been critised for being predictable and unimaginative. Discuss.
(January 06)
Genre texts have sometimes been critised for being predictable and unimaginative. Discuss.
(January 06)
Openining Paragraph- Begin to disscus the ways in which similair aspects and conventions of a genre film are shown throughout all of the films of the same genre.
Discuss the different reasons to why genres have changed over time. With particular reference to the slasher genre discuss possible reasons such as the changes in the target audience, changes in the audeicne expectations and censorship. These can influence the ways in which particular genres are able to present themselves to the audiences.
Discuss the reasons to why genre conventions would appear to be the same in all the films. This may be in order to appeal to the audience expectations of the film. For example in a slasher film the audience would expect there to be deaths.
Final Paragraph- Summary of the reasons to why genre is believed to be predictable and unimaginative. In this paragraph i could write about the common aspects about the slasher genre. Write about the mise en scene in which most of the films are set and how the main characters would be teenagers.Question Two:
"The audience may know what to expect, but are still excited by genre texts". To what extent is this true?
(June 05)
In slasher films there is a recurrance of certain rules which apply within all horror films are shown, therefore the audience would be able to expect that the people who are most promiscuos are killed and the final girl. However the idea of sex=death is different in the film scream, as the female character survives after having sex.
Due to technology films are able to meet the expectations of a new audience. There would be more speical effects in the films.
Although the films are often remakes of an original directors are able to find different ways to reinvent the film addind different characters and chnages certain aspects from the original film.
Censorship, before in films there were certain restrictions to what the films were allowed to show, as in terms of horror and in some scenes. State other changes which may have made genre adapt.
Question Three:
"Genre arouses the expectations of an audience". How and why does it do this?
(June 04)
Write about the changes of the target audience. The audience expectations of the films would be higher therfore certain aspects of the genre would have to be changed.
The changes in technology allow the films to show more sepcial effects and appeal to the new target audience. The audience would aspect there to be certain ideologies to appear in the genre film.
Changes in society, ideologies and representations within the film would have changed.
Genres, therefore have to adapt and change due to the fact that society and their expectations have also changed.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Similarities and Differences between the films
Similarities of the two films:
.Both films are centred around a group of teenagers
. A comon factor within both films that the two teenagers that have sex at the beginning of the film are the first people to die.
. Final girl at the end of both films
. The group pick up hitchhikers from the road.
.The way in which leatherface kills the teenagers are similar. However throughout the 2003 versoin its different due to the fact that there is more technology.
Differences between both films:
. The hithhiker that the teenagers pick up in the 2003 version is a women compared to the original, who is a man and also a member of the family
. Leatherface gets his arm chopped off.
. In the new film we are introduced to a number of different family members. This includes the little boy who helps the girl escape from leatherface at the end.
. The location in which the teenagers are going to are different.
. At the end of the film the girl kills one of the family members and takes a baby with her, which the women had taken from the girl that killed herself.
. More technology is used in the 2003 version. With emphasis on the the scene when the girl shoots herself in the bus. The camera goes through the hole in her head.
TCM Comparison essay
The original Texas chainsaw massacre film compared to the most recent remake of the film, released in 2003 share the same characteristics and features as the original film which was released in 1974. As the 2003 remake of the film almost follows the same narrative as the original, the film itself is able to adapt and appeal to a new target audience. The fact that now, due to new changes in technology, the directors are able to make the film appeal to a new generation of audience, whose expectations of a horror film would differ in comparison to the audience that were watching the original film in the 1970s. During this time period most of the grusome aspects of the film were hidden due to censorship.
Director Tobe Hooper produced the film in 1974 where the plots main focus was on a group of teenage friends on a road trip in Texas. As their bus runs out of gas they stop near an abandoned house where they are slowly pursued and attacked by a perculiar family who specialise in killing innocent victims. The main killer which is responsible for the killing is called Leatherface.
Director Tobe Hooper produced the film in 1974 where the plots main focus was on a group of teenage friends on a road trip in Texas. As their bus runs out of gas they stop near an abandoned house where they are slowly pursued and attacked by a perculiar family who specialise in killing innocent victims. The main killer which is responsible for the killing is called Leatherface.
The 2003 version of texas chainsaw massacre is was directed by Marcus Nispel and produced by Michael Bay. In this version of the film the plot differs where five college students are on their way to a music concert in Dallas comapred to the original film in 1974 they were heading to another place. They are returning from a trip to Mexico when they see a lonely girl walking in the road which is another contrast compared to the original version of the film as the person who they pick up is another member of the family, giving the teenagers an insight to what the rest of the family would be like.
Although the 2003 version is an updated version of the original it still follows similar conventions of the original. The films are able to reflect the zeighgiest as the beginning shows a group of teenagers, without parents, going away together and taking part in activities which include illegal drug taking and sexual activities. It is common within the slasher genre that the couple which are most promiscuous die first. The roles within the film differ due to the fact that in the 2003 verisoin there is no guy in a wheelchair compared to the 1974 film where there is.
Similary both films show at the end the final girl, the only serviving charcater at the the end who manages to escape from the family and leatherface. The ending in which both the 2003 version and the original 1974 film contrast due to the fact that in the 2003 film the girl escapes and manages to save a baby, which was taken by a member of the family, whereas in the original the girl escapes by getting on a car and driving off showing a medium shot of her bloodied face, laughing of the fact that she has managed to escape. This links to Todorovs theory of there being a new equilbream, due to the fact that she has managed to escape the family. This can give off the idea that women are shown to be more superior to men as the character Erin is shown to be be superior to the sheriff as she runs him over and continues to go over his body.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Scary Movie Franchise
Scary Movie:
Scary Movie is a 2000 film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, as part of Wayans Bros. Entertainment. It is an American dark comedy which parodies the horror, slasher, and mystery genres. Several mid- and late-1990s movies are spoofed, including the more subtle horror film parody series Scream trilogy, The Sixth Sense, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Usual Suspects, The Matrix, and The Blair Witch Project, while it also parodies many of the classic horror films, most notably Halloween.
The tagline is "No mercy. No shame. No sequel.", with the last reference being to the tendency of popular horror movies to become long-running franchises. However, in 2001, Scary Movie 2 was released (with the tagline "We lied"). The film was followed by a series of sequels Scary Movie 3 (2003), and Scary Movie 4 (2006).
In addition Scary Movie parody the Scream series and I Know What You Did Last Summer film, a number of other pop cultural references are made:- The Blair Witch Project - The scene in which Gail Hailstorm and her Jamaican cameraman are videotaping one of the killer's murders.
Post-modern- it explores the media-saturated, transnational culture of consumption where globalised media provide information and entertainment.
Pastiche-Is a media text which is made up from other media text pieces or particluar aspects of other styles.
Irony- A way in which humour is used based on certain words to suggest the opposite of thier meanings.
Intertextuality- the practice of deliberately including references to one text in the narrative of another.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Scream Horror Franchise
.The film was directed by Wes Craven. He was also responsible for directing the film Nightmare on Elm Street
. Scream became a major commercial success upon its release, and was one of the highest grossing films of 1996
. The film revitalized the slasher film genre in the mid 1990s, similar to the impact Halloween (1978) had on late 1970s film
All of these three films were directed by Wes Craven
Scream (1996)
After an anonymous killer guts two high school lovers, a mysterious rise in fear and rumors rise in a peaceful Californian town. A killer starts killing high school teenagers, with a young teenage girl, an eccentric and dramatic cop, and a selfish and ambitious reporter trying to investigate the murders. A strange number of events starts to happen around Woodsboro, including an accused killer, a suspicious boyfriend, discovered love and attraction, and, of course, the mysterious killer with a ghost face mask.
Scream 2 (1997)
Definitions:
Post Modern- it explores the media-saturated, transnational culture of consumption where globalised media provide information and entertainment
Pastiche-Is a media text which is made up from other media text pieces or particluar aspects of other styles.
Irony- A way in which humour is used based on certain words to suggest the opposite of thier meanings.
Intertextuality- the practice of deliberately including references to one text in the narrative of another.
. Scream became a major commercial success upon its release, and was one of the highest grossing films of 1996
. The film revitalized the slasher film genre in the mid 1990s, similar to the impact Halloween (1978) had on late 1970s film
All of these three films were directed by Wes Craven
Scream (1996)
After an anonymous killer guts two high school lovers, a mysterious rise in fear and rumors rise in a peaceful Californian town. A killer starts killing high school teenagers, with a young teenage girl, an eccentric and dramatic cop, and a selfish and ambitious reporter trying to investigate the murders. A strange number of events starts to happen around Woodsboro, including an accused killer, a suspicious boyfriend, discovered love and attraction, and, of course, the mysterious killer with a ghost face mask.
Scream 2 (1997)
It has been two years since the tragic events at Woodsboro. Sidney Prescott and Randy Meeks are trying to get on with their lives, and are currently both students at Windsor College. Cotton Weary is out of prison, and is trying to cash in on his unfortunate incarceration. Gale Weathers has written a bestseller, "The Woodsboro Murders," which has been turned into the film, "Stab," starring Tori Spelling as Sidney. As the film's play date approaches, the cycle of death begins anew. Dewey Riley immediately flies out of Woodsboro to try to protect Sidney.
Scream 3 (2000)
After the terrifying events that occurred around Windsor College, Sidney is now living alone in a secluded Northern California mountainside. Still haunted by her past, frightening images of her dead mother reappear time after time in her head as she tries to get on with her life. She now gives advice, under a fictional name for safety, to women in crisis via telephone. Soon enough though, her comfort turns to fear as she receives a threatening phone call from an anonymous source who informs her on the recent murders committed around the Hollywood set of "Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro, the third and final chapter to the 'Stab' series. Sidney decides to visit the set when she finds out that with every victim, the new killer leaves behind a different photo of Sidney's deceased mother, Maureen Prescott. Eventually the cast of "Stab 3" start dying one by one and more photos of Maureen appearDefinitions:
Post Modern- it explores the media-saturated, transnational culture of consumption where globalised media provide information and entertainment
Pastiche-Is a media text which is made up from other media text pieces or particluar aspects of other styles.
Irony- A way in which humour is used based on certain words to suggest the opposite of thier meanings.
Intertextuality- the practice of deliberately including references to one text in the narrative of another.
Second Draft
“Friends don't let friends take public transportation especially the bus, Ava, I heard about the bus people pee on the seats! They pee!. " [1]
How has the stereotypical view of women been reinforced throughout the film "Material Girls"?
As an example to justify the representation of women in film, Material Girls (2006) directed by Martha Coolidge, is able to express the main stereotypes in society which are given towards young blonde females. This is able to emphasise, through film, that women are being underrepresented and shown in ways to be traditional and to meet the needs of the males, showing particular focus on the "male gaze".[2] The audience are then made to believe that the typical role in the film for women and what is expected from the stereotypical blonde female characters to do throughout the film. Tuchman [3] asserts that women were shown to be working and portrayed as "incompetentents and inferiors".[4]. Women were shown to have no solid role, or main responsibilities within the film, which would often exploit a women’s need to be protected by a man. With particular reference to Material Girls, Ava and Tanzie are shown not to take any responsibility for helping run the family cosmetics business, which is most importantly run by their father.
This reflects the zeitgeist, and the spirit of the age because of the way female roles have changed over time. In the past women were presented as housewives however in the present day women are more dependent but, there continues to show some aspects of them being dependent on the male.
Similar conventions from the Material Girls film are presented in films Mean Girls (2004) and Legally Blonde (2001). The films present familiar and common roles in which particularly females have within this genre. Their roles are often comical and heavily stereotypical. Film history, the film "Double Indemnity" (1944) shows contrasting female roles. The female protagonist is very powerful in terms of the way in which she is able to manipulate the male character. The main focus of this essay would be to analyse the ways in which stereotypes have been reinforced and presented through the film and link to relevant texts, comparing the similarities and differences between them.
The ways in which film texts are produced by the directors promote certain ideologies. Suggestions made through the use of characters used and the plot of the film express the messages in which the director is putting across to the main target audience. An important factor which needs to be addressed is that there is a lack of female directors producing films compared to the large number of male directors. There could be many reasons to why there are a limited amount of well known female directors producing films and there are many factors which may influence a female director’s decision to want to go continue into directing.
Some of the issues which influence female directors decision into not to wanting to pursue their career or submit their ideas is due to the fact that is that some want to concentrate on pursuing other careers . Directing however can be time consuming as it requires an amount of focus and preparation. The film Material Girls (2006) is directed by Martha Coolidge. The fact that a female director produced the film shows that the ideologies of the film must be accurate due to the fact that the film is being directed from a female point of view. This would emphasise the characteristics of both Ava and Tanzie as it reinforces the stereotypes of young blondes. The director would want to create humour by giving the audience and accurate representation of these characters from the view that people have from them in society. A reflection of events which take place in society links to the zeitgeist, as views of social groups in society ate then exploited throughout the film.The film Material Girls (2006) follows the typical conventions expected from a typical chick flick genre, therefore it meets the possible expectations of the audience. The Material Girls (2006) film presents a view of the lives of the two main female characters Tanzie and Ava Marchetta. The start of the film both are shown to as the typical teenage girls, whose main interest is in the materialistic pleasures in life, hence the reason why the film is called material girls. With reference to Walters study, he had found out that “women enjoy fashion and beauty” [5]. The representations of the women in Material Girls (2006) show in fact both enjoy these necessities in life therefore they are expected by people in society to act the way they do.An issue in which the film is able to deal with is that it portrays the lives of two young female characters that enjoy their easy lifestyle, without fully realising the responsibility in which they have. The story is outlined through the tag line of the film being “It's A Short Trip From The Penthouse To The Poorhouse”[6]. It gives an indication to the audience that these two girls, who enjoy the material things in life and all of the luxuries, comes a point in which they would no longer able to enjoy it as their lives change dramatically. The film presents a strong familial ideology as the two sisters have a close relationship. The main characters in the film are presented, from the tagline as rich and possibly spoilt young girls who are unaware of how quickly their rich lives can change. The material girls show a dominant representation of blondes in society today, reflecting the zeitgeist, as the film is able to give an account of the lifestyles in which they want to live and what young girls in society today want their lives to be like. The main objective for them is to look good and spending money on clothes. However the film shows the contrast which these girls have as they see that there is more to life than shopping and parties. In the film they both come to the conclusion that there is a need to change their active lives and that they should look after themselves and take more responsibility, without relying on others to do work for them. This could therefore contrast with the stereotypes as it shows that the girls want to change.Other films in which link to the typical chick flick genre conventions include Legally Blonde (2001), Mean Girls (2006) and the television sitcom The Simple Life (2003) which stars two blonde bombshells Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. These two films and the television series links to the film Material Girls (2006) due to the fact that they all show females to be presented in a similar way following the same characteristics and show a heavy amount of stereotyping. In Legally Blonde(2001) the main character of the film is played by Reese Witherspoon. The character in which she plays “Elle” is stereotypically made to look as the stupid blonde by wanting to study law, in order to win the affections of her boyfriend. The audience would find this funny due to the fact that the film is aiming to use this in a way to encourage people to want to go out and watch the film. “Going to Harvard is the only way I'm going to get the love of my life back” [7] This quote taken from the film suggests the attitude of the blonde character as she only wants to be successful in order to win back her boyfriend.
In Mean Girls (2006) the film portrays the actions of a group of young females highlighting how competitive and bitchy they can become. It is typical of the genre to have girls falling out over a male character and failing to show female unity.The Simple Life (2001) is able to give the audience a real life view of two well known celebrities who in fact are both rich celebrity blondes trying to fit into the world which they seem to no nothing about. This is able to exploit the ways in which stereotypes are reinforced due to the fact that throughout this television sitcom the audience see a real account of how blondes act to certain situations in the real world therefore the sitcom is reinforcing the stereotypes are given to blondes in society.An important fact which outlines and makes evident of the changes in history for women appearing on screen is that during the 1950s 1960s and 1970s only 20 to 30 per cent of characters in television were female.[8] However by the mid 1980s more women were placed in leading roles but men had continued to dominate and fulfil the main roles.The roles in which women have had throughout film have changed dramatically throughout history. Films would often show women fulfilling the typical roles, which were expected by women at the time to have. These roles would include the typical housewife, looking after the children and meeting the needs of her husband.
In film, during the 1950s, the male characters were shown to be the heroes and most importantly having most of the central roles in the films. Therefore this evidently means that women who are watching the film are forced to cross gender identify with the men. The male characters were presented powerful and assertive, as making more, and almost to the most influential decisions which would affect themselves and the women. Women on the other hand, were presented as being frightened and in need of constant protection from the male characters. Women were represented as being more passive, weak and “merely token females”[9]. Gunter implied that women in film were just there in order to show, and create a sense of equality in the film. The women may not have had a specific role in the film however showing one or two female characters would make the audience believe that they in fact have an important role in the film. In the 1960s there was still no change in the way in which women were presented in film. Men continued to dominate the main screen and were portrayed as being intelligent and assertive. Representations of women were still the same during the 1970s, however a study from McNeil (1975) found out that “housewife’s continued to be the main female role on television”.[10].
Women’s main concern was with romance or family. The 1980s saw a change in the way women were in television drama as Gillian Dyer found out that “the number of women in central roles in police and crime drama had increased” [11] This would have seen to be a huge change in the way in which women were shown particular in television due to the fact that it allowed the audience to see a different representation of women. The roles in which women would have been shown to have in these dramas would be strong and independent women. "The 1980s and early 1990s saw the emergence of a few female action heroes defined by a quality of masculinity"[12] During this time period women in film began to be presented in a more positive and independent way. This can fully be shown in the film Tomb Raider (2001) which stared Angelina Jolie, a female actress staring as the main role in the film. Changes at this point in time began to show these female characters in films like this one being in more dominate roles and not in the shows of their male counterparts. Whereas Lara Crofts character contrasts with Ava and Tanzie from Material Girls (2006) as they are shown to more independent on others throughout the film.
“Stereotypes are labels that categorize people largely in negative terms, and that can be applied to whole social or cultural groups”[13]. Dyers theory can link to the Material Girls (2006) film as the main focus of the cultural group in which are being stereotyped in the films are blondes. Stereotyping within films places much importance in the way in which the film can structure the way the characters are presented to the audience. The ways in which certain groups in society are represented can be made evident throughout films offering the audience a more comical view of that particular group being represented. However the audience may agree that the way that they are being represented is an accurate one. The main group in which is being presented are blondes. The characters would often appear as “dumbing down” in certain situations. This is shown throughout film texts, as it is able to create humour for the audience making it easier for them to be able to consume the text. An example from the text “I don't understand why we didn't get any unemployment money... We've never even been employed. Doesn't that mean we should get more unemployment?., this quote from the film Material Girls (2006) from one of the main protagonists in the film Tanzie Marchetta is able to fully justify the ways in which the language of the characters is used to be able to create humour, therefore meeting the audience expectations of the typical blonde female.
The fact that films like chick flicks and reality television sitcoms such as The Simple Life (2003) showing a real life account of rich, young and good looking blondes, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are now able to show this links to Scheibes (1979) view of women that there main concern in life was “beauty, cleanness, family and pleasing others”[14]. This is made evident through the fact that they both are already concerned with two of those factors also suggesting that they are essential for them to have. Without them they result into having to live and have a fairly average and simple life.
The stereotypes in which are given to a particular group or persons within society can therefore lead to it having a negative effect to those that may be associated with that particular group in society. Once given a negative label by those in society it can therefore lead to a self fulfilling prophecy. This is when a social group beings to act upon the label in which they have been given by society. In this case the main focus would be with blonde women. Stan Cohen had argued in the case that “the media labelled youth culture in a stereotyped and negative way”[15] This can then lead to a moral panic occurring within society. A moral panic can take effect once “a person or group of persons become defined as a threat to societal values and interests[16]. People can them make assumptions about that particular group in society and begin to believe whatever they hear about that group mainly published through the media is the truth.Women in film could have been categorised into either one of the two groups in a film based on the character that they had adopted within the film. These categories would position female characters to either adopt the role as The Madonna or The Whore. The Madonna is almost made to be presented as the good women who are always shown to be pure and maternal whereas compared to the whore, her characteristics would be sinful and almost everything she would do would be sexual. Contrastingly, as the whore is represented in a negative way due to her power and actions the bimbo role also uses some of the characteristics and attributes given to the whore. For instance, the whore is represented as a perfect provocateur based on her youth, good looks, perfection and sexual seductiveness, which similarly are some of the characteristics of the bimbo.
The whore however compared to the bimbo, would use her sexual prowess to often manipulate the male characters. The bimbos presentation would consist of flashy make up, and high heels. These images can then be made throughout films due to the fact that the film directors are just giving the audience what they want from the film. This is a way in which they want certain audiences to want to go out and watch the film. This is made evident through the film Double Indemnity (1944). The film is an example in which shows the way the representation of women, playing a particular focus on blonde women, have changed from this time period. This film is able to exploit the ways in which the representation of the blonde women has changed over time. During the 1940s therefore from this film the blonde women is shown to have fully control of the decisions in which the male character is able to make. The film presents a more dominant ideology of the blonde female as she is shown to be easily able to manipulate the male character. The whore and the bimbo however do share similar characteristics as aspects from both are shown through the main female protagonist in the film Double Indemnity (1994) played by Barbra Stanwyck. Her character in the film Phyllis Dietrichson and she is able to cleverly get the male character to kill someone for her. We have gone through with it, Walter. The tough part is all behind us. “We just have to hold on now and not go soft inside. Stick close together the way we started out...I loved you, Walter, and I hated him. But I wasn't going to do anything about it. Not until I met you. You planned the whole thing. I only wanted him dead”.[17] The quote from the film is able to exploit the sort of character she is as she is able to manipulate the male into help her then to find a way which suggests that it was his idea in the first place. An example of another strong an independent women on screen was Buffy the vampire slayer. Buffy’s creator Joss Whedon stated that Buffy “is a good role model for not just girls but for everybody”.[18] They way in which her character is presented compared to the way in which they are from material girls is that she is strong and is almost looked up to for protection by both the female characters and the male.
Both characters representations in the films compared to Material Girls (2006) contrast heavily as in the 1940s showed a dominant female who was most importantly blonde compared to the way now that they are presented which is more stereotyped showing how the stereotypes are reinforced to comply with the views of society.Women in film are often stereotyped in order to create humour. Different ways in which the film complies with these stereotypes of different social groups within the society because it is what the target audience wants to see. If the audience want to see dim blondes within a film then that’s what they would be given in the film. However it is an effective way of promoting the film as it does offer the audience a lot of humour and could appeal to a large number of people.
Words: 3,169
[1] http:imbd.com/title/tt0433412/quotes – Tanzie Marchetta dialogue
[2] male gaze, Laura Mulvey
[3] Tuchman, G
[4] The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass media (1998), Tuchman, G
[5] Walter (1998)
[6] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433412/ - Film tagline
[7] Legally Blonde (2001)
[8] Representations of Gender In the Past, David Gauntlett
[9] Gunter, Barrie (1995)
[10] McNeil (1975)
[11] Gillian Dyer
[12] Working Girls, Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema Tasker, Yvonne
[13] Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’ pg 75
[14] Scheibe (1979)
[15] Stan Cohen (1975)
[16] Stan Cohen (1975)
[17] Double Indemnity quote from film(1944)
[18] Media Gender and Identity, David Gauntlet
How has the stereotypical view of women been reinforced throughout the film "Material Girls"?
As an example to justify the representation of women in film, Material Girls (2006) directed by Martha Coolidge, is able to express the main stereotypes in society which are given towards young blonde females. This is able to emphasise, through film, that women are being underrepresented and shown in ways to be traditional and to meet the needs of the males, showing particular focus on the "male gaze".[2] The audience are then made to believe that the typical role in the film for women and what is expected from the stereotypical blonde female characters to do throughout the film. Tuchman [3] asserts that women were shown to be working and portrayed as "incompetentents and inferiors".[4]. Women were shown to have no solid role, or main responsibilities within the film, which would often exploit a women’s need to be protected by a man. With particular reference to Material Girls, Ava and Tanzie are shown not to take any responsibility for helping run the family cosmetics business, which is most importantly run by their father.
This reflects the zeitgeist, and the spirit of the age because of the way female roles have changed over time. In the past women were presented as housewives however in the present day women are more dependent but, there continues to show some aspects of them being dependent on the male.
Similar conventions from the Material Girls film are presented in films Mean Girls (2004) and Legally Blonde (2001). The films present familiar and common roles in which particularly females have within this genre. Their roles are often comical and heavily stereotypical. Film history, the film "Double Indemnity" (1944) shows contrasting female roles. The female protagonist is very powerful in terms of the way in which she is able to manipulate the male character. The main focus of this essay would be to analyse the ways in which stereotypes have been reinforced and presented through the film and link to relevant texts, comparing the similarities and differences between them.
The ways in which film texts are produced by the directors promote certain ideologies. Suggestions made through the use of characters used and the plot of the film express the messages in which the director is putting across to the main target audience. An important factor which needs to be addressed is that there is a lack of female directors producing films compared to the large number of male directors. There could be many reasons to why there are a limited amount of well known female directors producing films and there are many factors which may influence a female director’s decision to want to go continue into directing.
Some of the issues which influence female directors decision into not to wanting to pursue their career or submit their ideas is due to the fact that is that some want to concentrate on pursuing other careers . Directing however can be time consuming as it requires an amount of focus and preparation. The film Material Girls (2006) is directed by Martha Coolidge. The fact that a female director produced the film shows that the ideologies of the film must be accurate due to the fact that the film is being directed from a female point of view. This would emphasise the characteristics of both Ava and Tanzie as it reinforces the stereotypes of young blondes. The director would want to create humour by giving the audience and accurate representation of these characters from the view that people have from them in society. A reflection of events which take place in society links to the zeitgeist, as views of social groups in society ate then exploited throughout the film.The film Material Girls (2006) follows the typical conventions expected from a typical chick flick genre, therefore it meets the possible expectations of the audience. The Material Girls (2006) film presents a view of the lives of the two main female characters Tanzie and Ava Marchetta. The start of the film both are shown to as the typical teenage girls, whose main interest is in the materialistic pleasures in life, hence the reason why the film is called material girls. With reference to Walters study, he had found out that “women enjoy fashion and beauty” [5]. The representations of the women in Material Girls (2006) show in fact both enjoy these necessities in life therefore they are expected by people in society to act the way they do.An issue in which the film is able to deal with is that it portrays the lives of two young female characters that enjoy their easy lifestyle, without fully realising the responsibility in which they have. The story is outlined through the tag line of the film being “It's A Short Trip From The Penthouse To The Poorhouse”[6]. It gives an indication to the audience that these two girls, who enjoy the material things in life and all of the luxuries, comes a point in which they would no longer able to enjoy it as their lives change dramatically. The film presents a strong familial ideology as the two sisters have a close relationship. The main characters in the film are presented, from the tagline as rich and possibly spoilt young girls who are unaware of how quickly their rich lives can change. The material girls show a dominant representation of blondes in society today, reflecting the zeitgeist, as the film is able to give an account of the lifestyles in which they want to live and what young girls in society today want their lives to be like. The main objective for them is to look good and spending money on clothes. However the film shows the contrast which these girls have as they see that there is more to life than shopping and parties. In the film they both come to the conclusion that there is a need to change their active lives and that they should look after themselves and take more responsibility, without relying on others to do work for them. This could therefore contrast with the stereotypes as it shows that the girls want to change.Other films in which link to the typical chick flick genre conventions include Legally Blonde (2001), Mean Girls (2006) and the television sitcom The Simple Life (2003) which stars two blonde bombshells Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. These two films and the television series links to the film Material Girls (2006) due to the fact that they all show females to be presented in a similar way following the same characteristics and show a heavy amount of stereotyping. In Legally Blonde(2001) the main character of the film is played by Reese Witherspoon. The character in which she plays “Elle” is stereotypically made to look as the stupid blonde by wanting to study law, in order to win the affections of her boyfriend. The audience would find this funny due to the fact that the film is aiming to use this in a way to encourage people to want to go out and watch the film. “Going to Harvard is the only way I'm going to get the love of my life back” [7] This quote taken from the film suggests the attitude of the blonde character as she only wants to be successful in order to win back her boyfriend.
In Mean Girls (2006) the film portrays the actions of a group of young females highlighting how competitive and bitchy they can become. It is typical of the genre to have girls falling out over a male character and failing to show female unity.The Simple Life (2001) is able to give the audience a real life view of two well known celebrities who in fact are both rich celebrity blondes trying to fit into the world which they seem to no nothing about. This is able to exploit the ways in which stereotypes are reinforced due to the fact that throughout this television sitcom the audience see a real account of how blondes act to certain situations in the real world therefore the sitcom is reinforcing the stereotypes are given to blondes in society.An important fact which outlines and makes evident of the changes in history for women appearing on screen is that during the 1950s 1960s and 1970s only 20 to 30 per cent of characters in television were female.[8] However by the mid 1980s more women were placed in leading roles but men had continued to dominate and fulfil the main roles.The roles in which women have had throughout film have changed dramatically throughout history. Films would often show women fulfilling the typical roles, which were expected by women at the time to have. These roles would include the typical housewife, looking after the children and meeting the needs of her husband.
In film, during the 1950s, the male characters were shown to be the heroes and most importantly having most of the central roles in the films. Therefore this evidently means that women who are watching the film are forced to cross gender identify with the men. The male characters were presented powerful and assertive, as making more, and almost to the most influential decisions which would affect themselves and the women. Women on the other hand, were presented as being frightened and in need of constant protection from the male characters. Women were represented as being more passive, weak and “merely token females”[9]. Gunter implied that women in film were just there in order to show, and create a sense of equality in the film. The women may not have had a specific role in the film however showing one or two female characters would make the audience believe that they in fact have an important role in the film. In the 1960s there was still no change in the way in which women were presented in film. Men continued to dominate the main screen and were portrayed as being intelligent and assertive. Representations of women were still the same during the 1970s, however a study from McNeil (1975) found out that “housewife’s continued to be the main female role on television”.[10].
Women’s main concern was with romance or family. The 1980s saw a change in the way women were in television drama as Gillian Dyer found out that “the number of women in central roles in police and crime drama had increased” [11] This would have seen to be a huge change in the way in which women were shown particular in television due to the fact that it allowed the audience to see a different representation of women. The roles in which women would have been shown to have in these dramas would be strong and independent women. "The 1980s and early 1990s saw the emergence of a few female action heroes defined by a quality of masculinity"[12] During this time period women in film began to be presented in a more positive and independent way. This can fully be shown in the film Tomb Raider (2001) which stared Angelina Jolie, a female actress staring as the main role in the film. Changes at this point in time began to show these female characters in films like this one being in more dominate roles and not in the shows of their male counterparts. Whereas Lara Crofts character contrasts with Ava and Tanzie from Material Girls (2006) as they are shown to more independent on others throughout the film.
“Stereotypes are labels that categorize people largely in negative terms, and that can be applied to whole social or cultural groups”[13]. Dyers theory can link to the Material Girls (2006) film as the main focus of the cultural group in which are being stereotyped in the films are blondes. Stereotyping within films places much importance in the way in which the film can structure the way the characters are presented to the audience. The ways in which certain groups in society are represented can be made evident throughout films offering the audience a more comical view of that particular group being represented. However the audience may agree that the way that they are being represented is an accurate one. The main group in which is being presented are blondes. The characters would often appear as “dumbing down” in certain situations. This is shown throughout film texts, as it is able to create humour for the audience making it easier for them to be able to consume the text. An example from the text “I don't understand why we didn't get any unemployment money... We've never even been employed. Doesn't that mean we should get more unemployment?., this quote from the film Material Girls (2006) from one of the main protagonists in the film Tanzie Marchetta is able to fully justify the ways in which the language of the characters is used to be able to create humour, therefore meeting the audience expectations of the typical blonde female.
The fact that films like chick flicks and reality television sitcoms such as The Simple Life (2003) showing a real life account of rich, young and good looking blondes, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are now able to show this links to Scheibes (1979) view of women that there main concern in life was “beauty, cleanness, family and pleasing others”[14]. This is made evident through the fact that they both are already concerned with two of those factors also suggesting that they are essential for them to have. Without them they result into having to live and have a fairly average and simple life.
The stereotypes in which are given to a particular group or persons within society can therefore lead to it having a negative effect to those that may be associated with that particular group in society. Once given a negative label by those in society it can therefore lead to a self fulfilling prophecy. This is when a social group beings to act upon the label in which they have been given by society. In this case the main focus would be with blonde women. Stan Cohen had argued in the case that “the media labelled youth culture in a stereotyped and negative way”[15] This can then lead to a moral panic occurring within society. A moral panic can take effect once “a person or group of persons become defined as a threat to societal values and interests[16]. People can them make assumptions about that particular group in society and begin to believe whatever they hear about that group mainly published through the media is the truth.Women in film could have been categorised into either one of the two groups in a film based on the character that they had adopted within the film. These categories would position female characters to either adopt the role as The Madonna or The Whore. The Madonna is almost made to be presented as the good women who are always shown to be pure and maternal whereas compared to the whore, her characteristics would be sinful and almost everything she would do would be sexual. Contrastingly, as the whore is represented in a negative way due to her power and actions the bimbo role also uses some of the characteristics and attributes given to the whore. For instance, the whore is represented as a perfect provocateur based on her youth, good looks, perfection and sexual seductiveness, which similarly are some of the characteristics of the bimbo.
The whore however compared to the bimbo, would use her sexual prowess to often manipulate the male characters. The bimbos presentation would consist of flashy make up, and high heels. These images can then be made throughout films due to the fact that the film directors are just giving the audience what they want from the film. This is a way in which they want certain audiences to want to go out and watch the film. This is made evident through the film Double Indemnity (1944). The film is an example in which shows the way the representation of women, playing a particular focus on blonde women, have changed from this time period. This film is able to exploit the ways in which the representation of the blonde women has changed over time. During the 1940s therefore from this film the blonde women is shown to have fully control of the decisions in which the male character is able to make. The film presents a more dominant ideology of the blonde female as she is shown to be easily able to manipulate the male character. The whore and the bimbo however do share similar characteristics as aspects from both are shown through the main female protagonist in the film Double Indemnity (1994) played by Barbra Stanwyck. Her character in the film Phyllis Dietrichson and she is able to cleverly get the male character to kill someone for her. We have gone through with it, Walter. The tough part is all behind us. “We just have to hold on now and not go soft inside. Stick close together the way we started out...I loved you, Walter, and I hated him. But I wasn't going to do anything about it. Not until I met you. You planned the whole thing. I only wanted him dead”.[17] The quote from the film is able to exploit the sort of character she is as she is able to manipulate the male into help her then to find a way which suggests that it was his idea in the first place. An example of another strong an independent women on screen was Buffy the vampire slayer. Buffy’s creator Joss Whedon stated that Buffy “is a good role model for not just girls but for everybody”.[18] They way in which her character is presented compared to the way in which they are from material girls is that she is strong and is almost looked up to for protection by both the female characters and the male.
Both characters representations in the films compared to Material Girls (2006) contrast heavily as in the 1940s showed a dominant female who was most importantly blonde compared to the way now that they are presented which is more stereotyped showing how the stereotypes are reinforced to comply with the views of society.Women in film are often stereotyped in order to create humour. Different ways in which the film complies with these stereotypes of different social groups within the society because it is what the target audience wants to see. If the audience want to see dim blondes within a film then that’s what they would be given in the film. However it is an effective way of promoting the film as it does offer the audience a lot of humour and could appeal to a large number of people.
Words: 3,169
[1] http:imbd.com/title/tt0433412/quotes – Tanzie Marchetta dialogue
[2] male gaze, Laura Mulvey
[3] Tuchman, G
[4] The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass media (1998), Tuchman, G
[5] Walter (1998)
[6] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433412/ - Film tagline
[7] Legally Blonde (2001)
[8] Representations of Gender In the Past, David Gauntlett
[9] Gunter, Barrie (1995)
[10] McNeil (1975)
[11] Gillian Dyer
[12] Working Girls, Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema Tasker, Yvonne
[13] Sardar, Ziauddin and Van Loon, Borin, ‘Introducing Media Studies’ pg 75
[14] Scheibe (1979)
[15] Stan Cohen (1975)
[16] Stan Cohen (1975)
[17] Double Indemnity quote from film(1944)
[18] Media Gender and Identity, David Gauntlet
Monday, 23 March 2009
Nightmare on Elm Street
Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise:
.The original film was released in cinemas in 1984 with many sequles coming after its original release.
. Director Wes Craven wrote and directed the film and also directed the movie scream.
. Nightmare on Elm Street was the third highest grossing franchise when it was released
. The film franchise is based on the fictional character of Freddy Kruger, introduced in A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984.
. Director micheal bay plans to do a remake of the film.
. New line cinema own the right to the franchise films
.The original film was released in cinemas in 1984 with many sequles coming after its original release.
. Director Wes Craven wrote and directed the film and also directed the movie scream.
. Nightmare on Elm Street was the third highest grossing franchise when it was released
. The film franchise is based on the fictional character of Freddy Kruger, introduced in A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984.
. Director micheal bay plans to do a remake of the film.
. New line cinema own the right to the franchise films
Cover Work:Wednesday
Friday 13th horror franchise:
.The film was released on the 9th of may 1980. From then, there have been a number of re makes of the film with the last one being made in 2009.
. When the film was released it was intended to be "a real scary movie" and at the same time make the audience laugh. Friday the 13th began its life as nothing more than a title.
. In 1987, seven years after the release of the motion picture, Simon Hawke adapted a novel of the film Friday the 13th.
. As of 2009, Friday the 13th has been shown in ten sequels, including a crossover film with A Nightmare on Elm Street villain Freddy Kruger. Director Sean Cunningham did not direct any of the film's sequels, though he did take part in the making on the later installments; he initially did not want Jason Voorhees to be resurrected for the sequel.
. Most of the sequels of Friday 13th were filmed on larger budget compared to the original in 1980. In comparison, Friday the 13th had a budget of £550,000, while the first sequel was given a budget of £1.25 million. At the time of its release, Freddy vs. Jason had the largest budget, at £25 million
.The film was released on the 9th of may 1980. From then, there have been a number of re makes of the film with the last one being made in 2009.
. When the film was released it was intended to be "a real scary movie" and at the same time make the audience laugh. Friday the 13th began its life as nothing more than a title.
. In 1987, seven years after the release of the motion picture, Simon Hawke adapted a novel of the film Friday the 13th.
. As of 2009, Friday the 13th has been shown in ten sequels, including a crossover film with A Nightmare on Elm Street villain Freddy Kruger. Director Sean Cunningham did not direct any of the film's sequels, though he did take part in the making on the later installments; he initially did not want Jason Voorhees to be resurrected for the sequel.
. Most of the sequels of Friday 13th were filmed on larger budget compared to the original in 1980. In comparison, Friday the 13th had a budget of £550,000, while the first sequel was given a budget of £1.25 million. At the time of its release, Freddy vs. Jason had the largest budget, at £25 million
My own Friday 13th film:
If i were to make a re make of the horror film Friday 13th i would keep all of the same aspects of teh original films in order to make sure that the film doesn't lose focus. The film however would be updated due to the fact that the film would be targeting a new generation of audience and their expectatation would be far more greater. Similair elements of the horror and slasher genre would be included within the film because people would argue that it is a more modern version and there is more technology so the film would have to meet the needs of this new audience. In the film I would probly make the female characters more independent as audiences expect from a horror film that there would be a final girl who defeats the villian.
Cover Work: Tuesday
Halloween UK:
If I was going to do a re- make of the halloween film I would keep most of the aspects of the film the same. This would be important to do as I would not want to lose the originality of the film which was made in 1978. Throughout the film music is used to create tension by getting louder, whenevr the killer was near or had appeared. The film created a sense which made it slighty repetitive and annoying to the audience.
If there was one thing to chance I would make the killing scenes faster. As the film would be targeted at a new generation of audience, particulary teenagers who may not have seen the oringinal film, the expectations of the audience would be more demanding, and I believe that they would want to see more and quicker deaths.
I would try and make the audience want to quetsion the film by making some of the aspects of the film more misleading to the audience watching. To make this possible at the end of the film,possibly the audience are not intoducedto the killer, or it is someone who as the charcteristics which makes the audience question his or her motive to want to kill people.
What is good about the original halloween, which I believe would be good to apply to the re make is of the camera angles which are used. Often within horror films and shown in the original halloween, the audience a put into a position in which they are forced to be in the eyes of the killer. This is a good way of creating suspence for the audience as they are unaware of who the killer might be.
For a possible storyline for the new halloween film, the main female protagonist could be the daughter of the killer, however her mum did not make her aware of who she is related to. News breaks out that her friends and people living in the area are being killed. At the end the audience are suprised by who the killer is as the killer is actually the girl.
If I was going to do a re- make of the halloween film I would keep most of the aspects of the film the same. This would be important to do as I would not want to lose the originality of the film which was made in 1978. Throughout the film music is used to create tension by getting louder, whenevr the killer was near or had appeared. The film created a sense which made it slighty repetitive and annoying to the audience.
If there was one thing to chance I would make the killing scenes faster. As the film would be targeted at a new generation of audience, particulary teenagers who may not have seen the oringinal film, the expectations of the audience would be more demanding, and I believe that they would want to see more and quicker deaths.
I would try and make the audience want to quetsion the film by making some of the aspects of the film more misleading to the audience watching. To make this possible at the end of the film,possibly the audience are not intoducedto the killer, or it is someone who as the charcteristics which makes the audience question his or her motive to want to kill people.
What is good about the original halloween, which I believe would be good to apply to the re make is of the camera angles which are used. Often within horror films and shown in the original halloween, the audience a put into a position in which they are forced to be in the eyes of the killer. This is a good way of creating suspence for the audience as they are unaware of who the killer might be.
For a possible storyline for the new halloween film, the main female protagonist could be the daughter of the killer, however her mum did not make her aware of who she is related to. News breaks out that her friends and people living in the area are being killed. At the end the audience are suprised by who the killer is as the killer is actually the girl.
Monday, 16 March 2009
Essay Evaluation
Targets:
1. Include more wider contextual information in my essay
2. Include more theories
3. Use more specialist vocabulary throughout my essay eg zeitgeist
4.Make sure that i re-read my essay when its finished to find any mistakes.
Next Step:
The next step for me is to provide a historical overview of womens roles in the openeing of my essay. I need to ensure that throughout my essay i am achieving all of my chosen targets within it along with other ideas.
1. Include more wider contextual information in my essay
2. Include more theories
3. Use more specialist vocabulary throughout my essay eg zeitgeist
4.Make sure that i re-read my essay when its finished to find any mistakes.
Next Step:
The next step for me is to provide a historical overview of womens roles in the openeing of my essay. I need to ensure that throughout my essay i am achieving all of my chosen targets within it along with other ideas.
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Cover Work
Unit 1: Introducing genre
. Genre is a critical tool, a concept that helps scholars to study films and filmaking, and audiences responses to film.
. Genres are not fixed
. We use genre to help us understand films and the processes of making them
Unit 2: Genre classification
. Genre is dynamic
. Genre is not a category with fixed criteria
. Repertoire of elements from which generic desciptions might be constucted. Iconography, style, setting, narrative, characters, themes.
Unit 3: Hollywood and genre
. Hollywood is a generic cinema, which is not quite the same as saying it is a cinema genres. Richard Maltby 1995
. In studying hollywood as a generic cinema it is useful to explore how genres develop over time.
Unit 4: Audience and genres
Pleasures of viewing: emotional. visceral, intellectual puzzles, counter culture attraction, counter reading of genre films, genre communities.
. The strongest defining elements of some genres are the emotional responses they are designed to inspire in the audience.
Unit 5: Stars and genres
. Film theorists like ellis 1992 and Dyer 1987 and 1998 have suggested ways in which audiences engage with stars and why they have become central to understanding of Hollywood cinema.
. Ellis states that stars hold a promise to audiences
. Genre is a critical tool, a concept that helps scholars to study films and filmaking, and audiences responses to film.
. Genres are not fixed
. We use genre to help us understand films and the processes of making them
Unit 2: Genre classification
. Genre is dynamic
. Genre is not a category with fixed criteria
. Repertoire of elements from which generic desciptions might be constucted. Iconography, style, setting, narrative, characters, themes.
Unit 3: Hollywood and genre
. Hollywood is a generic cinema, which is not quite the same as saying it is a cinema genres. Richard Maltby 1995
. In studying hollywood as a generic cinema it is useful to explore how genres develop over time.
Unit 4: Audience and genres
Pleasures of viewing: emotional. visceral, intellectual puzzles, counter culture attraction, counter reading of genre films, genre communities.
. The strongest defining elements of some genres are the emotional responses they are designed to inspire in the audience.
Unit 5: Stars and genres
. Film theorists like ellis 1992 and Dyer 1987 and 1998 have suggested ways in which audiences engage with stars and why they have become central to understanding of Hollywood cinema.
. Ellis states that stars hold a promise to audiences
Monday, 9 February 2009
Articles
Protests at Indian cinemas over Slumdog Millionaire:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/27/riots-india-slumdog-millionaire
This article outines the attitude to what people living in india had towards the film slumdog millionaire in cinemas.
So what do British Asians think of Slumdog Millionaire?:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jan/18/slumdog-millionaire-british-asian-reaction
This article outlines the view in which british asians had towards the film slumdog millionaire
Asian media's bright future:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2367945.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/27/riots-india-slumdog-millionaire
This article outines the attitude to what people living in india had towards the film slumdog millionaire in cinemas.
So what do British Asians think of Slumdog Millionaire?:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jan/18/slumdog-millionaire-british-asian-reaction
This article outlines the view in which british asians had towards the film slumdog millionaire
Asian media's bright future:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2367945.stm
This article outlines the changes in the way in which the media portay asians. It highlights that there have been changes made.
Slumdog Millionnaire is succesful at the baftas
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/feb/08/bafta-awards-2009-winners
The article outlines the success of the film slumdog millionaire at the bafta awards.
What British Asians said about the Ferreiras:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2004/aug/09/broadcasting.race2
The article outlines the attitude to which british asians had towards the asian family the ferrerias in the televison soup eastenders.
Points from the article:
"The Ferreiras don't represent Asians. The storylines don't do justice to the Asian community or their way of life.
It's good there are Asians in such a popular programme but they could have done so much more with them. The Ferreiras have no background. You can't put them in any context. Their storylines so far have all been negative.
The Ferreiras should just be killed off. They are pointless, boring and the storylines are rubbish. Something like Goodness Gracious Me is better representation. It was funny and good for both insiders and outsiders.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Media Coursework first draft
I don't understand why we didn't get any unemployment money... We've never even been employed. Doesn't that mean we should get more unemployment? "Tanzie Marchetta. [1] How has the stereotypical view of women been reinforced throughout the film "Material Girls"?There are many ways in which the film, Material Girls (2006) is able to conform and emphasise to the main stereotypes which are given towards young blonde females in society. This therefore has a way in which it is emphasising to the fact that women are being underrepresented and shown in ways to conform and to meet the needs of the "male gaze".[2] This shows to the audience what their main roles are in the film for women and what is expected from the stereotypical blonde female characters to do throughout the film. Tuchman [3] asserts that women were shown to be working were portrayed as "incompetentents and inferiors"[4] this therefore may justify the reasons to why women are represented in a certain way in films. Women therefore from the statement made basically were shown to have no place or have any roles or main responsibilities within the film.The media tend to exploit the faults in which particularly blondes make highlighting them to be degrading to all blondes. Having blonde women constantly in the media such as Paris Hilton can only justify the label in which blonde women are given which makes it evident that they would be the perfect roles to have in comedy films such as the chick flick Material Girls (2006).Films which include the same type of conventions of the Material Girls (2006) film genre are Mean Girls (2004) and Legally Blonde (2001). These films are able to show the audience the familiar roles in which particularly blonde girl have within films of this genre. Their roles are often comical and heavily stereotypical. Compared to the 1940s film "Double Indemnity" (1944) the female role differs to the one in which is shown in material girls. Even though the character is blonde she is very powerful in terms of the way in which she is able to manipulate the male character with her good looks.The main focus of this essay would be to analyse the ways in which stereotypes have been reinforced and presented throughout the film and relevant texts, also looking at different ways in which the representation of women in film have changed over time and how the way they are represented can influence the ways in which the audience consume the text.
The ways in which film texts are produced by the directors can show certain ideologies to the audience watching about the film. It could be made evident through the use of characters used and the plot of the film about the message in which the director is putting across to the main target audience. However an important factor which needs to be addressed is that there is a lack of female directors producing films compared to the large number of male directors which are. There could be many reasons to why there are a limited amount of well known female directors producing films and there are many factors which may influence a female directors decision to want to go continue into directing.
Some of the issues which influence female directors decision into not to wanting to pursue their career and submit their ideas is due to the fact that is that some want to concentrate on looking after their children. Directing can be time consuming therefore it would mean that there would be no time for them to take a break and spend time with the family. The film Material Girls (2006) is directed by a female director called Martha Coolidge. The fact that it was a female director who produced the film shows that the ideologies of the film must be accurate due to the fact that the film is being directed from a female point of view. Therefore I would be her decision to the ways in which she wants the characters to appear to the audience.
The film Material Girls (2006) follows the typical conventions expected of a typical chick flick genre film therefore it meets the possible expectations in which the audience already have of the film. The Material Girls (2006) film presents to the audience with a view of the lives of the two main female characters Tanzie and Ava Marchetta who at the start of the film are shown to only shown to be the typical teenage girls, who only enjoy going to parties and looking good, hence the reason why the film is called material girls. This can link to Walters study in which he had found out that “women enjoy fashion and beauty” [5]. This can therefore then makes it evident from the ways that the women represented in Material Girls (2006) are because they in fact both enjoy those two things in life and that they are expected by society to act the way in which they do.
An issue in which the film is able to deal with is that it portrays the lives of two young female characters that enjoy their easy lifestyle, without fully realising the responsibility in which they have. The story is outlined through the tag line of the film being “It's A Short Trip From The Penthouse To The Poorhouse”[6] This is able to emphasise the main plot of the film. It implies and gives an indication to the audience that these two girls who enjoy the material things in life and all of the luxuries, comes a point in which they would be no longer able to enjoy it as their lives change dramatically. The film is able to show the close relationship that the two sisters have with each other and express the importance of the familial ideology.
Other films in which they conform to the typical chick flick genre conventions are Legally Blonde (2001) Mean Girls (2006) and the sitcom The Simple Life (2003) which most importantly stars two blonde bombshells Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. These two films and the television series links to the film Material Girls (2006) due to the fact that they all show females to be presented in a similar way following the same characteristics and show a heavy amount of stereotyping with the films and sitcom. In legally Blonde(2001) the main character of the film is played by Reese Witherspoon. The character in which she plays “Elle” as the plot is mainly centred around her, and throughout the film her character is stereotypically made to look as the stupid blonde by wanting to study law in order to win the affections of her boyfriend. However the audience would find this funny due to the fact that the film is aiming to use this in a way to encourage people to want to go out and watch the film. “Going to Harvard is the only way I'm going to get the love of my life back” [7 ] This quote taken from the film can suggest the attitude of the blonde character as she only wants to be successful in order to win back the love of her life.
In Mean Girls (2006) the film portrays the actions of a group of young females highlighting how competitive and bitchy they can become. It is typical of a film like this to have girls falling out over a male character and failing to show female unity.
The Simple Life (2001) is able to give the audience a real life view of two well known celebrities who in fact are both rich celebrity blondes trying to fit into the world which they seem to no nothing about.
An important fact which outlines and makes evident of the changes in history for women appearing on screen is that during the 1950s 1960s and 1970s only 20 to 30 per cent of characters in television were female.[8] However by the mid 1980s more women were placed in leading roles but men had continued to dominate and fulfil the main roles.
The roles in which women have had throughout film have changed dramatically throughout history. Films would often show women fulfilling the typical roles, which were expected by women at the time to have. These roles would include the typical housewife, looking after the children and meeting the needs of her husband.
In film, during the 1950s, the male characters were shown to be the heroes and most importantly having most of the central roles in the films. Therefore this evidently means that women who are watching the film are forced to cross gender identify with the men. The male characters were presented powerful and assertive, as making more, and almost to the most influential decisions which would affect themselves and the women. Women on the other hand, were presented as being frightened and in need of constant protection from the male characters. Women were represented as being more passive, weak and “merely token females”[9]. Gaunter implied that women in film were just there in order to show, and create a sense of equality in the film. The women may not have had a specific role in the film however showing one or two female characters would make the audience believe that they in fact have an important role in the film. In the 1960s there was still no change in the way in which women were presented in film. Men continued to dominate the main screen and were portrayed as being intelligent and assertive. Representations of women were still the same during the 1970s, however a study from McNeil (1975) found out that housewife’s continued to be the main female role on television.[10]. Women therefore main concern was with romance or family. The 1980s saw a change in the way women were in television drama as Gillian Dyer found out that “the number of women in central roles in police and crime drama had increased”[11] This would have seen to be a huge change in the way in which women were shown particular in television due to the fact that it allowed the audience to see a different representation of women. The roles in which women would have been shown to have in these dramas would be strong and independent women. "The 1980s and early 1990s saw the emergence of a few female action heroes defined by a quality of masculinity"[12] During this time period women in film began to be presented in a more positive and independent way. This can fully be shown in the film Tomb Raider (2001) which stared Angelina Jolie, a female actress staring as the main role in the film. Changes at this point in time began to show these female characters in films like this one being in more dominate roles and not in the shows of their male counterparts.
“Stereotypes are labels that categorize people largely in negative terms, and that can be applied to whole social or cultural groups”[13]. In this case the main focus of the cultural in which are being stereotyped in the films are blondes. Stereotyping within films places much importance in the way in which the film can structure the way the characters are presented to the audience. The ways in which certain groups in society are represented can be made evident throughout films offering the audience a more comical view of the particular group or groups which are being represented however the audience may agree that the way that they are being represented is an accurate one. The main group in which is being presented in the film are blondes. The blonde characters would often portray a sense of “dumbing down”. This is shown throughout film texts as it is able to create humour for the audience and makes it easier for them to be able to understand and to consume the text which is given. An example from the text is “I don't understand why we didn't get any unemployment money... We've never even been employed. Doesn't that mean we should get more unemployment?.As used at the start of the essay, this quote from the film Material Girls (2006) from one of the main protagonists in the film Tanzie Marchetta is able to fully justify the ways in which the language of the characters is used to be able to create humour, therefore meeting the audience expectations of the typical blonde female.
The fact that films like chick flicks and reality television sitcoms such as The Simple Life (2003) showing a real life account of rich, young and good looking blondes, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are now able to show this links to Scheibes (1979) view of women that there main concern in life was “beauty, cleanness, family and pleasing others”[14]. This is made evident through the fact that they both are already concerned with two of those factors also suggesting that they are essential for them to have. Without them they result into having to live and have a fairly average and simple life.
The stereotypes in which are given to a particular group or persons within society can therefore lead to it having a negative effect to those that may be associated with that particular group in society. Once given a negative label by those in society it can therefore lead to a self fulfilling prophecy. This is when a social group beings to act upon the label in which they have been given by society. In this case the main focus would be with blonde women. Stan Cohen had argued in the case that “the media labelled youth culture in a stereotyped and negative way”[15] This can then lead to a moral panic occurring within society. A moral panic can take effect once “a person or group of persons become defined as a threat to societal values and interests[16 ] People can them make assumptions about that particular group in society and begin to believe whatever they hear about that group mainly published through the media is the truth.
Women in film could have been categorised into either one of the two groups in a film based on the character that they had adopted within the film. These categories would position female characters to either adopt the role as The Madonna or The Whore. The Madonna is almost made to be presented as the good women who are always shown to be pure and maternal whereas compared to the whore, her characteristics would be sinful and almost everything she would do would be sexual.
The whore however compared to the bimbo, would use her sexual prowess to often manipulate the male characters to almost doing anything that they want them to do. The bimbos main characteristics would be flashy make up, have large breasts and would wear high heels. Her characteristics would suggest that she should be wearing high heels. These images can then be made throughout films due to the fact that the film directors are just giving the audience what they want from the film. This is a way in which they want certain audiences to want to go out and watch the film. This is made evident through the film Double Indemnity (1944). The film is an example in which shows the way the representation of women, playing a particular focus on blonde women, have changed from this time period. This film is able to exploit the ways in which the representation of blonde women have changed over time. During the 1940s therefore from this film the blonde women is shown to have fully control of the decisions in which the male character is able to make. The film presents a more dominant ideology of the blonde female as she is shown to be easily able to manipulate the male character. The whore and the bimbo however do share similar characteristics as aspects from both are shown through the main female protagonist in the film Double Indemnity (1994) played by Barbra Stanwyck. Her character in the film Phyllis Dietrichson is able to cleverly get the male character to kill someone for her. We have gone through with it, Walter. The tough part is all behind us. “We just have to hold on now and not go soft inside. Stick close together the way we started out...I loved you, Walter, and I hated him. But I wasn't going to do anything about it. Not until I met you. You planned the whole thing. I only wanted him dead”. [17] The quote from the film is able to exploit the sort of character she is as she is able to manipulate the male into help her then to find a way which suggests that it was his idea in the first place. An example of another strong an independent women on screen was buffy the vampire slayer. Buffys creator Joss Whedon stated that buffy “is a good role model for not just girls but for everybody”. [18] They way in which her character is presented compared to the way in which they are from material girls is that she is strong and is almost looked up to for protection by both the female characters and the male.
Women in film are often stereotyped in order to create humour for the audience. Different ways in which the film is able to comply with these stereotypes of different social groups within the society is because it is what the target audience wants to see. If the audience want to see dim blondes within a film then that’s what they would be given within the film to see. However it is an effective way of promoting the film as it does offer the audience a lot of humour and could appeal to a large number of people
Word Count 3,051
[1] http:imbd.com/title/tt0433412/quotes - Tanzie Marchetta dialogue
[2] male gaze, Laura Mulvey
[3] Tuchman, G
[4]The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass media (1998), Tuchman, G
[5] Walter (1998)
[6] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433412/ - Film tagline
[7] Legally Blonde (2001)
[8] Representations of Gender In the Past, David Gauntlett
[9] Gaunter (1995)
[10] McNeil (1975)
[11]Gillian Dyer
[12]Media Gender and Identity, Gauntlett, David
[13]Stereotyping
[14]Scheibe (1979)
[15] Stan Cohen (1975)
[16]Stan Cohen
[17]Double Indemnity quote from film(1944)
[18] Media Gender and Identity
The ways in which film texts are produced by the directors can show certain ideologies to the audience watching about the film. It could be made evident through the use of characters used and the plot of the film about the message in which the director is putting across to the main target audience. However an important factor which needs to be addressed is that there is a lack of female directors producing films compared to the large number of male directors which are. There could be many reasons to why there are a limited amount of well known female directors producing films and there are many factors which may influence a female directors decision to want to go continue into directing.
Some of the issues which influence female directors decision into not to wanting to pursue their career and submit their ideas is due to the fact that is that some want to concentrate on looking after their children. Directing can be time consuming therefore it would mean that there would be no time for them to take a break and spend time with the family. The film Material Girls (2006) is directed by a female director called Martha Coolidge. The fact that it was a female director who produced the film shows that the ideologies of the film must be accurate due to the fact that the film is being directed from a female point of view. Therefore I would be her decision to the ways in which she wants the characters to appear to the audience.
The film Material Girls (2006) follows the typical conventions expected of a typical chick flick genre film therefore it meets the possible expectations in which the audience already have of the film. The Material Girls (2006) film presents to the audience with a view of the lives of the two main female characters Tanzie and Ava Marchetta who at the start of the film are shown to only shown to be the typical teenage girls, who only enjoy going to parties and looking good, hence the reason why the film is called material girls. This can link to Walters study in which he had found out that “women enjoy fashion and beauty” [5]. This can therefore then makes it evident from the ways that the women represented in Material Girls (2006) are because they in fact both enjoy those two things in life and that they are expected by society to act the way in which they do.
An issue in which the film is able to deal with is that it portrays the lives of two young female characters that enjoy their easy lifestyle, without fully realising the responsibility in which they have. The story is outlined through the tag line of the film being “It's A Short Trip From The Penthouse To The Poorhouse”[6] This is able to emphasise the main plot of the film. It implies and gives an indication to the audience that these two girls who enjoy the material things in life and all of the luxuries, comes a point in which they would be no longer able to enjoy it as their lives change dramatically. The film is able to show the close relationship that the two sisters have with each other and express the importance of the familial ideology.
Other films in which they conform to the typical chick flick genre conventions are Legally Blonde (2001) Mean Girls (2006) and the sitcom The Simple Life (2003) which most importantly stars two blonde bombshells Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. These two films and the television series links to the film Material Girls (2006) due to the fact that they all show females to be presented in a similar way following the same characteristics and show a heavy amount of stereotyping with the films and sitcom. In legally Blonde(2001) the main character of the film is played by Reese Witherspoon. The character in which she plays “Elle” as the plot is mainly centred around her, and throughout the film her character is stereotypically made to look as the stupid blonde by wanting to study law in order to win the affections of her boyfriend. However the audience would find this funny due to the fact that the film is aiming to use this in a way to encourage people to want to go out and watch the film. “Going to Harvard is the only way I'm going to get the love of my life back” [7 ] This quote taken from the film can suggest the attitude of the blonde character as she only wants to be successful in order to win back the love of her life.
In Mean Girls (2006) the film portrays the actions of a group of young females highlighting how competitive and bitchy they can become. It is typical of a film like this to have girls falling out over a male character and failing to show female unity.
The Simple Life (2001) is able to give the audience a real life view of two well known celebrities who in fact are both rich celebrity blondes trying to fit into the world which they seem to no nothing about.
An important fact which outlines and makes evident of the changes in history for women appearing on screen is that during the 1950s 1960s and 1970s only 20 to 30 per cent of characters in television were female.[8] However by the mid 1980s more women were placed in leading roles but men had continued to dominate and fulfil the main roles.
The roles in which women have had throughout film have changed dramatically throughout history. Films would often show women fulfilling the typical roles, which were expected by women at the time to have. These roles would include the typical housewife, looking after the children and meeting the needs of her husband.
In film, during the 1950s, the male characters were shown to be the heroes and most importantly having most of the central roles in the films. Therefore this evidently means that women who are watching the film are forced to cross gender identify with the men. The male characters were presented powerful and assertive, as making more, and almost to the most influential decisions which would affect themselves and the women. Women on the other hand, were presented as being frightened and in need of constant protection from the male characters. Women were represented as being more passive, weak and “merely token females”[9]. Gaunter implied that women in film were just there in order to show, and create a sense of equality in the film. The women may not have had a specific role in the film however showing one or two female characters would make the audience believe that they in fact have an important role in the film. In the 1960s there was still no change in the way in which women were presented in film. Men continued to dominate the main screen and were portrayed as being intelligent and assertive. Representations of women were still the same during the 1970s, however a study from McNeil (1975) found out that housewife’s continued to be the main female role on television.[10]. Women therefore main concern was with romance or family. The 1980s saw a change in the way women were in television drama as Gillian Dyer found out that “the number of women in central roles in police and crime drama had increased”[11] This would have seen to be a huge change in the way in which women were shown particular in television due to the fact that it allowed the audience to see a different representation of women. The roles in which women would have been shown to have in these dramas would be strong and independent women. "The 1980s and early 1990s saw the emergence of a few female action heroes defined by a quality of masculinity"[12] During this time period women in film began to be presented in a more positive and independent way. This can fully be shown in the film Tomb Raider (2001) which stared Angelina Jolie, a female actress staring as the main role in the film. Changes at this point in time began to show these female characters in films like this one being in more dominate roles and not in the shows of their male counterparts.
“Stereotypes are labels that categorize people largely in negative terms, and that can be applied to whole social or cultural groups”[13]. In this case the main focus of the cultural in which are being stereotyped in the films are blondes. Stereotyping within films places much importance in the way in which the film can structure the way the characters are presented to the audience. The ways in which certain groups in society are represented can be made evident throughout films offering the audience a more comical view of the particular group or groups which are being represented however the audience may agree that the way that they are being represented is an accurate one. The main group in which is being presented in the film are blondes. The blonde characters would often portray a sense of “dumbing down”. This is shown throughout film texts as it is able to create humour for the audience and makes it easier for them to be able to understand and to consume the text which is given. An example from the text is “I don't understand why we didn't get any unemployment money... We've never even been employed. Doesn't that mean we should get more unemployment?.As used at the start of the essay, this quote from the film Material Girls (2006) from one of the main protagonists in the film Tanzie Marchetta is able to fully justify the ways in which the language of the characters is used to be able to create humour, therefore meeting the audience expectations of the typical blonde female.
The fact that films like chick flicks and reality television sitcoms such as The Simple Life (2003) showing a real life account of rich, young and good looking blondes, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are now able to show this links to Scheibes (1979) view of women that there main concern in life was “beauty, cleanness, family and pleasing others”[14]. This is made evident through the fact that they both are already concerned with two of those factors also suggesting that they are essential for them to have. Without them they result into having to live and have a fairly average and simple life.
The stereotypes in which are given to a particular group or persons within society can therefore lead to it having a negative effect to those that may be associated with that particular group in society. Once given a negative label by those in society it can therefore lead to a self fulfilling prophecy. This is when a social group beings to act upon the label in which they have been given by society. In this case the main focus would be with blonde women. Stan Cohen had argued in the case that “the media labelled youth culture in a stereotyped and negative way”[15] This can then lead to a moral panic occurring within society. A moral panic can take effect once “a person or group of persons become defined as a threat to societal values and interests[16 ] People can them make assumptions about that particular group in society and begin to believe whatever they hear about that group mainly published through the media is the truth.
Women in film could have been categorised into either one of the two groups in a film based on the character that they had adopted within the film. These categories would position female characters to either adopt the role as The Madonna or The Whore. The Madonna is almost made to be presented as the good women who are always shown to be pure and maternal whereas compared to the whore, her characteristics would be sinful and almost everything she would do would be sexual.
The whore however compared to the bimbo, would use her sexual prowess to often manipulate the male characters to almost doing anything that they want them to do. The bimbos main characteristics would be flashy make up, have large breasts and would wear high heels. Her characteristics would suggest that she should be wearing high heels. These images can then be made throughout films due to the fact that the film directors are just giving the audience what they want from the film. This is a way in which they want certain audiences to want to go out and watch the film. This is made evident through the film Double Indemnity (1944). The film is an example in which shows the way the representation of women, playing a particular focus on blonde women, have changed from this time period. This film is able to exploit the ways in which the representation of blonde women have changed over time. During the 1940s therefore from this film the blonde women is shown to have fully control of the decisions in which the male character is able to make. The film presents a more dominant ideology of the blonde female as she is shown to be easily able to manipulate the male character. The whore and the bimbo however do share similar characteristics as aspects from both are shown through the main female protagonist in the film Double Indemnity (1994) played by Barbra Stanwyck. Her character in the film Phyllis Dietrichson is able to cleverly get the male character to kill someone for her. We have gone through with it, Walter. The tough part is all behind us. “We just have to hold on now and not go soft inside. Stick close together the way we started out...I loved you, Walter, and I hated him. But I wasn't going to do anything about it. Not until I met you. You planned the whole thing. I only wanted him dead”. [17] The quote from the film is able to exploit the sort of character she is as she is able to manipulate the male into help her then to find a way which suggests that it was his idea in the first place. An example of another strong an independent women on screen was buffy the vampire slayer. Buffys creator Joss Whedon stated that buffy “is a good role model for not just girls but for everybody”. [18] They way in which her character is presented compared to the way in which they are from material girls is that she is strong and is almost looked up to for protection by both the female characters and the male.
Women in film are often stereotyped in order to create humour for the audience. Different ways in which the film is able to comply with these stereotypes of different social groups within the society is because it is what the target audience wants to see. If the audience want to see dim blondes within a film then that’s what they would be given within the film to see. However it is an effective way of promoting the film as it does offer the audience a lot of humour and could appeal to a large number of people
Word Count 3,051
[1] http:imbd.com/title/tt0433412/quotes - Tanzie Marchetta dialogue
[2] male gaze, Laura Mulvey
[3] Tuchman, G
[4]The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass media (1998), Tuchman, G
[5] Walter (1998)
[6] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433412/ - Film tagline
[7] Legally Blonde (2001)
[8] Representations of Gender In the Past, David Gauntlett
[9] Gaunter (1995)
[10] McNeil (1975)
[11]Gillian Dyer
[12]Media Gender and Identity, Gauntlett, David
[13]Stereotyping
[14]Scheibe (1979)
[15] Stan Cohen (1975)
[16]Stan Cohen
[17]Double Indemnity quote from film(1944)
[18] Media Gender and Identity
Sunday, 25 January 2009
First Paragraph Rewrite
"I don't understand why we didn't get any unemployment money... We've never even been employed. Doesn't that mean we should get more unemployment? " Tanzie Marchetta [1]
How has the stereotypical view of women been reinforced throughout the film "Material Girls"?
The ways in which the film, Material Girls (2006) is able to conform to the main sterotypes which are given towards young blonde females in society, therefore emphasising the fact that women are being underrepresented and shown to conform to the "male gaze".[2] This shows to the audience what there main roles are in the film and what is expected from the stereotypical blonde female characters to do throughout the film. Tuchman[3] asserts that women were shown to be working were portrayed as "incompetentents and inferiors"[4] This therefore may justify the reasons to why women are represented in a certain way in films.
The media tend to exploit the faults in which blondes make highlighting them to be degrading to all blondes. Having blonde women constantly in the media like paris hilton can only justify the label in which blonde women are given which makes it evident that they would be the perfect roles to have in comedy films such as material girls.
Films like Mean Girls (2004) and Legally Blonde (2001) are able to show the audience the familiar roles in which blondes girl have within films of this genre. There roles are often comical and heavily sterotypical. Compared to the 1940s film "Double Indemnity" (1944) the female role differs to the one in which is shown in material girls. Even though the chracter is blonde she is very powerful in terms of the way in which she is able to manipulate the male charcter with her good looks.
The main focus of this essay would be to analyse the ways in which stereotypes have been reinforced and presented throughout the film and relevant texts.
[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433412/quotes
[2] male gaze
[3] Tuchman, G
[4] Gauntlett, David
How has the stereotypical view of women been reinforced throughout the film "Material Girls"?
The ways in which the film, Material Girls (2006) is able to conform to the main sterotypes which are given towards young blonde females in society, therefore emphasising the fact that women are being underrepresented and shown to conform to the "male gaze".[2] This shows to the audience what there main roles are in the film and what is expected from the stereotypical blonde female characters to do throughout the film. Tuchman[3] asserts that women were shown to be working were portrayed as "incompetentents and inferiors"[4] This therefore may justify the reasons to why women are represented in a certain way in films.
The media tend to exploit the faults in which blondes make highlighting them to be degrading to all blondes. Having blonde women constantly in the media like paris hilton can only justify the label in which blonde women are given which makes it evident that they would be the perfect roles to have in comedy films such as material girls.
Films like Mean Girls (2004) and Legally Blonde (2001) are able to show the audience the familiar roles in which blondes girl have within films of this genre. There roles are often comical and heavily sterotypical. Compared to the 1940s film "Double Indemnity" (1944) the female role differs to the one in which is shown in material girls. Even though the chracter is blonde she is very powerful in terms of the way in which she is able to manipulate the male charcter with her good looks.
The main focus of this essay would be to analyse the ways in which stereotypes have been reinforced and presented throughout the film and relevant texts.
[1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433412/quotes
[2] male gaze
[3] Tuchman, G
[4] Gauntlett, David
Self Evaluation 2
Attainment-1
My attainment is still good as I have continued to attented all my media lessons and have completed all of my work.
Effort-2
I believe that I am putting more effort into my work. This is because I am spending more time on my work and starting my work earlier. This helps me because it ensures that I don't leave my work untill the last minute so i can spend more time and effort on to it.
Punctuality-2
Sometimes I am late for my lessons usually on a wednesday but my attendence for my lessons overall throughout the whole week is good.
Submission and quality of homework-2
I believe that my work has improved throughout the year due to the fact that I am spending more time on it ensuring that there is a quality of work being done. And most importantly I ensure that all my work gets done.
Ability to work independently-1
Throughout my independent study I have continued to work independently, therefore I believe that this has been very good.
Quality of writing-2
I believe that my writing has improved from the last time in which I wrote out my first self evaluations however there is still a need for improvement when I am writing. To do this I would have to check all my work after I have finished and correct mistakes.
Organisation of Media folder-2
The organisation of my media folder has improved from the last time I had written my first self evaluation. Before I failed to have a folder that was up to standard and my work was not organised in the correct order. However now I have put together a separte media folder with just media work in it. This allows me to then remain fully organised and be fully aware of all the work in which has been done in lessons. But I still need to ensure that all of my work gets put in the folder properly and remains organised.
Oral contributions in class-2
My contribution in class still remains the same as whenever we have discussions in class i do try and take part.
Standard of Module 5 blog- 1
My module 5 blog has continued to remain fully organised. I have made sure that all work has been completed on time and posted onto my blog. However I have to ensure that after I have completed my work to ensure I check my spelling.
Standard of Module 6 blog-3
I believe the standard of the module 6 blog compared to my module 5 blog differs a lot in the ways in which my work is presented and the way in which it gets complete. I still need to ensure that I complete some of the work which was set and post it onto my med 6 blog
www
My work is always completed on time
work is done to the best of my ability
EBI
Always try and check work after I have finished
Do some more wider reading
Do more work on med 6 blog
My attainment is still good as I have continued to attented all my media lessons and have completed all of my work.
Effort-2
I believe that I am putting more effort into my work. This is because I am spending more time on my work and starting my work earlier. This helps me because it ensures that I don't leave my work untill the last minute so i can spend more time and effort on to it.
Punctuality-2
Sometimes I am late for my lessons usually on a wednesday but my attendence for my lessons overall throughout the whole week is good.
Submission and quality of homework-2
I believe that my work has improved throughout the year due to the fact that I am spending more time on it ensuring that there is a quality of work being done. And most importantly I ensure that all my work gets done.
Ability to work independently-1
Throughout my independent study I have continued to work independently, therefore I believe that this has been very good.
Quality of writing-2
I believe that my writing has improved from the last time in which I wrote out my first self evaluations however there is still a need for improvement when I am writing. To do this I would have to check all my work after I have finished and correct mistakes.
Organisation of Media folder-2
The organisation of my media folder has improved from the last time I had written my first self evaluation. Before I failed to have a folder that was up to standard and my work was not organised in the correct order. However now I have put together a separte media folder with just media work in it. This allows me to then remain fully organised and be fully aware of all the work in which has been done in lessons. But I still need to ensure that all of my work gets put in the folder properly and remains organised.
Oral contributions in class-2
My contribution in class still remains the same as whenever we have discussions in class i do try and take part.
Standard of Module 5 blog- 1
My module 5 blog has continued to remain fully organised. I have made sure that all work has been completed on time and posted onto my blog. However I have to ensure that after I have completed my work to ensure I check my spelling.
Standard of Module 6 blog-3
I believe the standard of the module 6 blog compared to my module 5 blog differs a lot in the ways in which my work is presented and the way in which it gets complete. I still need to ensure that I complete some of the work which was set and post it onto my med 6 blog
www
My work is always completed on time
work is done to the best of my ability
EBI
Always try and check work after I have finished
Do some more wider reading
Do more work on med 6 blog
Thursday, 1 January 2009
Essayy Plan...
How has the stereotypical view of women been reinforced throughout the film "Material Girls"?
The main focus of my essay is on the way in which female characters are sterotyped throughout films to create humour for the audience and to conform to the sterotypical representations of society, with the main focus of this essay being on my chosen film "Material Girls". It could be argued that the reasons for this being evident in films due to the fact that this is what the audience believe to be an accurate representation therefore the films interpretation of the females would have to be accurate which would encourage people to want to go out and watch the film.
The films main focus is on the lives of two sisters Ava and Tanzie, young females who enjoy life, explained in the title of the film that they are material girls, like many enjoy looking good and going shopping. The girls are presented as always being in the public eye and are alomst glamourised in order to show them as material girls.
Other texts which I would be able to relate to, in order to prove that in films which conform to the typical chick flick genre conventions are, Legally Blonde, Mean Girls and the sitcom The Simple Life which importantly stars Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. These two films and the television series would allow me to make similiar links to my film material girls due to the fact that they all show females to be presented in a similar way. In legally Blonde the main charcter is played by Reese Witherspoon. The character she plays in the film is sterotypically made to look stupid by wanting to study law in order to win the effections of her boyfriend. In mean girls the film portrays the actions of a group of young females highlighting how competeitve and bitchy they can become. Typical of a film like this to have girls falling out over a male character and failing to show female unity. The simple life is able to give the audience a real life view of two celebrities, both blonde trying to fit into the world which they seem to no nothing about.
Using the information above would help me writing up my essay as it invloves the main foucs of my question which would be to find out how in both my own film and the other texts which i am going to make references to, how sterotypes of the female characters espically chracters who are blonde are being reinforced to the audience watching.
Introduction:
Write about the ways in which women are sterotyped within some films and begin to talk about how I may begin to answer my question. Compare the other films and discuss how they are relevant to my essay and how they would help me answer my question.
Para 1- Women throughout history in film
Begin to discuss in the essay the ways in which the roles of women have changed throughout history. Include theorists.
Para 2- Stereotyping
The representation of blonde females in material girls and compare to the historical film double indemnity.
If the films are able to reinforce the negative sterotypes in which young blondes are given, or able to challenge them.
Link to the films to the sitcom the simple life which stars paris hilton and nicole richie. A real account of what blonde women are like in real life instead of film and begin to argue if this is the reason to why blondes are represented like this in film.
This would be an important part of my essay as it is the main topic in my question. It would allow me to show the changes of womens roles in film and the way in which they have been sterotyped.
Para 3- The whore vs the bimbo
Compare the representations of the female charcters in both double indemnity and material girls and discuss how they have changed over time. The whore in double indemnity and the bimbo image created in material girls.
Link to laura mulveys male gaze theory
Para 4- Womens roles in film
In this paragraph I will write about the ways in which womens roles in films have changed over time. Disscus the femme fatale (the bad women) the whore and women as the token characters in films.
Look at films which show women in leading roles and have more power. Shown in such films like tomb raider.
Link to mc neil (1975) typical role of a women in film would be a housewife.
Contrast with gaunters thoery as not all women in film are shown to be weak.
Conclusion:
Summarise the whole essay and to explain how my essay question has been answered
Discuss the different ways in which women are sterotyped within the film and conclude to whether or not the sterotypes have been reinforced in the films or not.
Give my own opinons to whether or not things have changed within films.
Compare
The Chick Flick Genre
This type of genre often shows young females in comical roles. The females would often clash during the film many beacause of another male charcter.
Blonde Women
Blonde women are often represented in film having the most comical roles in film and are often heavily stereotyped throughout them
The media students book Third edition- Gill Branston And Roy Stafford
Impossible bodies, femininity and masculinity at the movies- Chris Holmlund
The main focus of my essay is on the way in which female characters are sterotyped throughout films to create humour for the audience and to conform to the sterotypical representations of society, with the main focus of this essay being on my chosen film "Material Girls". It could be argued that the reasons for this being evident in films due to the fact that this is what the audience believe to be an accurate representation therefore the films interpretation of the females would have to be accurate which would encourage people to want to go out and watch the film.
The films main focus is on the lives of two sisters Ava and Tanzie, young females who enjoy life, explained in the title of the film that they are material girls, like many enjoy looking good and going shopping. The girls are presented as always being in the public eye and are alomst glamourised in order to show them as material girls.
Other texts which I would be able to relate to, in order to prove that in films which conform to the typical chick flick genre conventions are, Legally Blonde, Mean Girls and the sitcom The Simple Life which importantly stars Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. These two films and the television series would allow me to make similiar links to my film material girls due to the fact that they all show females to be presented in a similar way. In legally Blonde the main charcter is played by Reese Witherspoon. The character she plays in the film is sterotypically made to look stupid by wanting to study law in order to win the effections of her boyfriend. In mean girls the film portrays the actions of a group of young females highlighting how competeitve and bitchy they can become. Typical of a film like this to have girls falling out over a male character and failing to show female unity. The simple life is able to give the audience a real life view of two celebrities, both blonde trying to fit into the world which they seem to no nothing about.
Using the information above would help me writing up my essay as it invloves the main foucs of my question which would be to find out how in both my own film and the other texts which i am going to make references to, how sterotypes of the female characters espically chracters who are blonde are being reinforced to the audience watching.
Introduction:
Write about the ways in which women are sterotyped within some films and begin to talk about how I may begin to answer my question. Compare the other films and discuss how they are relevant to my essay and how they would help me answer my question.
Para 1- Women throughout history in film
Begin to discuss in the essay the ways in which the roles of women have changed throughout history. Include theorists.
Para 2- Stereotyping
The representation of blonde females in material girls and compare to the historical film double indemnity.
If the films are able to reinforce the negative sterotypes in which young blondes are given, or able to challenge them.
Link to the films to the sitcom the simple life which stars paris hilton and nicole richie. A real account of what blonde women are like in real life instead of film and begin to argue if this is the reason to why blondes are represented like this in film.
This would be an important part of my essay as it is the main topic in my question. It would allow me to show the changes of womens roles in film and the way in which they have been sterotyped.
Para 3- The whore vs the bimbo
Compare the representations of the female charcters in both double indemnity and material girls and discuss how they have changed over time. The whore in double indemnity and the bimbo image created in material girls.
Link to laura mulveys male gaze theory
Para 4- Womens roles in film
In this paragraph I will write about the ways in which womens roles in films have changed over time. Disscus the femme fatale (the bad women) the whore and women as the token characters in films.
Look at films which show women in leading roles and have more power. Shown in such films like tomb raider.
Link to mc neil (1975) typical role of a women in film would be a housewife.
Contrast with gaunters thoery as not all women in film are shown to be weak.
Conclusion:
Summarise the whole essay and to explain how my essay question has been answered
Discuss the different ways in which women are sterotyped within the film and conclude to whether or not the sterotypes have been reinforced in the films or not.
Give my own opinons to whether or not things have changed within films.
Compare
The Chick Flick Genre
This type of genre often shows young females in comical roles. The females would often clash during the film many beacause of another male charcter.
Blonde Women
Blonde women are often represented in film having the most comical roles in film and are often heavily stereotyped throughout them
Books which I will refer to:
Working Girls, Gender and Sexuality in Popular Cinema
The media students book Third edition- Gill Branston And Roy Stafford
Impossible bodies, femininity and masculinity at the movies- Chris Holmlund
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