How Representations of the Lola Figure Challenge Mainstream Ideas on Gender and Sexuality - Coursework Example

How representations of the Lola figure challenge mainstream ideas on gender and sexuality s Submitted by s: Introduction Feminism is a social movement that has a huge effect on film theory as well as criticism and cinema is taken by feminists to be a cultural practice that represents myths that are associated with women and femininity as well as concerning men and their masculinity (Singh, 2007, p. 10). Issues that are concerned with representation and spectatorship are integral in the feminist film theory as well as criticism and the initial feminist criticism was focused on stereotypes that are associated with women who mostly appeared in Hollywood films. These kind of unchanging and endless recurring depictions of women were perceived to be offensive misrepresentations that had the ability to have an unconstructive effect on the woman viewer. This has lead to the call for images that are positive in terms of women in cinema soon however there is insight that has dawned that the positive images were not sufficient in changing the underlying frameworks that were in the cinema industry (Finney, 2006, p. 18). The feminists critics tried to understand the all-pervasive power of patriarchal imagery with the assistance of structural theoretical frameworks that included semiotics as well as psychoanalysis and these theoretical discourses have been able to prove that they can be productive in analyzing the manner in which sexual differences is evident in the classical narratives. For more than ten years, psychoanalysis was to be the dominating model as far as feminist film theory is concerned but recently there has been a move away from binary understanding concerning sexual differences in multiple perspectives, identities as well as probable spectatorships (Weinstock, 2008, p. 93). This situation has brought the need to increase the concerns that are associated with questions that are linked to ethnicity, masculinity as well as hybrid sexualities. Lola and Billy the kid background Lola and Billy the kid is a film that was produced in 1999 which was scripted and directed by Kutlug Ataman and produced in Germany (Boggs, 2013, p 236) and went on to gain Rotten Tomatoes rating of forty percent. The film was written in Turkish and German but has subtitles that are in English and it runs for 94 minutes. The film has a social message that is important but the delivery of this message is too heavy handed and done in a manner that is simplistic so that it can be able to have the impact that was intended. Even though the film has no rating apart from the Rotten Tomatoes, it includes strong profanity, several sex scenes, which are discrete as well as a single distinct scene that is characterized by violence that is extended. Run Lola Run The film is German and is scripted and directed by Tom Tywer (Berardinelli, 2003, p 539) while starring Franka Potente who acts as Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu who plays that character Manni. The story follows a woman who is required to acquire a hundred thousand Deutche Mark within twenty minutes so that she could be able to save the life of her boyfriend. The three scenarios that are present in the film are reminiscent of 1981 Krzysz of Kieslowski film Blind Chance and after the death of Kieslowski, Tykwer decided to direct the film that he had planned Heaven. In the film all the scenes that have Lola and Manni are short using a 35mm while the scenes where they don’t feature are shot using a video camera and other cinematic techniques that can be seen in the film include whip pans, split screens, segment titles as well as animation among others. Sexual identities today Even though the people who are gay, lesbian and bisexual continually experience prejudice as well as discrimination especially from the older generations, the is an increasing degree of evidence that the society is slowly becoming more accepting of the sexual diversity that exists in the world. The gay and straight lifestyles are increasingly converging and there is an atmosphere that is characterized by tolerance as well as social mixing that is seen to be progressively dominating the cities. The population in different places is continually becoming tolerant to the gay and lesbian people and a good fraction of the population is also comfortable with their school-going children being taught by teachers who are gay or lesbian. The young people are more tolerant and sympathetic to the gay and lesbian liberties than the people who are older and a significant number of them are willing to participate in pro-gay campaigns. It is impossible to weigh the relative influence of the mass media on the changing attitudes since sex as well as sexuality have developed to be represented in many ways in the popular culture and this shows the integral role of popular culture in the rejection of tradition as well as the transformation of the society. Therefore, there is the likelihood that the media provides the general audience with more everyday gay and lesbian characters and this has helped in the growth of tolerance. Lola and Billy the Kid’s sexuality In Lola and Bilidikid, the family that Murat belongs to exhibits patriarchal characteristics and it can be seen that the brother, Osman is at the head of the family since their father passed on and Osman oppresses his younger brothers as well as their mother so that he can be able to show them that he is in control. When Lola brings the shameful characteristic of being a homosexual into the household, Osman throws her out to further show that he is in control. The same as his mother, Murat begins the film under the control of his brother and he never at any point dares to express his individuality and the family unit has always protected Murat and he has never been able to live independently because everything is normally done for him by his mother and brother. Even though Murat has been exposed to the German society through the school that he attended, he has not been in a position to explore this part of his culture since there are restrictions that are imposed by his Turkish background that prohibit it. Osman actually take him to a prostitute when Murat is only 15 to make sure that he can accomplish the role that Osman has planned for him as that of a person who is sexually active and a male who is dominant. In compliance of these roles that are based on gender, the family’s collective identity is upheld and perceived to be more important than the personal identity of the individual members of that family (Griffiths, 2008, p. 123). In order to conceptualize some of the elements concerning sexuality and gender, a brief account of the story would suffice and to begin with, Lola and Billy are male lovers while Lola is in a group of drag belly dancers that refer to themselves as the female guestworkers. Lola was chased away from his family for coming out wearing a red wig and consequently replaced by a substitute son who was Murat. After hesitant introductions into the world of gay beats, Murat goes to the club to watch Lola as he dances and Osman who is now a taxi driver attempts to impel Murat into heterosexuality and is also attempting to kill the bond that is developing. A neo-Nazi group has been in the background of the unfolding events and when Lola is discovered dead in the waterway, there is a natural assumption that the group is responsible. The revenge that is planned and wreaked by Billy gets him killed but it becomes clear that Osman was guilty based on the accounts of Lola’s fellow dancers that he had raped Lola who was a homosexual before he had evicted him. At this particular point, there is no rapprochement existing between the Germans and the Turks and the only Germans that are seen in this part of the story are the neo-Nazis even though the latest member of the group is exhibited as being far from one dimensional in terms of their gender preferences. Run Lola Run’s unique approach to gender When considered as a narrative, the film is a fairy tale that has gender roles which are reversed and the film is understandable by many cultures as a love story where the hero is a woman and the person that is in distress is a man, which brings about a challenge to the typical dominant male ideology. The film appeals to a broad range of viewers and every one of the three key narrative segments offers a different outcome that comes from different approaches concerning gender conflict. In the closing part, conflict that is associated with gender is greatly avoided and the idea of peace and equality between genders becomes one that is acceptable to majority of the viewers and thus promotes gender equality. Regardless of the clear differences that can be seen in the different sections that are in the film, there is a clear sense of narrative progression that can be attributed to the changes that Lola goes through as a character as well as the changing responses that she has to different situations. The changes that are evidence in her are parallel to the ones that can be seen in the gender politics that are in the society where the first section presents a view that is modernistic; the second one portrays a post-modernistic one while the third depicts a happy medium that exists between the two. In the first section, there is a presentation of Lola and her boyfriend who is Manni and their dilemma that is to find a hundred thousand franks in only twenty minutes and Lola makes the decision to ask her father who is a banker, for the money. Since she is in no position to raise the money herself, her agency is questioned and she has no other choice but to ask her father who is the patriarch for the money and this symbolizes power. It is evident that the patriarch is the custodian of all the power and Lola cannot be able to contest it after which she is kicked out by her father which makes her run back to Manni without anything. Upon her arrival however, Manni does not hear her cry since her voice is now ineffectual and she has no other choice but to help Manni get the money through robbing Bolle and she follows his lead. No sooner had she held the gun, than she was doomed since the carrying of the gun, which is a phallic symbol exhibits her threat to masculinity and therefore male police officer shoots her, and she dies. In this particular section of the film, Lola is victimized at every opportunity and this signifies that the woman is weak and without agency and the transitional sequence that follows this section puts Lola in a submissive position as she lays in Manni’s arms and questions him as he continues with his smoking (Mueller, 2004, p. 157). At the closing of this transitional sequence, Lola makes the decision that she does not want to die and the narrative sequence develops a new beginning and this time she gets to her father’s bank a short time later which allows her father to conclude a conversation that had been interrupted previously when she arrived. The woman the Lola’s father is having an affair with has just disclosed to him that he is not responsible for the pregnancy that she is carrying and this is further complicated because in the first section, it was revealed that Lola was not his biological child. This highlights the father’s impotence and the lack of an ability to control and when Lola enters the scene, she is angry to learn that her father is having an affair making her throw everything that is in her way at him. This is in total contradiction of the instant in the first section where the response that she had to not being her father’s biological child is not as harsh and she is dejected and complacent. Her anger becomes her strong point and source of power, she is almost storming out when the security guard teases her and she decides to take the gun that he has and use it to rob the bank (Nünning and Sicks, 2012, p. 120). This moment puts her in control even though she has to take advantage of the men in so that she can be able to do it. Prior to leaving the building, she abandons the gun, this represents the hiding of her outward symbol of power and the police that are surrounding the building think that she is innocent and look at her as just a girl even though she is more than that. This particular scene is a betrayal of a typically demeaning view that is accorded to women and one that does not give her equal status and legitimacy that is afforded to a male subject while showing that femininity can be utilized as a weapon that is subversive. This is possible even in the cases that are unintended since men are shown to have the capability to underestimate women. This round though does not end well as the woman is not successful but she would have been if the film were a clear-cut feminist film and the failure that she experiences in the form of the death of her boyfriend. When Manni gets her call, he steps out into the road and an ambulance hits him and just as Lola gets power, the man loses his and therefore takes her up her previous position that was submissive (Weinrich, 2008, p. 198). This point is exhibited in a direct manner in the transition that follows that has the roles of Manni and Lola being reversed as he lies on her arms and asks her questions as Lola continues with her smoking. Conclusion This problem that is characterized by the imbalance of power existing between the sexes can only be addressed in one way in that, both of them must be able to succeed in the goals that they have without lowering the other person and this is what happens in the ending. Lola wins the money in a casino while Manni finds the person who picked up the initial money on the train and Manni decides to give the man his gun so that he can be able to have an equitable relationship with his girlfriend. All the events lead towards an ending that implies that there is an equalizing that is taking place concerning the two sexes but there are male critics that are stuck with the notion that the film supports the ideas that are masculine. Bibliography Berardinelli, J. 2003, ReelViews, 1st ed, Justin Charless, Boston. Boggs, J. 2013, Billy the Kid on film, 1st ed, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina. Finney, G. 2006, Visual culture in twentieth-century Germany, 1st ed, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Ind. Griffiths, R. 2008, Queer cinema in Europe, 1st ed, Intellect Books, Bristol, UK. Mueller, A. 2004, German pop culture, 1st ed, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. Nünning, A. and Sicks, K. 2012, Turning points, 1st ed, De Gruyter, Berlin. Singh, I. 2007, Gender relations and cultural ideology in Indian cinema, 1st ed, Deep & Deep Publications, New Delhi. Weinrich, H. 2008, On borrowed time, 1st ed, University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Weinstock, J. 2008, Reading Rocky Horror, 1st ed, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, NY. Read More