Resident Evil - Essay Example

Resident Evil has a main female character Alice running the show all throughout the film. The Resident Evil movies basically have a plot of Alice constantly fighting against the Umbrella Corporation, after it released a deadly virus that left many people zombified. As an experiment from the Umbrella Corporation, Alice managed to escape the corporation and went in search of herself (Joanne & Peter 20). In the beginning, a lot of experiments had been conducted on Alice, therefore having a pile of dead Alices (Joanne & Peter 22). Once awoken to a rude and harsh environment, this single character manages to beat all odds to become victorious in her quest.

Marc O’Day supports the idea of Resident Evil being centered on an action-figure female character. From his own perspective, he views this as a change to post-feminism. In the past, many films used to have male action figures and ignored the role of females in society. Resident Evil together with other female-centered films tried to bring up the issue of women taking leading rules in society and becoming more independent to the extent of running their own affairs (Joanne & Peter 23). This film tries to depict Alice as a sexy woman yet fearless woman who can face any challenge just to ensure she met her target: destroying Umbrella Corporation. Alice is given a masculine side in the film as she can fight zombies, use guns, and fight like a man, but still retains her female identity by being sexy and highly attractive to her audience. Marc O’Day supports the fact that these films are trying to depict the issue of gender equality as more women are taking leading roles in the film industry (Joanne & Peter 27). Basically, according to Marc O’Day, such a film is trying to raise critical issues which were usually ignored in the past century of women's identity. Women are becoming more outgoing and taking leading roles in the world as gender equality continues to be practiced.

Lisa Purse on the other hand supports the notion of the female representation in the film “Resident Evil” as also being in support of the feminist and postfeminist theories. First of all, she argues that more women are taking an active role as key figures in movies supporting the notion of a society that has acceptable females as equal and having a role to play (Joanne & Peter 32). The film through its action figure, Alice, displays the female character as a strong, yet sexy woman. In her role, Alice manages to play a masculine role through her violent action of killing, fighting, and shooting zombies throughout the film. In addition, a feminine touch is given to Alice in Resident Evil through the depiction of her being a beautiful woman, and in addition, always being in a tight sexy outfit (Joanne & Peter 34). The notion of leading female characters in accordance with Lisa Pursue is becoming increasingly acceptable in the modern world as evidenced by such films.

In conclusion, based on the positions taken by Marc O’Day and Lisa Pursue, one can conclude that both agreed on the fact that female action figures in recent movies like Resident Evil, supported the postfeminist theory.