Feminist cultural studies of popular cinema understand 'progressive texts' in social contexts such as the film Aliens as they ahve been analysed in terms of social anxieties about feminism, genre-mixing, popular reviwes and feminist approprations.
BOOK: Film Studies Critical Approaches
John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson
Monday, March 2, 2009
Paragraph about women in the media
Feminist generrally belive that the media is a contributory factor in perpetuating a narrow range of sterotypes images of women. How women are represented in the media may encourage particular expectiation of women which are extremely limiting, for instance, that woman are always based in the home, that they are inferior to men, that they like men who are violent which is shown in films.
BOOK: An Introduction to Film Studies
Jill Helmes
BOOK: An Introduction to Film Studies
Jill Helmes
X-men
"X-Men," supplies more satisfyingly fierce women.
Each side has its own selection of impressive mutant females, who are granted their own fancy attire. Most immediately noticeable is Mystique, the shape-shifting bad gal and most devious of all the film's villians; mutely played by supermodel Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, she slithers through the film completely naked but for some blue bodypaint and scales.
With red hair and yellow eyes, she is a force that will be contended with in future "X-Men" sequels; although she is buck naked and admittedly a throwback to male fantasies, she is also the villain who walks away with the movie.
But there's also Storm (Halle Berry), the platinum-haired, white-eyed sexpot who can conjure up lightning storms; she prances about in leather pants and sequined collars
And then there's Rogue (Anna Paquin), the prodigal and dangerous woman-child, equipped with skin so lethal that one touch could kill a man. Dressed in fashionably gothic gear -- opera-length gloves, long hooded capes and a white streak in the front of her long brown hair -- Rogue is the vampire that all men and mutants fear, with a power than can steal theirs away.
She is a lonely, misunderstood young woman, easily recognizable to anyone . Boys will want to date her, to protect her, yet will also be in awe of her power; girls will undoubtably identify with her (some will probably want her wardrobe). She is simultaneously the most approachable, yet most lethal of all the mutants, and a heroine more human than we're used to finding in a sci-fi film.
dangerous women, stylishly dressed and sexy without being slutty -- are icons that women can relate to and that men might actually fear. They may be shallow, but they aren't silly or manly or helpless.
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/08/19/scifi_babes/index1.html
Each side has its own selection of impressive mutant females, who are granted their own fancy attire. Most immediately noticeable is Mystique, the shape-shifting bad gal and most devious of all the film's villians; mutely played by supermodel Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, she slithers through the film completely naked but for some blue bodypaint and scales.
With red hair and yellow eyes, she is a force that will be contended with in future "X-Men" sequels; although she is buck naked and admittedly a throwback to male fantasies, she is also the villain who walks away with the movie.
But there's also Storm (Halle Berry), the platinum-haired, white-eyed sexpot who can conjure up lightning storms; she prances about in leather pants and sequined collars
And then there's Rogue (Anna Paquin), the prodigal and dangerous woman-child, equipped with skin so lethal that one touch could kill a man. Dressed in fashionably gothic gear -- opera-length gloves, long hooded capes and a white streak in the front of her long brown hair -- Rogue is the vampire that all men and mutants fear, with a power than can steal theirs away.
She is a lonely, misunderstood young woman, easily recognizable to anyone . Boys will want to date her, to protect her, yet will also be in awe of her power; girls will undoubtably identify with her (some will probably want her wardrobe). She is simultaneously the most approachable, yet most lethal of all the mutants, and a heroine more human than we're used to finding in a sci-fi film.
dangerous women, stylishly dressed and sexy without being slutty -- are icons that women can relate to and that men might actually fear. They may be shallow, but they aren't silly or manly or helpless.
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/08/19/scifi_babes/index1.html
woman over time...
A quick survey of science fiction films reveals a lack of meaty female roles.
In the early days of the genre, most sci-fi leading ladies were granted the role of Love Interest or Saucy Sidekick, but rarely given liberty to actually kick butt.
"Soylent Green" went so far as to refer to women as "furniture" (they came with the apartment), and the one enduring sci-fi heroine, Barbarella, still spent more time worrying about getting laid than catching villains.
The '80s changed all that, with the advent of hard-core heroines like Linda Hamilton in the "Terminator"movies or Sigourney Weaver's alien-thwarting Ripley in the "Alien" series
But a recent spate of sci-fi films has unearthed a more interesting species of heroine, who is both strong and sexy, and doesn't have to dress like a man in order to save the day .
"The Matrix," and "X-Men," we have a new type of sci-fi heroine: the Fashionable Fatale. She is smart and attractive, lethal yet approachable -- a character women might actually identify with, a character men
She's always fabulously dressed, and she's blasting the sci-fi world with an image that fuses sex appeal and power; she is redefining Superwoman.
Science fiction and fantasy action movies have always been the realm of boys, and no wonder: Movies were made for them. They flocked to films filled with muscle-bound male protagonists who could save the world with a flick of their wrist.
why would girls be interested in sci fi in the first place? the lack of believable female superheroes has reaffirmed the notion of men as saviors, women as victims, that we still haven't been able to shake from our heads.
In the early days of the genre, most sci-fi leading ladies were granted the role of Love Interest or Saucy Sidekick, but rarely given liberty to actually kick butt.
"Soylent Green" went so far as to refer to women as "furniture" (they came with the apartment), and the one enduring sci-fi heroine, Barbarella, still spent more time worrying about getting laid than catching villains.
The '80s changed all that, with the advent of hard-core heroines like Linda Hamilton in the "Terminator"movies or Sigourney Weaver's alien-thwarting Ripley in the "Alien" series
But a recent spate of sci-fi films has unearthed a more interesting species of heroine, who is both strong and sexy, and doesn't have to dress like a man in order to save the day .
"The Matrix," and "X-Men," we have a new type of sci-fi heroine: the Fashionable Fatale. She is smart and attractive, lethal yet approachable -- a character women might actually identify with, a character men
She's always fabulously dressed, and she's blasting the sci-fi world with an image that fuses sex appeal and power; she is redefining Superwoman.
Science fiction and fantasy action movies have always been the realm of boys, and no wonder: Movies were made for them. They flocked to films filled with muscle-bound male protagonists who could save the world with a flick of their wrist.
why would girls be interested in sci fi in the first place? the lack of believable female superheroes has reaffirmed the notion of men as saviors, women as victims, that we still haven't been able to shake from our heads.
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