Crime and Culture - Female Lead Roles in the Cinema Culture of Crime - Movie Review Example

The film industry builds heavily on the feminine stereotypes. Discuss with regards to the representations of female lead roles in the cinema culture of crime. Introduction Traditionally, women played sideline roles and passive symbols in male dominated films. Particularly in early Western films, women were restricted and never given an opportunity to play equal-depth of acting as men despite their determined and aggressive roles. Although, the stereotype helps women voice their social and personal dissatisfaction, they were never allowed to replace a male hero. Feminine stereotyping in the film industry comes in many forms primarily women are depicted as weak and often needs males to get through. Typically, female roles were a virgin, a housewife, a victim of male violence, and a prostitute. They are often seen victimized, dependent, and exploited. Women’s subordinate position or secondary status in films have been around for years and particularly in the 1940s and 1950s, they are often the subject of exploitation, eroticism, and sexuality because many the industry believes that female requires male domination to be happy, succeed in her endeavour, be secured and protected, and respected by the civilized society. Many believe that stereotyping in the film industry is unrelenting and continue till today and particularly in crimes films, women are being stereotyped in various ways. The following section discusses female roles in early films and the passive stereotyping of women. Moreover, it will discuss the diversity in genre and female roles in crime films. Female Roles in Early Films In the early years of cinema, female generally played sideline roles in films since more focus were being given to men. For instance, in Western films, women were passive symbols that need to cross the sexual lines to be identified with the male hero. Typically, riding with his horse, this male hero signifies freedom of the wilderness and bravery confronting a system of opposing social values while women characters play the opposite. Although there were female hero, women characters were generally restricted and never allowed to experience equal depth of acting on the frontier of opposing ideologies like men. In the 1954 films “Johnny Guitar”, Joan Crawford (Vienna) and Mercedes McCambridge (Emma) played aggressive and strong-willed women but remained restricted to their typical sidelines roles. The conflict was between Vienna and Emma but the hero of the films is still a male – Johnny, a reformed gunslinger who saved Vienna. The film was laudable for giving voice to women’s dissatisfactions and frustrations but unfortunately did not provide an opportunity for female to replace a male hero (Kuhn & Radstone 1994, p.423). Some research about gender-roles shows that fearlessness among males while compassion and expressive responses to females have been historically encouraged in films. Male typically plays the role of the protector while female often depends on males for protection (Prince 2004, p.249). Before the 1960 the roles of women particularly in Hollywood films were either a virgin, a housewife, victim of men, or a prostitute. Typically, although shown to be adored by men, women were dependent, victimized, and exploited to fulfil men’s desire on film. In the films “Taxi Driver” in 1976 and Crimes of Passion in 1984, the female leads were violently and brutality exploited by men (Grabher & Devine 1992, p.198). An analysis of stereotyping in films found women’s subordinate position in films corresponds to their secondary status in society and sexuality. For instance, further analysis of women in horror films reveals they were often used as objects and victims while exploiting their eroticism and sexuality. Early films generally see subordination of screen heroines to male desires necessary because an ideal female image at that time requires male domination to be happy, secure, and respected by members of civilized society (Manchel 1990, p.530). Stereotyping in films was somewhat severe that a females star must try hard to individualize her roles and define herself in some exceptional way just to develop a personality of her own (Basinger 1995, p.164). Particularly in the 1930s, Hollywood films were mostly about men and tended to draw most females characters from the virgin-whore dichotomy where sexually active bad women must are punished while the good are rewarded by romance and marriage. A gangster film for instance, almost always focused on men with guns and a whore or a virgin woman. Similarly, as with Western films, women’s role was mostly reduced to either a saloon girl, a good daughter of a wealthy ranch owner, or a good teacher in an isolated school (Benshoff & Griffin 2004, p.219). The treatment of women in films seems often associated with patriarchal ideology where women are assumed predestined to their sexuality- a wife, a mother, a mistress, femme fatale, and not capable of playing major roles in a man’s world. Moreover, this ideology seems to put women’s role as less significant to man’s role in society as shown by the so called “helping professions”, nurse, secretary, waitress, stewardess, and so on in which women are so well-known. Historically, patriarchal ideology seems to view women as an agent of disorder that must be put under the control of men thus films commonly characterized women as some kind of a person whose function is directly affected by her sexuality. Even in popular films after the 1940s, ‘bad’ women were judged by their sexual excesses. For instance, the film ‘Carrie’ suggests that menstruation is linked to witchcraft while the killer in the film ‘Dressed to Kill’ was a male dressed as a woman (Blonski et al. 1987, p.291) suggesting an atypical male or a woman out of control capable of killing. These films demonstrated the persistent existence of earlier notions that a woman should limit herself to her acceptable role and any deviant behaviour is considered an excess of her socially-defined sexuality. How women are depicted in films is almost always associated with how a certain society treats women. For instance, in the United States in the early 1900s, women played clear and concrete role as good girls in films but when the country entered into war in the 1940s and a lot women entered the workforce, the role of women in films changed dramatically. Films like “Spellbound’ and “Mildred Pierce” that were produced during the war were centred on women’s lives, emotions, and careers. The role of women suddenly changed from being a destined housewives and male assistants to a people who could be feminine and independent at the same time. However, the new female image did not last very long as immediately after the war ends, social perceptions changed and film heroines gradually returned to their usual unaggressive and male dependent human being incapable of achieving their own fates. Films suddenly reverted back to women’s role as love objects, good-natured, and faithful companion (Holtzman 2000, p.83). Female Passivity in Films Female passivity in films has been around for many years and it still exist in the 1996 film Mulholland Falls were women are portrayed as a tamed and subservient human being inferior to man. For instance, the film presented a woman as somebody who would “Ask for help and express their feelings” (Gabbard & Gabbard 1999, p.168) while ‘real’ men do not. Moreover, the film also suggests that a man will lose his male standing if he allows himself to be helped by a woman. Although it may not appear as passive, films in the 1980s and early 1990s such as Fatal Attraction and Body of Evidence suggest that an ideal woman should be passive, dependent, fragile, and fair. In these films, women were portrayed as a bad and deviant person whenever committing interpersonal violence against their lovers or rivals. According to Wykes (2001, p.138), women in reality are most often at risk and rarely violent in general but films like these are cultural machines highlighting the need for women to stay within their traditional and acceptable roles in society. ‘Good’ women are traditionally pure, caring, and passive love object (Wykes 2001, p.138). In earlier silent films, one of the various feminine stereotypes was the ‘vamp’, a fatal woman who lured men to his doom. According to Kuhn & Radstone (1994, p.409) the vamp is the opposite of a virgin who is righteous and wholesome. The vamp, including all its variations such as The Sirens, Eve and Lilith who lured men to their death with songs, is a feminine stereotype in cinema that represents a great deal of issues surrounding male fears and desires about woman. Women in these films were viewed as perpetual and static person dominated by the sexual desires that must be kept under control by no other than the male. Some author believes that fixed iconography is one of the reasons why stereotyping of women in early cinema do well. According to Simpson et al. (2004, p.184), iconography is a practical necessity because during those times, people were having difficulty make sense of what they watching on screen. In other words, iconography provides the basic facts for easier comprehension of the films narrative which in general responsible for the stereotyping of women in cinema. However, Casetti (1999, p.222) argues that stereotype is more than just an ordinary image or iconography because it can be a tool to show the realities of life to make it more recognizable to audience. Moreover, as far as early films are concern, stereotyping is more extensively applied to women than men. Diversity in Genre and Feminine Stereotyping in Crime Films Recognizing the possibility that female roles on films particularly during the early 1900s were influenced by their social standing and patriarchal ideology, feminine stereotyping in films are generally associated with local culture and the way women are perceived at a certain time. The widespread diversity in genre in the 1990s films demonstrated the influence of these factors in shaping the roles of women in films. For instance, Helen Hunt received top billing in “Twister” but Linda Hamilton played secondary role in “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”. Robin Wright played girlfriend to Tom Hanks in “Forrest Gump” while Julie Roberts played prostitute in Pretty Woman. Most of these films are male characters dominated and depicting either important conflict with men or romantic conflict between men and women. It is important to note that none of these films are portraying women’s relationships but rather depicting women as they used to be - an object of romance dependent on the usual main male character. Similarly, crime stories particularly those that were produced in the 1980s onwards casted female characters as victims or witnesses. In most films according to Levitin et al. (2003, p.133), violence made by women as a response to male violence was rarely attended. As mentioned earlier, most female characters in crime films are either active, an object of investigation, and the victim of crime. However, rape and revenge narrative is different as they present women as both victim and survivor (Tasker 1998, p.91). In France, although crime films particularly those that were produced in the mid 1950s to mid 1960s gave female characters narrative importance, they were still subordinate to male and playing secondary roles which are either a mother, a prostitute, or a moll (Powrie 2004, et al. p.46). Consequently, in films like “Du Rififi chez les homes” and “Le Doulos”, a woman character (Marie Sabouret) was violated and whipped by a belt while naked. In “Le Doulus”, Monique Henessy playing girlfriend to Serge Reggiani was seduced until she was tied to a radiator by the neck and brutally beaten by actor Belmondo just to get some information on the whereabouts of Reggiani. The role of women on these crimes films appears important but they were secondary and subject to exploitation and brutality of men. Although primarily as surviving victims, American films in the mid 1980s gave women certain amount of recognition and in films like “Foxes”, “Angel”, and “The Legend of Billie Jean” women were portrayed stronger, enterprising, dynamic, and have more power compared to previous films. In general these films presented women’s stronger side through criminal behaviour (Shary 2005, p.91). According to Tarr & Rollet (2001, p.197), crime genre made films as a vehicle to show female’s criminal inclination, capacity for violence, and impact of crimes against women. For instance, “The Rape of Love” or L’Amour viole in French is about the distressing impact when a young professional woman is raped by a group of ‘average’ men. Although the film seems to suggest that there is a difference between being raped by a rich group and ordinary men, the film in general is showing the reality of crimes against women (Tarr & Rollet 2001, 197). Crime movies since the 1930s, gangsters and prison films and exploitations of people popular from the lawlessness such as Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger, and others stimulated the public appetite for crime films. Most of the men who starred these films became icons of toughness and courage like the lead actor Paul Muni in “Scarface”. Despite the gravity of their offenses, these male film criminals were viewed as desperate working-class men fighting to overcome a society that only values wealth and status. In some cases some gangster films made criminals into heroes of the working-class and being identified by the public as people sharing their economic disadvantage during difficult times. As the gangster film declined in the early 1940s, film noir became the new style of crime films. These more movies were marked by night-time settings, the underworld, eroticized violence and death. Film noir provided female characters the opportunity to be involved in crime films while the roles of women in the American society also were changing dramatically due to war. While “hard-boiled” and tough male characters and noir heroes were being offered to the public such as Detectives Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe of “The Maltese Falcon”, their female counterparts were also being groomed as models of the femme fatale. Femme fatale in films is marked by conniving and double-crossing women trapping and conquering men through their splendour and charm. For instance, in the film “The Maltese Falcon”, the femme fatale played by actress Mary Astor nearly lured detective Spade to his end while Lauren Bacall of the “Big Sleep” played a powerful character in the midst of male dominated environment. Women in these crime films were equally hardened, heartless, money hungry, seductress, greedy, and loaded with sin. For instance, the 1944 film “Double Indemnity” presented a cold-blooded femme fatale who intends to kill her second husband for his insurance policy (Rafter 2000, p.25). Since then the femme fatale in film noir became a site for exploring the anxiety and fantasies surrounding gender differences. The 1992 film “Basic Instinct” and 1996 crime movie “The Last Kiss Goodnight” would remind us of the femme fatales of the 1940s. The femme fatale according to Neroni (2005, p.22) is a woman with ambiguous character, a danger to gender difference and a threat to the patriarchal ideology. Specifically, she is a woman that is egotistical with the ability to seduce and control almost any man who traverses her path. A more modern version of femme fatale is the “active heroine” of the 1990s where women characters in films seem to develop aggressive masculine traits. Over the years, female roles in crime films changed – from the usual victim into a female hero. For instance, Sarah (Linda Hamilton) in the first of the “Terminator” series functions as a female victim who can barely survive the outside world. However, in the later release of the film, Sarah was shown as an aggressive woman that has acquired skills and physique capable of surviving the masculine sphere. The changing role of women in crime films is an indication of how the film industry develops feminine stereotype and how they should be presented in the cinema’s culture of crime. In the United Kingdom during the 1990s for instance, social values and attitudes to crime influenced how British cinema would present crime. In the 1990s crime thriller film “Naked”, “Shopping”, “Face”, “Twin Town”, and so on, the main feature of the film is the problem of jobless working-class and ensuing crime. In “Face”, a female character functions as a critic of the quality of their living while female roles in “Twin Town” were resentfully misrepresented (Chibnall & Murphy 1999, p.177). In much newer films, crime films like “Set it Off”, a female black woman went on a crime spree in retaliation with gross social discrimination and personal anger. The woman in this film is a loudmouth, bullying, tough, and less feminine compared to the norm of white femininity. The film seems to sort out some new form of stereotype where blackness is associated with extreme and sadistic masculinity (Halberstam 1998, p.30) which is long time practice in the film industry. According to Marsch & Melville (2009, p.79), films and other media construct femininity and encourage women to follow and adapt themselves to a certain feminine stereotype. For instance, women are encourage fitting in and expected to be constantly slim, youthful, and pleasing to eyes of men. These stereotyping activities are further aggravated by the reality that divisions in our society are linked to sexual orientations. For instance, female stereotype in most culture is determined by the quality of social life, conduct and etiquette, educational attainment, employment policy, crime prevention strategies, and other influences that can shape a woman’s character (Klein 1971, p.163). Moreover, film makers are trying to create female characters that are different from the traditional stereotype and suggesting a new order away from conservative genres (Levitin et al. 2003, p.134). For instance, the movie “The Long Kiss Goodnight” was an attempt to construct a female hero where women are being developed and taking central roles as fighters. Away from the typical raced femininity which is commonly viewed as passivity and hysteria, this stereotype offers a fantasy image of physical strength or a masculine image of a woman – a mother, a sister, and others. The films Terminator 2, Aliens, and Strange Days are example of female heroes fighting to protect their children. In some films like “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Twister”, the lost of a father or loved ones legitimated female heroism (Tasker 1998, p.69). In the film “Out of Sight”, the lead female character (Jennifer Lopez) was depicted as tough cop but soft-hearted lover. The film director manages to construct the role of Lopez as a sexy but extremely physically capable heroine, brave and expert with weapons. However, because of her association with urban street smarts, her character has been elevated in relation to black criminal stereotype. In “Girlfight”, Michelle Rodriguez was portrayed as a fighting machine willing to give her life for her mission but ended up as a victim being saved by a heroic white male. These female stereotypes remain despite attempts to remove gender differences because of the strong social influences and patriarchal ideology exclusive to males (Tasker 2004, p.196). Moreover, such stereotyping is limited by norms, values, and public perception of woman’s behaviour where any diversion from the woman’s traditional passive and maternal role is considered deviant. In the film “The Accussed”, the woman victim of a multiple raped was judge according to traditional feminine stereotype- a bad woman against a good woman. Clearly, although films tried to create new stereotype, it cannot avoid reverting back to traditional ones due to social pressures and long time accepted norms and values (Hickey 2003, p.1999). Stereotypes generated by the film makers in Hollywood are often seen as satisfying two functions. One is satisfying white fantasies while blaming the victim. For instance, oriental women are depicted as completely feminine and subtle thus must be subordinated by men (Friedman 2008, p.128). Control of women in our society is not limited to female’s inherent physical and emotional weakness but extend to forces related to socioeconomic status and political influence. Moreover, voices of women of who commit crimes are rarely being given much attention in films but rather being stereotyped as masculine monsters. For instance, in the 1991 movie “The Hands That Rocks the Cradle” the lead female character was portrayed as deceptive woman possessed by evil forces that later destroyed a perfectly harmonious family. Similarly, the character played by Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction” in 1997 is a sick and obsessive woman who later destroyed a happy family. Both roles exemplify the image of a powerful, liberated, and demonized woman stereotyped as masculine and evil. Author Esther Madriz (1997, p.33) explains that generally, if a woman is to be strong in films (like the character of Demi Moore in “Disclosure”), she must be also portrayed as sexual predator of enduring male fantasies rather than being forcefully intelligent. Tough girl female roles in the Western and Asian films has risen over the years and in most cases, women are give roles as a martial artists who can withstand the physical and psychological difficulties in a male dominated environment. For instance, the toughness of Sarah Connor in Terminator series, the physical strength of Xena or the Bionic Woman, and fearlessness of a warrior woman played by Michelle Yeoh in “Crouching Tiger” and “Hidden Dragon” produced in 2000 (Byerly & Ross 2006, p.26). As an Asian woman Michelle Yeoh’s role is way beyond the typical Suzie Wong stereotype that is commonly passive and a sex object (Lu & Lu 2001, p.133). Conclusion Generally, women often played sideline roles and objects of men’s desire. Feminine stereotyping does exist in the film industry and even today most female characters are passive, weak, and dependent on the male characters. An analysis of a number of films yields different stereotypes that include being often depicted as a housewife incapable of other things, a virgin who knows less, and a victim that is often blamed for her weakness and bad decisions. Women stereotype often plays secondary roles in male dominated films that are mostly influenced by patriarchal ideology and social expectations. Feminine stereotyping went as far as portraying women as tames and subservient human being secondary to man who always needs help and emotionally disturbing. These films commonly suggest that a man should be always in control of women who by nature is passive, dependent, fragile, and reasonable. The film industry is not being fair to women and in general trying to retain control over them. In fact, if women are given an important role, films will portray them as a bad and deviant person in excess of traditionally female accepted behaviour despite the fact that they are rarely violent in real life. Women were stereotyped as vamps or virgin and a perpetual and static person dominated by desires. Crime films made some attempts to create new stereotypes away from traditional expectations. Although still influenced by social issues and patriarchal ideology, crime films made some stereotypes in tune to local culture and expectation to women at a certain time. The maker of Termination series made an attempt to transform the lead female character into a tough woman capable of surviving on her own. In films produced in the 1980s such as “The Legend of Billie Jean”, women were shown as stronger, enterprising, dynamic, and surviving exploitation and brutality of men. A new stereotype was created but most of the time, the strong side of women are depicted alongside criminal behaviour and capacity for violence. As the film noir became increasingly popular, more opportunity were given to female characters including femme fatale where they can play diverse roles as powerful, hardened, heatless, money hungry, seductress, greedy, full of sin, and conquering woman in a male dominated environment. The active heroine stereotype came later with women playing active roles as an aggressive female hero with masculine traits. This stereotype is capable of acquiring survival skills and manly physique that can be use to survive the masculine sphere. Changes in female roles and creation of new stereotypes particularly in crime related films is generally influence how people perceived female and crimes. The social values and attitudes to crime influenced how the film industry would present females in crime films. Additionally, stereotyping may be also influenced by the quality of life, conduct and etiquette, education, employment level, and other factors that can influence a female character. In summary, stereotyping in the film industry would continue along side changing social values and circumstances. In crime films, changes may be toward more masculine femininity and less passive stereotyping. Reference List Read More