The Godfather Recreation

Recreational task planning

Name of the text you plan to recreate:
The Godfather 
Scene/section you will recreate:
A part of the trailer

Location you will use for your recreation:
Home and school 

Actors you will require for your recreation:
 Two actors 
Props/costumes you will require for your recreation:
Suits to wear and a fake gun 
Equipment you plan to use:
The camera and tripod 

Critical investigation draft

To what extent do films such as The Hunger Games reflect the recent growth in female protagonists in Hollywood films?

“The male gaze, in defining and dominating women as erotic object , manages to repress the relations of women in her place leaving a gap not colonized by man, through which women can hopefully begin to discourse, a voice, a place for herself as subject’’.[1] In recent years we have witnessed a rapid growth of female protagonists in Hollywood Films; this is evident as films such as The Hunger Games and Gravity have been subject to large success. The women in these films are not represented to be objects, instead illustrate they are the focus of the production. The Hunger Games has made over two billion dollars in revenue making It one of the highest grossing films ever made. In addition the film has a growing franchise which generates further profit. The female protagonist in the film is played by actress Jennifer Lawrence who is now an Oscar winning star and has become one of the most popular actors of all time. “Katniss Everdeen's triumphs extend beyond the Quarter Quell and the global box office: she has guaranteed the future of the female action hero”.[2]  This quote suggests female protagonists are becoming the norm leaving behind the stereotypical roles females generally play in movies. The role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games has become an inspiration to society as the film was esteemed for having a female character play such an action filled role.

In the Hunger Games the characters are portrayed the opposite to the stereotypes generalised with them, such as the male character Peeta is shown as being sensitive and emotional which are commonly characteristics based around females.  However, The Hunger Games shows a contrast to the typical female roles in the genre of action movies this is due to the female characters not being portrayed by directors using gender stereotypes to show the expected view of females in supporting roles. The director of The Hunger Games decided to take an interesting approach into the portrayal of the characters as it seems as though the female characters are more dominant than the male, this is the case with Peeta and Katniss; conflicting with the traditional views and images of female characters due to them being portrayed as weak, as suggested by Brian De Palma: “…Almost exclusively male directors invariably view women as more vulnerable, more easily terrorised than their male counterparts.[3]

In a scene of the Hunger Games, Peeta is shown to be the most vulnerable character as he falls of his rope while climbing it as he is training, and all the other characters are shown to be fierce. He is given the feministic role as this is what viewers would expect from the female characters in films. Therefore this stereotype has been crushed as demonstrated in the Hunger Games. Katniss then warns Peeta to act tougher and show the other contenders his skills, whereas here again the female is telling the male what to do which questions the status quo of today’s society; in turn this shows authority and strength in women, which is the opposite to the norm and Katniss, the dominant female protagonist, is being seen as the ‘Hero’ according to Vladimir Prop’s character types, and Peeta is being seen as the ‘Princess’. "You fear more for her than you would for a husky man"[4] is the stereotypical feeling when watching a women in a supporting role whereas the Hunger Games shows completely the opposite where the audience worries more about Peeta.

During another scene in The Hunger Games when Peeta and Katniss first enter the Cornucopia which is the death arena. Many close up shots are used to emphasise the fear and panic on the characters faces. However, Katniss Everdeen, the female protagonist seems to be less worried than Peeta, her companion, as he is shown shaking his head in disappointment whilst Katniss is on stance ready to battle. This creates a strong representation of women and an opposing stereotype normally shown in films which shows the female as being the weaker character. The sound is parallel to the scene and gets tenser as the countdown is coming to an end. The editing speeds up as there are many jump cuts to show how everyone is preparing themselves at the time of the countdown, this makes the viewer more anxious and intrigues them to see what is going to happen next. Peeta is shown running into the forest to hide as soon as the opportunity presented itself, this left Katniss to be brave to try and fight her way through to get the supplies she needed in order to survive the games, showing she is a fighter, survivor and a stronger character than Peeta. Females enjoy these “kind of plot lines that make them feel strong and empowered”.[5] As “73% of female respondents watched to see their own gender in a powerful role”[6] This shows why there may be an increase in female protagonists in the near future. Most of the films with a female protagonist have been a success, indicating why directors could be influenced to make more movies with a female playing a dominant lead role. “Audiences will support women as creators and films and series with women as the leading protagonist by buying tickets and books to see these…audiences will stand up to demand producers to create the kinds of images and stories they want to see”[7].

In The Wizard of Oz (1939) the protagonist in the movie is the character of Dorothy who was played by actress Judy Garland. At this period of time women's rights and equality were at the stage of being a major issue. In society the issue became more known and individuals, particularly females valued the director’s approach to The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy was represented in a way that would not be expected in the 1930's. Judy Garland became an idol for young women which is why the film was such a great success. The film underrates the power of men as stated by Cochrane: "the power centre of the film is a triangle at whose corners are Dorothy, Glinda and the Witch. The fourth point, at which the Wizard is thought for most of the film to stand, turns out to be an illusion. The power of men is illusory, the film suggests. The power of women is real." No weakling then, Dorothy.”[8]

Even though Dorothy is perceived as being very young she is the leader of the pact that she makes on her voyage to the Emerald City, her strength is shown as she leads the males. Therefore she proves the stereotype of vulnerable young women wrong. The Wizard of Oz helped the vision to increase female protagonists. “If society defines femininity as weak, and youth as weak too, then it stands to reason that the pre-adolescent female is the ultimate symbol of vulnerability. This status certainly creates a strong counterpoint when these characters encounter some of the perilous beasts that seem to mass and breed in filmic fantasy worlds. When Dorothy is besieged by flying monkeys, for instance the dramatic effect is emphasised by their status as young women.”[9]

Marilyn Monroe was seen to be an inspiration to women of all ages from the 1950’s onwards, she was an early advocate to civil rights and changed the perspective of women in films at that period of time. She was also the first women to start an independent film production company (Marilyn Monroe Productions, in 1956).

 

Gravity which was released in 2013 was subject to huge global success with it being the eight highest grossing film in 2013. The film had focussed on two characters, whom was played by George Clooney and Sandra Bullock; out of the two, the lead role was played by Sandra Bullock. Gravity made $716.4 million in box office. “The numbers underscore why pics like “Gravity” (pictured), top lined by Sandra Bullock, remain a rarity at the multiplexes”.[10] Gravity “made more than $4 billion altogether”.[11] The recent growth of female protagonists in movies have made more money in the box office, even though there are less movies with female protagonists “women-led films grossed an average of $116 million to men's $97 million. Films with female protagonists still constitute a risk”.[12] “The protagonists of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Kill Bill brought welcome spin to their genre”.[13]  These films sparked the rise of female protagonists in this modern day and age.

In society the female stereotype has been as for many years weak and vulnerable to the extent that they may be seen as accessories and the male gaze. It is said that ‘men active: women passive’[14]  and “men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at”[15], due to this expected status that has evolved over time females typically play the supporting role in need of help.  The known representation in Hollywood movies is that females are seen as sex objects. “We have rarely seen women whose priority is to pursue and develop their ambitions, talents or vocations”[16], therefore change will not happen rapidly in the Hollywood film industry as protagonists are rare.  In contrast due to the concept of modernism the media is a changing industry because of news values. News values helps movies gain a lot of attention by the media the way The Hunger Games did and has now become a brand of media. Therefore news values could push a growth of more movies with female protagonists because of the attention the film could receive.

Media technology and the digital revolution portrays the changing technology in the 21^st century and the audience’s perspective on an increase in females taking over lead roles. “Females comprised 15% of protagonists, 29% of major characters, and 30% of all speaking characters. Females comprised 29% of major characters, down 4 percentage points from 2011, but up 2 percentage points from 2002”,[17] these figures are likely to increase in the future as more films will be made to compete with the likes of The Hunger Games. “Women made up 52 percent of the moviegoer population and bought half of all tickets sold”[18] as there is a recent growth in female protagonists this figure may shoot up as women enjoy seeing females taking on powerful roles.

This allows us to wonder about what could be the future of the traditional protagonist in films, and whether there would possibly be more female led films than male led films as it has shown that they gross more. “Inevitably the representation of gender has changed in the last 40 years and this reflects the fact that young women are now often far more ambitious than they were and believe they are competing with men on a level playing field.”[19] The growth of recent female protagonists will continue due to the films such as The Hunger Games.  The future of feminism seems to be improving as females are showing traits of their power in society which is shown through movies such as ‘Salt’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ as the female helps save the day in the end. “Female toughies infiltrated the otherwise masculine domains of “The Matrix, Prometheus, Captain America: The First Avenger and Avengers Assemble. The Snow White of Snow White and the Huntsman turned out to be an adept killer. Not even children's animations have escaped the vogue: in Shrek, the princess knew kung Fu; in Brave, she was a warrior”.[20]

The younger generation are witnessing the change of how females are perceived in Hollywood movies therefore the future of feminism is looking sharp as they will be used to films such as ‘Brave’ and ‘Frozen’ and will carry on being accustomed to female protagonists. “Female-led films boosted the film industry last year: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was the highest-grossing, making more than $4 billion at the box office and Frozen, Disney's animation about two spirited sisters, was in third place. Female buddy-cop film The Heat was in 15th place and Gravity, which also starred Sandra Bullock, made more than $4 billion together”.[21] There will be an increase in female led films as the ones in 2013 and 2014 were huge successes.  

In conclusion there has been an increase in the growth of films involving female protagonists due to films such as The Hunger Games as directors are influenced by the amount of money the biggest blockbusters with a dominant female have made. “The number of female protagonists has increased, and female characters play a larger part in propelling the narrative forward”.[22]

 

 

 

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[1] (Kaplan)

[2] (Cox, Are female action heroes good role models for young women? , 2013)

[3] (Billson, 2011)

[4] (Billson, 2011)

[5] (Kistler, 2013)

[6] (Cox, 2013)

[7] (Kistler, 2013)

[8] (Cochrane, 2007)

[9] (Cochrane, 2007)

[10] (Littleton, 2014)

[11] (Vincent, 2014)

[12] (Hess, 2014)

[13] (Cox, 2013)

[14] (Lacey, 2010)

[15] (Lacey, 2010)

[16] (Cardwell, n.d.)

[17] (Lauzen, 2014)

[18] (Vincent, 2014)

[19] (Lacey, 2010)

[20] (Cox, 2013)

[21] (Vincent, 2014)

[22] (Cardwell, n.d.)