Feminism American Cinema Analysis

844 Words4 Pages
An Introduction to Film Studies touches on some of the key concepts and theories of cinema, but more importantly, it touches on the main aspects that pertain to my essay topic; outlining in detail the media’s traditional portrayal of gender in both film and television, the male gaze as seen in film, the sense of purpose and political debate behind feminist film-making and the dominance of the male power structure within a patriarchal society. In this text, Jill Nelmes doesn’t touch upon any one film as such, in a more broader case-study sense, that I could potentially focus my essay on. But what is quite potentially useful, is how she defines the actually rudiments of the essay question itself. Namely, psychoanalytic approaches to feminism…show more content…
It goes into grave detail as to how the reality of women during this time; being one that is associated with libration and revolution, is portrayed in film rather poorly. The Hollywood system still opting to model their female character, as stated in text, more on Playboy models rather than that of more completing individuals who’s struggles fell in line with the turmoil of that period in time. In conjunction with this, it also highlights a further reading, Betty Friedan’s, The Feminine Mystique (1963). In which she discusses the disempowerment and repression of women. So overall, this text should be useful to me in contributing to my essay’s historical framework and in turn giving it a more grounded or focused direction, in the events that have come to shake modern day feminism and their portrayal on…show more content…
One such movie however that it examines in a large amount of detail is the film, Blue Velvet (1986), which is a good for tying into my own essay. Touching heavily on the character of Dorothy, it argues whether or not the film tackles old nourish archetypes, in making Dorothy a women who use sex to Jeffrey to help her, or opposingly does the film/filmmaker, as my chosen essay question states, objectify her. The text is also useful in the way it delves in to the character of Frank Booth, the antagonist, in light of psychoanalytic theory. Delving into a sort of twisted sort oedipal complex that he posses. I can see this being of benefit to my essay in reflecting upon the psychoanalytic approaches to Feminism, in showing how males are invigorate to see certain circumstance as well as engage in them, both as spectators and characters within the screen
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