“Mankind faces extinction...This fall...One woman...Is the final hope...For our survival.”[1]
How has the on screen representation of women changed, with particular reference to the action/horror film Resident Evil: Extinctions?
The representation of women has been a key area of development in film. Women were stereotypically represented as sex objects, especially in Hollywood films. As Tuchman argues, women were considered to be “symbolically annihilated”[2] and underrepresented in televisions fictional life, and an object of the ‘male gaze’[3]. ‘In the past, lead roles for women have always seemed scarce compared to males.’[4] In the 1970s Feminism and women’s consciousness began to influence the production and distribution of film and television. This helped to change the way that women were represented on screen. Nowadays, there are many films which are aiming to challenge the stereotypes that women are usually associated with, by having female action stars. For example, Resident Evil (2007), Kill Bill (2003), Tomb Raider (2001), Cat Woman (2004) and many more. These films portray women very differently from what they used to be represented as in the past, where “women would have little or nothing to mourn in the passing of Hollywood cinema”[5]. This suggest that women are now becoming more independent and are taken more seriously than they used to be, and the characters in these films can be seen as role models to the young female audience who would aspire to be like them.
Resident Evil: Extinctions is the third instalment in the series of film adaption’s based on the CAPCOM survival horror series Resident Evil. All the sequences follow the same genre of action/ horror/ sci-fi. The film is seen as a celebration for feminists mainly due to the reason that it includes a female protagonist: Milla Jovovich, who over her career, has appeared in a number of science fiction and action themed films including Ultraviolet (2996), The Fifth Element (1998) and many more. In the film Resident Evil, Milla Jovovich is represented as an independent and strong female. Her character seems to be challenging the stereotypes that females are associated with, e.g. weak, emotional, and sex objects; it also challenges the theory that “Women were repeatedly shown as housewives, mothers and home-makers while men were often represented in situations of authority and dominance over women”[6]. This is mainly through the fact that the protagonist is female, therefore she is driving the narrative of the film forward and the male characters only have minor roles in the film. In the movie she is viewed as the hero 'who will save the day'. This is a part which is usually taken by a male whereas in this movie a female character is positioned in this place, who is more masculine, for example the way she dresses, which therefore differentiates the film from other movies of the same genre. This subverts Propp’s theory which concluded that there is always a princess, “the character most threatened by the villain and who has to be saved by the hero”[7]. Contrastingly in Resident Evil, it is Alice who saves the rest of the characters.
The props used in the film play a huge role in representing the female characters as powerful, for example in the poster of the film, Jovovich is positioned in the middle, holding a gun in each hand, similarly she carries a number of weapons throughout the film. This could be viewed as a symbol of her power and superiority. The film Resident Evil clearly implies that the representation of women within the film industry has changed. In the past ‘Men typically made the decisions which led the story, and were assertive, confident and dominant’[8], a famous example of this is the 1950s film High Noon (1952). The fact that the films mainly portrays men excluding women, in the trailer clearly suggests that women were not seen as significant, which links back to Tuchman who claimed that "Women have been 'Symbolically Annihilated". Similarly, due to the reason that there is a lack of females in the film, the female audience would have to identify with the male characters thus having to 'cross gender identify'. However, now many films are constructed in a way to show females as powerful and in control. By Jovovich taking on a masculine role she is presenting females as more independent and strong. Nevertheless it can also be argued that, even though Mila Jovovich is represented as powerful and dominant, men are still getting their voyeuristic pleasures by watching her on her killing rampage with her tightly fitted outfit which makes her look attractive at the same time and therefore giving the male viewers the chance to objectify the female as an sex object.
In the past women were considered to be inferior to men due to patriarchy. Society was mainly male dominant. This therefore had an impact on the on screen representation of women. In television and film, there were a very low number of female characters. Gauntlett, in his book ‘Media Gender and Identity’ found that the roles of men and women in film were very different, in that “Men were much more likely to be adventurous, active and victorious, whereas women were more frequently shown as weak, ineffectual, victimised, supportive, laughable, or 'merely token females'".[9] This implication epitomises the idea that women were subordinate to men, therefore they were given roles which fitted with this stereotype. Gunter’s[10] study in the 1970s proved that women were either underrepresented or not represented at all. Linking this back to Resident Evil, we can see how this has changed through the representation of the strong, powerful and independent character Alice. The film industry has therefore changed this view of underrepresentation of women. This is not only reflected in films as we see many women such as Hilary Clinton coming into politics, so in a way the film is reflecting the zeitgeist of empowering women.
The Sound Of Music (1960s) is a film which includes a typical representation of women in the 1960s, where they were usually represented as housewives and were portrayed as weak, powerless and inferior to men. In this film, the female character is seen as a mother figure for the children, and she is represented as the "Madonna who is pure, maternal, chaste and modest "[11]. The female is nearly always shown with the children, which relates back to the maternal side of women. However Resident Evil subverts these stereotypes through its lead character, Mila Jovovich, who is represented in a total opposite manner. She is given a more active role, and is in control and power throughout the film. This is evident in many of the fighting scenes where she seems to nearly always win the battles, e.g. in the scene where the survivors are getting attacked by zombies, Jovovich is presented as the main focus as the camera cuts to her after every shot. Also there is a tracking shot where the camera follows her indicating her importance to the audience and that she is responsible for driving the narrative of the film forward. Similarly the use of low angle shots represents her as superior and powerful, which foreshadows her victory in the film.
The development of feminist film theory was influenced by second wave feminism and the development of women’s studies within the academy. The emergence of feminism from the past 20 years has had a huge impact on the way that women are represented on television. After feminism flourished women were given the chance to take on roles which they could not before, for example the character of Ripley in Aliens (1979) is strong and courageous. However before feminism emerged women were seen as inferior and incapable of taking on such roles, as it was believed that “Gender differences are culturally formed, they exist on the basis of biological, but build a huge system of differentiation over and above it”[12]. Thus females were primarily associated with domestic labour, child bearing and were only given these roles on screen. “In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s only 20 to 35% of characters were female”[13] Therefore suggesting that males were more dominant in the film industry, making it difficult for females to become successful. Additionally, “in action adventure shows, only 15% of the leading characters were women.” [14]This led to the emergence of feminism which brought about a huge change in the representation of women. Also Richard Maltby stated that “genres are flexible, subject to the constant process of change and adaption”[15]. Therefore in order to appeal to a new target audience the directors would need to add new features e.g. including female protagonists; thus genre is not fixed, but dynamic. The movie Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott, had the first female role in an action genre, which as a result opened many opportunities for women. This film was considered to be a celebration for feminists. In the film women are represented as independent and intelligent, for example the female character is given the role of an officer and is in control most of the time. This is similar to Resident Evil, as both of the films have female protagonists driving the narrative forward, e.g. Ali Larter throughout the film gives orders and makes the decisions therefore she is in control of most situations.
Laura Mulvey was one of the key feminists who had a huge impact in the way women are represented on screen. Her essay, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’[16] was cited “as the founding document of feminist film theory”.[17] It was seen as the feminist claim that men and women are positioned differentially on screen; “men as heroes who drive the narrative of the film forward and women as objects of sexual desire and fetishistic gazing“[18]. Women are considered to be there in order to be “looked at, objectified and sexualized by the male protagonist”[19]. Her idea of the male gaze is reinforced in Resident Evil. It can be argued that Milla Jovovich is objectified through her clothing e.g. tightly fitted shorts and sleeveless tops. The film also, to an extent, conforms to the stereotypes females are associated with, for example at the beginning of the trailer the protagonist is represented wearing a red dress which is quite revealing, the red could have connotations of her being sexy and seductive and therefore reinforcing the stereotype of a typical blond women which is a gaze for the male audience. Similarly all the female characters in the film are young, good looking and attractive. Sharon Smith claimed that "The role of a woman in a film almost always revolves around her physical attraction, and the mating games she plays with the male characters"[20], implying that women are not really considered because of their intelligence but only because of their looks.
Tuchman argues that women in films were often presented as “victims, as incompetents and inferior or having trivial interests”[21]. They were usually represented as in need of saving by the male hero, for example in Indiana Jones, the female character relies on the male to save her and is seen as useless due to the fact that she has no active role in the film. However Resident Evil challenges this, as the Jovovich, the female protagonist, is the one who saves the survivors, this is evident in many scenes, for example in the scene where the survivors are getting attacked by several crows, Alice arrives at the right time to rescue them. There are a variety of different shots used in the scene in order to make Jovovich look powerful and superior, e.g. the use of low angle shot and when the camera pans all around her depicting her as the main focus and the person who will “save the day” and the “final hope for their survival”[22]. This is also apparent in other films which follow the same generic conventions, including Cat Women.
Kathi Maio in a book of her film reviews stated that “women are not only given less screen time, when were up there on the screen we are likely to be portrayed as powerless and ineffectual”[23]. However the film Alien seems to be challenging this statement as the main character of the film is female who is represented as rather strong and powerful. This is similar to Resident Evil: Extinctions as the protagonist of the film is also female, and both films fall into the same genre category (Action). In both films the female character is the only one who survives at the end; we can refer to her as the ‘final girl’[24] which is a theory developed by Carol Clover in her book ‘Men, women and chainsaws’. However she found this to be most common in slasher films were the audience is made to identify with the resourceful young female (the Final Girl) who survives and ends the threat e.g. Ripley in Alien and Alice in Resident Evil: Extinctions. Additionally it was also claimed that men were often represented ‘in situations of authority and dominance over women’ aided by the use of male voice over”[25]. Resident Evil subverts this argument by using a female voice over in the trailer reading out the strap line for the film: “We fought the infection...We survived the Apocalypse...And now we face extinction”[26]. This places the female in a position of dominance, as it is suggesting that women are now taking over parts of the film industry which was mainly male dominated.
Even though women are now ranked much higher then they use to be, they are still a victim of the male gaze. As Jonathan Schroeder notes, 'Film has been called an instrument of the male gaze, producing representations of women, the good life, and sexual fantasy from a male point of view' [27]. Even though women are given lead roles, they are still objectified and portrayed as sexual objects for the male desire. An example of this is the film Cat Women. The female protagonist is depicted as strong, however is objectified through her tight fitted leather suit and whip. She is also portrayed as provocative at points. This is evident in other films such as Tomb Raider, Kill Bill, Resident Evil and Matrix. It was stated in a review of Resident Evil, by Rich Cline that “Director Mulcahey uses the extensive flesh-and-gore make-up brilliantly, although the bigger special effects are more uneven. He also shamelessly indulges in rather a lot of female flesh, which will keep the fan boys coming back for more.”[28] Suggesting that he only uses young and attractive females in lead roles in order to, attract a male audience. Other reviews about the film stated that it was a film which mainly included "shots of sexy ladies kicking zombie arse”[29]. This statement agrees with the argument that even though females are given lead roles in action films, there primary role in the film would be to be gazed upon and objectified by a male audience. The sexual objectification of women still exists in today’s society mainly because of patriarchy, which is the idea of male dominance in society. Studies in the 1970s found that men were the more dominant characters and the decision makers, whereas women would be presented as the obedient housewife who is inferior and powerless. Oakley argues that film and television reflect society. Thus claiming that society is male dominated and that women are oppressed, and that “the relations of men and women follow a patriarchal logic”[30].
At the beginning of the film there is a zoom out to reveal the main protagonist of the film Alice, in a bath tub with no clothes on and a white cloth over her. The white could have clear connotations of purity and innocence which is associated with females, however this is ironic due to the reason that as the film progresses we see her in a different light and in a more masculine role fighting and killing zombies. The fact that she is shown with no clothes on reinforces Mulvey’s idea of the male gaze, and that "The female body is displayed for the 'male gaze' in order to provide erotic pleasure (voyeurism) and ultimately a sense of control over her”[31]. This is also evident near to the end of the film, in the scene where Alice goes to find Dr Isaac but instead finds herself in a room with over hundreds of her clones who are all naked. In the scene, one of the clones falls out of the tube into Alice’s arms, at this point she is portrayed with no clothes, appealing to a male audience.
One of the main reasons why women are still objectified is because of the lack of female directors. In an article in the Guardian, Naomie Harris, an actress stated that “film is such a male dominated industry”[32]. This explains why women are misrepresented on screen. The film industry is constructed in a way that there are just men at every level, thus making it difficult for women to enter. Similarly Women have other responsibilities such as taking care of family, and it’s difficult if they have children to navigate hours. Therefore the film industry have more male directors then females, resulting in the under representation of women. As Kaplan indicates “the process of film-making is masculine in that in most cases of mainstream Hollywood cinema, a male director and/or producer is in control of the camera’s gaze”[33], therefore they would be more likely to represent women as inferior and sexual objects in order to captivate a male audience. “Since all cultural representative of the world around us have been produced by men, women read themselves in terms of masculine definitions and “dream through the dreams of men” thus women is required to accept her status of other, ‘make herself object’ and ‘renounce her autonomy’”[34]. This is mainly due to the lack of female directors. Therefore the off screen representation of women reflect the on screen representation. However the argument against this is the fact that nowadays male film directors are giving women more on screen time and portraying them in dominant roles. For example Resident Evil include a number of females in roles of authority and dominance e.g. Ali Larter and the main protagonist, Mila Jovovich. This is also evident in Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino, where Uma Thurman is given the lead role.
Overall Resident Evil can be seen as a celebration for feminists, mainly due to the reason that it includes a number of females in roles of authority and dominance, e.g. Ali Larter, Ashanti and Mila Jovovich. These characters challenge the stereotypes which have been placed upon women e.g. weak, emotional, and ineffectual. In the past Men were shown with much more power and dominance compared to women. It was considered by many feminists that "Women are being 'reduced to mute and incidental characters or banished altogether' in action movies like Predator (1987), Lethal Weapon (1987) and Days of Thunder (1990)"[35].
However Resident Evil subverts these stereotypes representing women as more superior and powerful. They have become less subordinate to men and are no longer just seen as a tool for pleasure. Action films now tend to give women much bigger roles then they used to. Other films such as Tomb Raider, starring Angelina Jolie, also celebrate the fact that women are no longer inferior to men and that they are now progressing rapidly in the film industry. Similarly “movie producers are wary of having women as screaming victims, and have realized that kick- ass heroines do better business”[36]. However this can be related to the idea that even thought women are now becoming more successful and dominant they are still objects of the male gaze, as considered by Mulvey. Females are objectified through their tight fitted clothing for example Jovovich’s costume throughout the films is a khaki coloured tight shorts and vest. Similarly in other action films such as cat women the female protagonist is wearing a tight leather costumer which reveals her figure making her look attractive. In the film Charlie’s angels (2001) “whilst playing with conventions of the action genre and making the women protagonist active, the camera is used to focus on how they look and in particular the attractiveness of their bodies”[37]. This under-represents woman as they are objectified for the male gaze, providing erotic, scopophillic appeal for the male audience. Overall Resident Evil is a film which suggests that women in contemporary society are progressing and are now ranked much higher then they use to be through its protagonist, Jovovich who is represented as powerful, strong, dependable and respected. However the film does conform to Mulvey’s idea of the male gaze, by objectifying the female characters.
[1] Russell Mulcahy (2007) Resident Evil: Extinctions: Screen Gems
[2] Gaye Tuchman (1978) ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’.
[3] Mulvey Laura (1975) Visual Pleasure and Cinema Narrative
[4] www.brookdalecc.edu/fac/writing/jvarone/amsocmov/coleman
[5] Philip Rayner, Peter Wall, Stephen Kruger: Media Studies: The Essential Resources. (2004) Routledge, USA & Canada, pg 137
[6] Gill Branston, Roy Stafford: The Media Students Book- Third edition (2003). Routledge: USA and Canada- pg 95
[7] http://www.scribd.com/doc/8332772/Propps-Functions
[8] Gauntlett, David (2002): Media Gender & Identity: An introduction’ (page 46)
[9] Gauntlett, David: Media, Gender and Identity (2002). Routledge (page 43)
[10] Gunter, Barrie (1995) Television and gender representation, London: John Libbey
[11] Ziauddin Sardar and Barin Van Loon: Introducing Media Studies. (page 84)
[12] Branston Gill, Stratford Roy: The Media Studies Students Book- Second edition (1999): Routledge
[13] Gunter, Barrie (1995) Television and gender representation, London: John Libbey (page 43)
[14] Gauntlett, David (2002): Media Gender & Identity: An introduction’ (pg 43)
[15] Maltby, Richard (2003): Hollywood Cinema: Second Edition, Wiley-Blackwell, (pg 75)
[16] Mulvey, Laura (1975) Visual Pleasure and Cinema Narrative
[17] http://www.uh.edu/~cfreelan/courses/femfilm.html
[18] http://www.uh.edu/~cfreelan/courses/femfilm.html
[19] Mulvey, Laura (1975) Visual Pleasure and Cinema Narrative
[20] Smith, Sharon: Women and Film (1972) (page 48)
[21] Gaye Tuchman (1978) ‘Introduction: the symbolic annihilation of women by the mass media’.
[22] Russell Mulcahy (2007) Resident Evil: Extinctions: Screen Gems
[23] Maoi, Kathi (1991) Popcorn and Sexual Politics, Santa Cruz, California: Crossing Press (page 48)
[24] Clover, Carol (1993) Men Women And Chainsaw’s, Princeton University Press
[25] Branston Gill, Stratford Roy: The Media Studies Students Book- Second edition (1999): Routledge pg 65
[26] Russell Mulcahy (2007) Resident Evil: Extinctions: Screen Gems
[30] Oakley, Ann: The Ann Oakley reader: gender, women and social science (2005). The Policy Press, (pg 45)
[31] Tim O'Sullivan, Brian Duttin, Philip Rayner: Studying The Media (1944). Philip Rayner: Great Britain
[34] Jenainati Cathia, Groves Judy: Introducing Feminism (2007). United Kingdom, pg 84
[35] Faludi, Susan: Backlash: The undeclared war against women (1991) pg 48
[36] Gauntlett, David (2002): Media Gender & Identity: An introduction’(page 58)
[37] Nelmes, Jill (2003): An introduction to film studies. Routledge, (pg 247)
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