The Aspect of Gender in the Media - Essay Example

Gender and Media Name: Date: Affiliation: Gender and Media Introduction The aspect of gender in the media has been changing drastically in past few years. Normally gender refers to the state of being a man or a woman. The state and the roles played are the most important here. In most modern movies, women have taken the role of protagonists in a world dominated by men. For instance, Hunger Games, Homeland, the Game of Thrones are some of the movies which women have dominated. Initially, women played minor roles but with time, they have embraced the boldness and they ended up becoming the best protagonists. For in the hunger, game the female protagonist goes against all odds and emerges to be the best character despite the fact that it was dominated by men. However, the bravely is not marked by masculine traits since she is among the beautiful and feminine actors in Hollywood. Therefore, it is just time that has come and women have taken bold roles in the media (Fireman, 2010, p. 31). Evelyn salt is known as Angelina Joe is the protagonist in the movie Salt 2010. Initially, the protagonist was Edwin, but the expertise of Angelina prompted the directors to change Edwin and instead replace him, with Angeline who was later to be known as Evelyn salt. She is one of the best characters in Hollywood despite her charms and beauty, and she has proved beyond doubts that she can play any masculine role comfortably. Her swiftness and boldness make her fit to be the main character here. Moreover, the movie itself would not be efficient if a male protagonist was used in this case. Take examples of the cases of Mike, the washroom, and case, all these could not have come clearly if they had used a male character. It is known that men are used to do s dirty thins, but when a woman like Angelina does, they become more fascinating (Fireman, 2010, p.32). In an attempt to analyze how gender is depicted in the Salt, it is pivotal to understand the plot. The plot will outline some episodes and actions which are worth analysis hence bringing the ultimate vividly. The movie opens when Evelyn salt is captured by the Koreans, and he is tortured in a dungeon on the basis of espionage. However, continuous nagging of his husband mike makes the government trade her with another criminal from Korea. She goes back to the country and works as a detective, and her boss turns out to be Ted Winter who supposedly is a Russian spy. They continue working well and Evelyn formalizes her relationship with Mike. On their day of anniversary, a Russian shows up on claims of confessing something. He says that somebody is planning to assassinate the president of Russia when He arrives to the burial of the vice president in Manhattan. The Russian is taken for interrogation and nerve detectors for truth affirms that he is telling the truth. He affirms that the agent who was supposedly to kill the President is a Russian and bears the registration number K12. The agent turns out to be Evelyn Salt, and she is locked up. Apparently, the Russian is escorted to the cells with the help of other agents, but he manages to kill them using a blade which was in the shoe. There is a commotion, and the Russian manages to escape. Evelyn Salt also uses that chance to distract the other agents and steals a gun from them (Noyce, 2010). Finally, Evelyn manages to move out of the building through jumping to the ground. This action of jumping also wants to show a different kind of women evolving from the media. She heads straight away home where she realizes that mike is kidnapped. She packs some of her things and carries few spiders which belonged to Mike. Later on she uses the spider venom to fake the death of the president. The agents continue following her, but they do not manage to catch her. She jumps roofs and disguise much better than men. After moving away from home, she went to the washrooms, and she managed to steal a coat and a card which she could later use to get a hotel room. Later she picks train and which takes her to the cathedral –the presupposed place for the Russian president. She manages to kill the president and but she is arrested. Luckily she manages to escape from the van through a crash that she predetermines through strangling the agents who were in charge. Later on she is joined with the Russian agent who created the chaos and taken to the boat where they had kept Mike. The Russian drowns Mike to test the loyalty of Evelyn, but she does not react in any way. Later on when they are drinking wine, she breaks the bottle and uses it against the Russian killing him and snatches the gun form the bodyguard killing him, and she moved out of the boat. She used detonators and finally exploded the bomb (Noyce, 2010). After completing the mission there, she meets the NATO officer who was an acquaintance in Russia. This encounter compels her to remember how she was abducted and taken to Russia to be trained to be sleeping agents who would help Russia regain its political and military power. Finally, she manages to enter White House and the NATO guy fake to be a suicide a bomber in an attempt to take the president to the safe house. Finally they manage to take president there led by Ted winter. Upon reaching Ted shoots everybody apart from the president leaving no choice for Evelyn. He later confesses how he told the Russian to kill Mike. Evelyn feels irritated, and she breaks in only to find that winter had launched the missiles towards Mecca (Noyce, 2010). They struggle and special agents come and take them in. However, Salt feels vengeance, and she had to kill Ted for ordering innocent murder of Mike. She strangles him, and she manages to convince Pea boy that she was on the side of Russians and he removes the cuffs, and she jumps out of the helicopter to Potomac River. Color and Costuming At the introduction of the movie, Evelyn is depicted wearing a white Lacy underwear and she is practically naked. She also has a red bra and this asserts that she is a modern and developed woman. Her composure despite being naked in presence of men makes her admirable by the audience. After leaving the Korean Jail, she is transformed to a modern American woman who is admirable. She wears a grey suit which has a slit in the front to show during her wedding anniversary to prove that she is a wonderful woman. Her three inch heels depict her swift character that is ready for the good. The director uses her feminism to put across different things especially when Evelyn uses her black lacy underwear to hide the camera. It’s only a woman who could do such a thing. After ambush, in the office, she wears boots and jeans which she uses to escape and also counteract those who are fighting against her. Dying her hair is also another aspect that Evelyn uses to disguise when she is going to kill the president. Her costumes occasionally changes to suit the environment she is acting. When meeting the Russian guy, she wears a fur hut which she uses to conform and show loyalty to the Russian friends. Finally, Evelyn wears like a man so that she is in a position to enter white house. She even uses the prosthetics so that she can look exactly like a man. Setting is also another aspect that the director has used to illustrate gender and media. For instance for a woman to be naked in a detention and surrounded men In considering the above actions, we can see that the roles based on gender are changing heavily in these days. In this movie Evelyn appears to be the best protagonist taking into account the way she defeats men in the movie. For instance, the killing of the Russian man and other agents in the boat appears to be heroic, taking into account that she is a lady. She single handed kills a giant of a man and the bodyguard affirming that she is as good as the men. In this movie, it is evident that a male protagonist would be more suspicious in the public, and that is why they choose a female character to do some of these things. For instance, Evelyn and other female characters know how to use panty hose and maxi pads something which men cannot manage to do. When Evelyn is wounded, and she is running away, she goes to the restroom of women grabs a maxi pad, and she applies it to the gash which was on her side. They absorb the gushing blood since they are absorbent and clean at the same time. More also, Evelyn removes the panty hose which removes and uses it obscure the camera. Considering, it was a man it would be difficult to overcome the challenges at the moment since men lack the above garments (Gill, 2007). At the introduction of the movie, Evelyn is brutally tortured by the North Korean interrogators while wearing a bloody bra, which appears to be formerly white and panties, and it is the only scene Jolie is undressed. Considering this, we can say that female action heroes may be beaten up in their lingerie, but their credibility does not diminish, unlike the male actors. This aspect makes Angelina be the most suitable character in the action. If Edwin had move on to be the protagonist, the opening would make him lose credibility and therefore, the movie would not be appropriate and marketable. Moreover, at the social setting Angelina is depicted to be heartless and such women do not have children. On the contrary, men may be heartless, but they may have children at home may be with a wife or a nun. However, woman like Angelina must not be depicted having a family bearing in mind that she kills in cold blood and does not care(Gill, 2007,pg.44). Love has been a main factor in most of movies and Salt 2010 is not exceptional. It is out of love that Mike pleads with the government to exchange Evelyn for another prisoner, and it is also out of love that Evelyn kills mercilessly. She kills the Russian trainer and all the people on board upon realizing they have killed his one and only love Mike through drowning. It also loves that motivates her to kill Ted Winter who had ordered the killing of mike. Therefore, in all circumstances, love is depicted as a motivating factor to killings that usually happen around. In this movie males are also depicted to be clumsy in one way or another. The occasional defeats by Evelyn portray men to be weak despite their masculinity. She beats men as if they are standing, and this is not supposed to happen. Men is beaten in the game of wits at various circumstances and finally physically (Hanks, 2011, Pg.34). For instance, Ted, despite being a masculine man was easily beaten and killed by Evelyn. On the other hand, pea boy is easily cheated by Evelyn hence outsmarting all the characters in the movie. This brings another depiction of gender in the limelight. Men are not strong as they appear to be. They can easily be outsmarted by women and tricked. In conclusion, it is evident Salt 2010, is a movie which has depicted gender roles differently. Mostly, men are the protagonists in many movies such as Spartacus, but in this case Angelina Joe is the protagonist and emerges to be the winner. She does what can be done by men in a better and different way and finally she outwits men characters hence emerging to be the best in the entire movie. This movie depicts the gender changes in Hollywood and other theatres. References (7/2010) 4* Movie Review: Salt--A Spy Story.(Breaking News and Opinion)(Movie review). (2010, July 24). Basilandspice.com , 2, 16. Fireman's Fund Names 'Salt' as the Riskiest Film of 2010.. (2011, February 17). Entertainment Close-up , 3, 21. Gauntlett, D. (2002). Media, gender, and identity: an introduction. London: Routledge. Gill, R. (2007). Gender and the media. Cambridge, UK: Polity. Hanks, D. (2011, March 22). Buikema, Rosemarie, and Iris van der Tuin, eds.: Doing Gender in Media, Art, and Culture.(Book review). Women's Studies in Communication, 2, 15. Lind, R. A. (2004). Race, gender, media: considering diversity across audiences, content, and producers. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. Phillips, J. (2008, July 1). Cancer Activism: Gender, Media, and Public Policy.(Book review). Oncology Nursing Forum, 2, 23. Noyce, P. (Director). (2010). Salt [Motion picture]. USA: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Read More